UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES OPEN UNIVERSITY

LEGAL INSTRUMENTS FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN

COURSE GUIDE COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course discusses the different international and Philippine legal instruments and policies
to protect children and advocates for their rights. These legal instruments will also be
assessed in terms of how they respond to the issues and needs of children especially those in
need of special protection.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

At the end of the course, you should be able to:

1. Explain the rights of the child as guiding framework in working for and with children
2. Identify significant features of the Philippine policy framework and directions
3. Discuss salient points of different international and local legal instruments on and are
related to children
4. Provide strengths and areas of improvements to the framework and laws for children
5. Discuss implications of the legal instruments to working with and for children

COURSE OUTLINE

This course contains five modules with their corresponding modules and learning outcomes:

Unit 1. Child Rights and International Legal Framework

Module 1: International Policies for Children Participants are able to discuss the salient
features of the international policies and their implications to Philippine context

Module 2: Convention on the rights of the Child Participants are able to explain the rights of
the child and implications to policies and directions in working with and for children

Unit 2. Policy Framework, Directions, and Laws for Children in the Philippines

Module 3: Child 21, National Plan of Action for Children, and Child Friendly Philippines
Participants are able to discuss important elements and implications of the legal frameworks
and directions for children in the Philippines.

Module 4: Philippines’ Child Focused Policies Participants are able to identify the policies
and their salient features focused on children’s welfare and development.

Module 5: Child Related Laws in the Philippines Participants are able to explain the
Philippine laws that are related to children’s lives

COURSE MATERIALS

Your learning package for this course consists of the following:

 1. This course guide
2. Study guides for each module, which include the lecture notes and learning activity
guides
3. Video learning materials
4. Additional reading materials in digital format

The study guides, video materials, and readings shall be posted on the virtual classroom or
course site. All learning resources can be downloaded so you can review them as often as you
wish without having to go online all the time.

STUDY SCHEDULE

The mode of study in this course is guided independent study with some collaborative
learning in the form of asynchronous online discussions and other learning activities.

‘Asynchronous’ means “not synchronized” or “not occurring at the same time”. Participants
in an asynchronous discussion log in and post their contributions to the discussion whenever
they wish to, instead of conducting the discussion at the same time as in a chat or video
conferencing. However, there is a specified period or number of days for each discussion
forum and everyone is expected to join the discussion within that period.

In general, it is up to you to decide how many hours to spend on each module, including the
online discussions and other learning activities.

Course overview and Module 1

Read the course guide
Introduce yourself and state your expectations in the “Let’s Start with a Small Talk” forum.

Module 1 Read the study guide for Module 1.

Read the assigned materials, and accomplish the provided learning activity.

Module2
Read the study guide for this module and accomplish the provided learning activity.

Module 3
Read the study guide and accomplish the provided learning activity especially the assigned
reading.
Accomplish required learning activity.

Module 4
Read the study guide. Study the given learning material. Accomplish the learning activity.

Module 5
Read the study guide.
Do the assigned learning activity.
Submit the given capsule requirement of the course as directed in the study guide.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

To earn a certificate of completion for course, you must do the following:

1. Participate in all forums.

2. Submit all required assignments. The guidelines for all these submissions shall be posted
on the course site.

HOUSE RULES

When participating in an online discussion forum and other learning activities, you are
expected to observe the following guidelines:

a) Address in an informed and well considered manner the given discussion topic or
question. The question or topic will be given in the forum overview, which you will see
when you click open the link to a forum on the course site.

b) Honesty and integrity are very important in development work. These are also expected
in this course. Copying from one’s work (including your co-learners or those from other
literatures) is not allowed and is illegal.

c) Respond to one or two posts by other co-learners in a courteous and constructive way. Be
polite or civil when arguing a point. Do not be rude and do not make remarks that may
be construed as a personal attack. Refer to ideas/statements, not the person. Avoid jokes
or humorous statements in text that may be misunderstood by your classmates, and ask
only questions that sincerely interest you. Other netiquette guidelines can be found at
http://online.uwc.edu/Technology/ onlEtiquette.asp.

d) Write clearly, following the conventions of written English. Do not use abbreviations and
acronyms unless these are introduced in the readings, and do not write in textspeak.

e) Do not post lengthy contributions. Follow the guidelines on each learning activity. Be
clear what your main point is and express it as concisely as possible

For any inquiries in relation to the course, the FIC is available through the course site.