A/HRC/26/27 comprehensive normative framework on the teaching profession. It also recognizes the essential role of teachers in educational advancement. It applies to all teachers in both private and public schools and provides guidance on a diverse range of matters, including the roles and responsibilities of teachers. 71. Teacher training programmes must emphasize not just pedagogical skills, but also the assessments of students. Innovative programmes for revamping teacher education and development are necessary to devise novel modalities of teacher training in tandem with reforms in education. In France, for example, teacher evaluation, including a questionnaire, is also part of the student learning process. In-service training for teachers is a permanent requirement, not only to improve their qualifications or to keep them up to date with the latest teaching practices, but also to ensure their assessment skills are kept up to date. The need for “standard[s] frameworks, which could be applied nationally and regionally”32 has been underlined. 72. A student-centred system of education and evaluation would include a detailed assessment record of each student’s progress through the curriculum. While not all students progress at the same rate, a personalized assessment allows teachers, teaching assistants or even student mentors in a higher grade to provide support so that each student completes each module in the curriculum without suffering from the social stigma associated with being held back. B. Periodically updating the curricula 73. Universally recognized human rights values and democratic principles should be embedded in any education system, and incorporated into national curricula for basic education. It is important for public authorities to review their national curriculum periodically in order to respond to emerging requirements. It is also necessary to ensure that textbooks in all schools – private or public – and the contents of the curricula are in conformity with the values and objectives of education laid down in international human rights conventions and expounded by the work of the human rights treaty bodies. Moreover, curricula and the contents of education must keep pace with global concerns with new ethics for our common humanity. C. Aptitude testing 74. The aptitude of students should be given serious consideration in assessing their attainments. The evaluation of the abilities and aptitudes of children in consultation with parents and teachers can be useful in enabling them to realize their potential, leading to better attainments. In Lithuania, for example, evaluation in primary and basic education is driven by the concept of the assessment of pupils’ achievement and progress, encouraging positive personal features and creativity and improving personal achievements. The main idea is assessment for learning, not assessment of learning. 75. In this context, the State of Gujarat in India is exemplary in taking steps towards abolishing the conventional “character” certificate, systematically delivered to all students at the end of primary or secondary education, and replacing it with an “aptitude” certificate, which shows the aptitude of students as appraised by teachers, parents and students themselves, allowing them to pursue secondary or higher education. This has the inherent advantage of motivating students to pursue studies based on their aptitude. 32 16 See Mauritius communiqué, 18th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers, available from http://secretariat.thecommonwealth.org/document/249627/18ccemcommunique.htm.