MANILA, Philippines - The UP Open University (UPOU) and UNICEF-Philippines recently launched the eight massive open online courses (MOOCs) on Child Rights Protection and Promotion (CRP). The courses are clustered under three major concerns: Theoretical, Legal and Strategic Foundations for Child Rights Protection and Promotion (three courses); Planning and Implementing Programs for CRP (two courses); and Communicating and Advocating for CRP (three courses).
The program aims to develop an institutionalized and sustainable mechanism of capacity building focused on child rights protection and promotion, and scale-up the process of creating a bigger impact on child rights protection at the community level.
UPOU Chancellor Dr. Grace Javier-Alfonso said that creating a child-friendly and protected community is a collective effort and should be a concern of every caring citizen. To do this, there is a need for coordinated and massive capability-building efforts. She added that UPOU, an institution and a public service university, takes on the task for this challenge by offering courses as MOOCs.
The course is free of charge and open to all, especially those who are directly involved in conceptualizing, developing and implementing programs on children and those advocating for the protection and promotion of their rights. Each course will run for four to six weeks and will be delivered in multimedia platform (video, text and podcast). Course content will be in English and Filipino to minimize language barriers. Two of the eight courses are now being offered.
To sign up for the courses, log on to model.upou.edu.ph. For details, e-mail mbandalaria@upou.edu.ph.