Survey1 Report

The aim of this report is to present the findings of a survey carried out to determine students awareness concerning Human Rights. The data included in this report was obtained from a random sample of 200 students aged 15-18, who responded to this questionnaire on the 16th, 17th and 18 th March.

1.On a scale from 1 to 5, how important would you consider human rights?

1. Very important;

2. Pretty important for my age;

3. to the extent that it affects me;

4. They're probably important, but I don't care;

5. “What are human rights!?”

19.5%    29.2%   48.7%   1.5%     0.5%

2. Have you ever heard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

If you have, where from?

1. Friends;

2. Family;

3. School;

4. Mass-Media;

5. haven't heard at all of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

   5%     5%   39%    43%    7%

3. Did you know there was a National Human Rights Day?……

In this case 72% of the students surveyed answered they knew about the National Human Rights Day while 28% stated they had no idea that this Day existed.

4.”Nobody is above the law” (Article 16 from the Romanian Constitution).

Do you consider this statement to be respected in our country?........

On this question an overwhelming 93% of the subjects said that the statement is not respected in Romania .

5. Have you ever noticed or have you ever been the subject of discrimination?........

If you have, in which field?..............

79% of those interviewed answered that they have seen cases of discrimination while 20% say they haven't been a subject nor have they noticed cases like this. Most of the students refer to discrimination in schools concerning teachers and education. Others gave examples of discrimination when applying for a job or when requesting medical assistance.

6. Do you think that in our country there are cases of infringements of the human rights?......

Most of the students, exactly 95%, answered firmly that there are cases of violations of human rights.

7. Which is, in your opinion, the most important human right?(if you don't know them, just fill in with “I don't know”)……

For this question the students gave a variety of rights more or less important like: the right to live, the right to free speech, the right proper education, the right for a house etc.

8.Have you ever had any civic education classes in secondary school?....

91% stated they have had civic education classes while 8% say they've never heard of these classes;

Do you consider these classes compulsory in school?

1.Yes;

2.They should be better prepared

3.They should be optional;

4.No.

 
27%   37%   30%   6%

9.Do you consider voting a civic duty?............

90% of students in our town consider voting compulsory while 10% of them say it is not.

10.Are you going to vote this autumn?...........

Explain your answer:

From the students interviewed 75% can vote this year, of which approximately 61% affirmed they will vote because they consider it a matter of civic duty and because they believe they can change something in their country while the remaining of 14% that won't vote motivate their choice as not being interested or just don't know who to vote for.   [UP]

Survey2 Report

Following the conference, a survey was carried out in order to decide how young people relate to human rights, partcularly to the right to linguistic diversity.

The questionnaire:

•  Have you heard of the "Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union"?

•  Did you know that one of its articles states that "The Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity."?

•  Do you think that an international, worldwide recognizable Assessment Test (in English or any other language) would affect this fundamental right?

•  What is the opinion of the country you represented on the same issue? (Please mention the country, too)

•  In your opinoin, are we heading toward a one-language-only world?

•  Would this be a positive thing?

Results

60 % of the respondents were aware of the existence of the charter, but only 66 % of those had noticed Article 22.

The Assessment test, proposed by the honourable delegations of Brazil and France, separately, aimed at ensurind better chances for international students, was seen as a drawback in maintaining " cultural, religious and linguistic diversity" by 27.3% of those questioned.

One of the representatives of UK agree that "as long as this Assessment test is adopted as a result of an unanimous wish" linguistic diversity cannot be harmed.

The USA delegates stated: " the USA welcomes the adoption of an international Assessment test in English, with a reference that freedom of the countries' educational systems should be guarded."

Germany's and Holland's opinions coincided. The two countries agreed with an international test held in each participant's language, but with the same subjects.

46 % of the respondents concluded that the world tends to become a one-language-only world and only 43 % of those thought that this wolud be a positive thing in today's world context.

The delegate of the USA answered:"Given the growing number of English-speaking individuals and the language's worldwide appeal, I tend to believe that we are steadily heading towards an all-english world."

The UK representative, although acknowledging a tendency of adopting English as an international language, stated that this "would imply a great disrespect towards non-Enslish speaking nations."

The delegate of China: "Each country desires to become a highly important political power and this cannot be fully achieved when only one language is recognised."   [UP]