Citizenship education
Source: Rudrashis Datta: The Statesman
The primary purpose of education is to prepare students for a well-adjusted life both during the process of education and later. What began as the art of political education in ancient Indian kingdoms, Greek city-states and the Roman republic has evolved into a complex discipline, covering law, democracy, human rights, national duties and obligations. Therefore, citizenship education has emerged as a primary subject in school education across the world in order to enable school children, especially adolescents, to be aware of the basis of socio-political and legal institutions of the land, the rights and duties of citizens, the rudiments of law and its operation. It is only during adolescence that such vital issues can be weaved into the collective psyche of the students, thereby creating a generation of citizens for whom respect for the land and its laws shall be natural and paramount.
Also, since we live in an age in which internationalism is more the norm than an exception, the onus remains on every nation to equip its citizens, especially students with the precepts of democracy, its laws and processes? It was perhaps with this objective that UNESCO conducted it’s first-ever conference on ‘Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy’ in 1995, involving Ministers of Education of member-nations. The Declaration and Integrated Framework of Action of the conference resolved that “We, the Ministers of Education strive resolutely to pay special attention to improving curricula, the content of textbooks, and other education materials including new technologies with a view to educating caring and responsible citizens committed to peace, human rights, democracy and sustainable development, open to other cultures, able to appreciate the value of freedom, respectful of human dignity and differences, and able to prevent conflicts or resolve them by non-violent means. It is necessary to introduce, at all levels, true education for citizenship which includes an international dimension.”
The Indian scenario is at once encouraging and perplexing. We have been one of the few countries to begin courses in political science and law at the graduation and post-graduation levels nearly a century back. We have produced a galaxy of talent in these spheres. However, our involvement with the discipline has been stuck in the stage where students have overgrown their adolescence into adulthood. It is a stage of learning where most of the learners tend to become more specialized and less malleable. Furthermore, the scope of such subjects shall be limited to only those students who will specialise in them in their graduation and post-graduation levels.
Citizenship education ought ideally to be introduced as a compulsory discipline in schools to influence students when they are young and impressionable. The idea is to train them in law and democratic functioning; they will be in a position to respect law and order and cultivate a sense of fellow-feeling, so important in a democracy. It was with this primary aim in mind that the National Curriculum of England introduced Citizenship Programmes of study for school children in 2002 with the aim of “fostering pupils a sense of awareness and understanding of democracy, government and how laws are made and upheld.” Professor Bernard Crick, who chaired the Advisory Group on Citizenship in England, in his report ‘Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools’, 1998, famously declared that “the purpose of citizenship education in schools is to make secure and to increase the knowledge, skills and values relevant to the nature and practices of participative democracy; also to enhance the awareness of rights and duties, and the sense of responsibilities needed for the development of pupils into active citizens; and in so doing to establish the value to individuals, schools and society of involvement in the local and wider community.”
In contrast, citizenship studies in the Indian school curriculum leaves much to be desired. The National Curriculum Framework, 2005, had envisaged an overhaul of the curriculum planning and delivery systems in schools. But it is silent on the introduction of this discipline, even as a part of Social Studies in our school curriculum. The recommendations of the NCF have been limited to a rather cursory renaming of ‘Civics’ to ‘Political Science’ without overhauling the content of the existing syllabi.
The NCF declared: “It is suggested that instead of Civics, the term Political Science be used. Civics appeared in the Indian school curriculum in the colonial period against the background of increasing ‘disloyalty’ among Indians towards the Raj. Emphasis on obedience and loyalty were the key features of Civics. Political Science treats civil society as the sphere that produces sensitive, interrogative, deliberative, and transformative citizens.”
Paradoxically, the NCF document does not mention the need to bring citizenship training into focus in Social Studies, with most state and national boards relegating Civics to the Social Studies syllabi, overshadowed by such subjects as History and Geography. A study of the curriculum in force across the 31 national and state examination boards highlights the neglect of citizenship studies. As many as 18 of these boards have treated Civics as optional areas in Social Studies, leaving nearly 50 million students generally ignorant of our legal and democratic systems. Among the other examination boards, which have retained the subject, the syllabi has more to do with the dead wood of superficial political history around the time of framing the Constitution, leaving the finer nuances and spirit of the Constitution, democracy and legal structures out of consideration. Sadly, most state boards follow the token practice of printing the Preamble of the Constitution as a compulsory content in the opening pages of text-books without leaving any provision for the important document to be read and explained to the students in our classrooms.
It has been realized the world over that citizenship training relates to an awareness of and respect for the law and precepts of democratic fair-play. This must be taught to children as they develop their world-view while in school. Citizenship education is not about creating an army of conformist individuals, but about promoting a love for our legal and social institutions through debate, interrogation and divergence of opinion. Without this provision, our school children shall grow into individuals for whom socio-political and legal institutions are either to be shunned as needless or feared as imposing, authoritative entities. The wisdom that such institutions are structures organically linked to our lives irrespective of where we are or what we do, ought to be inculcated in our children with care and meticulousness. In fact, citizenship education is the finer art of training in patriotism and love for the land. Such education can bind us as a powerful cohesive force, promote confidence among our children and enlighten them on our laws and their working and give them the power to take well informed- decisions so vital in any democratic functioning.
