Assessing Students’ Level of Awareness of their Constitutional Human Rights

Abstract

The main focus of this study was to assess the level of students’ human rights awareness at the University of Education, Winneba. The study adopted a pragmatic research paradigm using the mixed-method approach with an explanatory sequential design. The population for the study was the level 400 students of the University of Education, Winneba for the 2022/2023 academic year. A total of 368 students were carefully selected hinging on the Krejcie and Morgan tabulation formula from the total population of 9,408 final year students for the quantitative data. Sixteen (16) students were purposively selected from the sample size of 368 for a focus group discussion. Standard-based students’ academic rights and freedom questionnaires were adapted to merit the research context. The focus group discussion guide was designed from the quantitative questionnaire for triangulation purposes. Descriptive statistics (Mean and Standard Deviation) and inferential statistics (Independent sample t-test) were employed for the quantitative analysis, whilst qualitative content analysis was used for the qualitative analysis. As an insider, positionality issues and ethical considerations were professionally addressed to avoid any influence on the outcome of the research. The findings showed that students had a high level of human rights awareness about the right to life, while the right to a speedy trial was moderate, though it is among the general aspects of human rights to be enjoyed by all citizens. Overall, it was realized that students of the University of Education, Winneba had a high level of human rights awareness (M=4.24, SD=0.50). The results indicated that even though students within the 31-40 age range had a higher level of human rights awareness (M=4.45, SD=0.48) than those between the 21-30 age range (M=4.23, SD=0.50), the independent sample t-test results were not statistically significant [t (337) = -1.765, p>0.05, 2-tailed]. The qualitative data revealed that courses offered in the domain of human rights, seminars, conferences, flyers, newsletters, and basic school rules from students’ handbooks were some of the sources of their human rights awareness.