not a simple political concept, but represent something much deeper than that. It is a culture and an ethic. 597. Furthermore and to better supervise human rights education and to guarantee the dissemination of this culture, Tunisia decided, on the 4th April 1996, within the framework of the Human Rights Decade (1995-2004) to create a National Commission for Education in Human Rights Issues. Chaired by the Minister of Education and Training, it brings together the representatives of the Ministries and Organizations working in the domain of human rights as well as the Associations which are active in the promotion of its ideals. 598. Civic and human rights education is a teaching provided notably by the teachers of civic education, of philosophy and history. It has the objective of teaching about the basis of citizenship, about human rights in their specificity, their universality and their globality, of reflecting on the principles of the Republic and the Rule of Law, and of training the pupils to develop a critical sense of judgement on the basis of legal and historical texts. This teaching on human rights issues is spread over eleven years of study starting from the third year of primary education to the sixth year of secondary school. It is also extended to the level of higher education. B) Higher Education 599. Since 1996, Tunisia has instituted distinct courses on human rights at the university level. This education is compulsory and generalized to cover all the areas of training. It has the objective of educating and training the students in the respect for human rights and to make them aware of the most recent achievements in this field. 600. The 178 institutions of higher education teach human rights subjects, under the form of lectures, integrated courses, seminars or workshops. The objective is to ensure that the educational methods chosen promote the implanting of the culture of human rights. 601. In 2003, the Ministry of Higher Education published a book titled « Teaching Human Rights in the Universities –Selected Texts ». This Manual contains international texts: -Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. It also contains national texts: - The Carthage Constitution and Aristotle’s Foreword concerning this Constitution – The Fundamental Tunisian Convention of 10 September 1857 – Tunisian Constitution of 26 April 1861 – Decree of 29 May 1890 relative to the abolition of slavery in the Regency - Constitution of the Tunisian Republic of 1959 with the recent reform of 1st June 2002 – Extracts of the Personal Status Code, of the Child Protection Code, of the Penal Code, of the Criminal Procedure Code, of the Media Code – Extracts of the laws on Associations, on Political Parties, on the Food Pension and Alimony Guarantee Fund, on the Organization of the Prisons, on the granting of legal assistance, on the compensation of individuals who have been subjected to remand in custody or of a conviction and whose innocence had been established. 125