The primary purpose of education is to prepare students for a well-adjusted life both during the process of education and later. What began as the art of political education in ancient Indian kingdoms, Greek city-states and the Roman republic has evolved into a complex discipline, covering law, democracy, human rights, national duties and obligations. Therefore, citizenship education has emerged as a primary subject in school education across the world in order to enable school children, especially adolescents, to be aware of the basis of socio-political and legal institutions of the land, the rights and duties of citizens, the rudiments of law and its operation. It is only during adolescence that such vital issues can be weaved into the collective psyche of the students, thereby creating a generation of citizens for whom respect for the land and its laws shall be natural and paramount.
Also, since we live in an age in which internationalism is more the norm than an exception, the onus remains on every nation to equip its citizens, especially students with the precepts of democracy, its laws and processes? It was perhaps with this objective that UNESCO conducted it’s first-ever conference on ‘Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy’ in 1995, involving Ministers of Education of member-nations. The Declaration and Integrated Framework of Action of the conference resolved that “We, the Ministers of Education strive resolutely to pay special attention to improving curricula, the content of textbooks, and other education materials including new technologies with a view to educating caring and responsible citizens committed to peace, human rights, democracy and sustainable development, open to other cultures, able to appreciate the value of freedom, respectful of human dignity and differences, and able to prevent conflicts or resolve them by non-violent means. It is necessary to introduce, at all levels, true education for citizenship which includes an international dimension.”
The Indian scenario is at once encouraging and perplexing. We have been one of the few countries to begin courses in political science and law at the graduation and post-graduation levels nearly a century back. We have produced a galaxy of talent in these spheres. However, our involvement with the discipline has been stuck in the stage where students have overgrown their adolescence into adulthood. It is a stage of learning where most of the learners tend to become more specialized and less malleable. Furthermore, the scope of such subjects shall be limited to only those students who will specialise in them in their graduation and post-graduation levels.
Citizenship education ought ideally to be introduced as a compulsory discipline in schools to influence students when they are young and impressionable. The idea is to train them in law and democratic functioning; they will be in a position to respect law and order and cultivate a sense of fellow-feeling, so important in a democracy. It was with this primary aim in mind that the National Curriculum of England introduced Citizenship Programmes of study for school children in 2002 with the aim of “fostering pupils a sense of awareness and understanding of democracy, government and how laws are made and upheld.” Professor Bernard Crick, who chaired the Advisory Group on Citizenship in England, in his report ‘Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools’, 1998, famously declared that “the purpose of citizenship education in schools is to make secure and to increase the knowledge, skills and values relevant to the nature and practices of participative democracy; also to enhance the awareness of rights and duties, and the sense of responsibilities needed for the development of pupils into active citizens; and in so doing to establish the value to individuals, schools and society of involvement in the local and wider community.”
In contrast, citizenship studies in the Indian school curriculum leaves much to be desired. The National Curriculum Framework, 2005, had envisaged an overhaul of the curriculum planning and delivery systems in schools. But it is silent on the introduction of this discipline, even as a part of Social Studies in our school curriculum. The recommendations of the NCF have been limited to a rather cursory renaming of ‘Civics’ to ‘Political Science’ without overhauling the content of the existing syllabi.
The NCF declared: “It is suggested that instead of Civics, the term Political Science be used. Civics appeared in the Indian school curriculum in the colonial period against the background of increasing ‘disloyalty’ among Indians towards the Raj. Emphasis on obedience and loyalty were the key features of Civics. Political Science treats civil society as the sphere that produces sensitive, interrogative, deliberative, and transformative citizens.”
Paradoxically, the NCF document does not mention the need to bring citizenship training into focus in Social Studies, with most state and national boards relegating Civics to the Social Studies syllabi, overshadowed by such subjects as History and Geography. A study of the curriculum in force across the 31 national and state examination boards highlights the neglect of citizenship studies. As many as 18 of these boards have treated Civics as optional areas in Social Studies, leaving nearly 50 million students generally ignorant of our legal and democratic systems. Among the other examination boards, which have retained the subject, the syllabi has more to do with the dead wood of superficial political history around the time of framing the Constitution, leaving the finer nuances and spirit of the Constitution, democracy and legal structures out of consideration. Sadly, most state boards follow the token practice of printing the Preamble of the Constitution as a compulsory content in the opening pages of text-books without leaving any provision for the important document to be read and explained to the students in our classrooms.
It has been realized the world over that citizenship training relates to an awareness of and respect for the law and precepts of democratic fair-play. This must be taught to children as they develop their world-view while in school. Citizenship education is not about creating an army of conformist individuals, but about promoting a love for our legal and social institutions through debate, interrogation and divergence of opinion. Without this provision, our school children shall grow into individuals for whom socio-political and legal institutions are either to be shunned as needless or feared as imposing, authoritative entities. The wisdom that such institutions are structures organically linked to our lives irrespective of where we are or what we do, ought to be inculcated in our children with care and meticulousness. In fact, citizenship education is the finer art of training in patriotism and love for the land. Such education can bind us as a powerful cohesive force, promote confidence among our children and enlighten them on our laws and their working and give them the power to take well informed- decisions so vital in any democratic functioning.
No comments:
Post a Comment