Urgent Need to Mainstream Civic Education

Jan 08, 2012 Letters

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Dear Editor,
What does it mean to be a citizen of Guyana? What are the rights of a citizen of Guyana? What are the duties and responsibilities of a citizen of Guyana? What does it mean to be a good citizen of Guyana? What does it mean to be a proud and committed citizen of Guyana? Why should someone want to be a citizen of Guyana?
Are we really proud of being Guyanese? Are public officials discharging their duties to the people of Guyana in a responsible and respectful manner? Do we respect the ‘Rule of Law’? Should we respect the ‘Rule of Law’? What should we expect as citizens from our leaders? Do we respect our leaders? Should we respect our leaders? Do our leaders respect themselves? Do they demand or earn respect from us? Do we respect our national symbols – the national Pledge and Anthem?
What does it mean to hold a public office in Guyana? What makes us uniquely Guyanese? Or do we view our responsibilities in terms of ‘us and them’ (what they do and what we will do)? What are the responsibilities of the Judiciary to us as citizens or to the development of Guyana? Or what are our responsibilities to the Judiciary? What are the responsibilities of the Law enforcement agencies for e.g. the Guyana Police Force (GPF)? What does it mean to be a Police Officer?  What are the duties and responsibilities of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to the people of Guyana? What are the responsibilities of Ministers to the people of Guyana? What are the real functions of the Ministries to the people of Guyana? What does it mean be in service to the people of Guyana?
As I participate in and observe the daily events in Guyana and engage in countless conversations with citizens of all walks of life and across numerous professions, these are questions which are arising over and over. As I talk to people on their views on migration or of their desire to migration. As I listen to several professionals and students alike express their interest in taking their skills and expertise somewhere other than Guyana,   I am becoming more and more convinced that the time is ripe and right for a comprehensive ‘Civic Education and Citizenship’ programme to be developed an rolled out in Guyana at this point of our history.
I think Civic Education and Citizenship needs to be mainstreamed into the various systems and structures in Guyana at this point – in the education, political, social and economic systems.
About two years ago, I co-authored a document along with my colleague Lawrence Lachmansingh titled “Manual on Civic Education for Youth in Guyana – Maximising the Development Value of Youth in Guyana” for the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. The Ministry in its wisdom had requested that the manual be developed to respond to the low degree of national consciousness, which reflects in the absence of Nation Pride, etc among youth in Guyana.
After having discussions with senior functionaries of the Ministry, it was decided that at this juncture of Guyana’s history the purpose of a civic education programme should not only be to inspire and educate young people on ‘the virtues of being a Guyanese, respecting symbols of nationhood and leaders, working together and creating loyalty and a greater love for country’ but it should be produced in the wider development context. The question we attempted to address was how young people can position Guyana so that it can “be competitive, highly productive and scientifically and technologically advanced, innovative and creative, have a strong social fabric that is sturdy and where all Guyanese can live, be happy in comfort and peace?” Hence the manual looked at civic education in the broader development context.
While conducting the research for the manual two fundamental points were discovered: Firstly, people are not necessarily born with some innate desire to love their country – it is a behavior that is learnt and should be taught through various processes and forms of socialization.  Secondly, we attempted to understand at what points in a nations’ history are civic education programmes relevant. We discovered three: After civil wars; after a country has become a new nation, such as independence and a more recent reason is; to respond to the effects of globalization on individual countries. There may be a number of other reasons but in the context of Guyana we decided to focus on these, more specifically two of the three.
In the Guyana context, a civic education programme was necessary when Guyana became an independent nation in 1966, since we had new: Leadership; Symbols of Nationhood – National Pledge and Anthem; National Songs, etc.
However presently, a civic education programme is relevant as we respond to the effects of globalization on our economy. There is need for a mechanism to assist citizens in developing and maintaining that understanding that while we focus on the world as a ‘global village’ it is the capacities and capabilities of individual countries, such as Guyana, that will ensure our competitiveness as a country; even as we seek to compete globally, regionally for e.g. in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), or roll-out our national development agenda.
In the manual we coined the term that young people in Guyana have a ‘development value’. I would like to expand that to state that every Guyanese has a ‘development value’.  I would not get into to the details of when the development value is highest or lowest in this letter but it could be found in the manual.  It is important nevertheless, that every Guyanese understand that they have a ‘development value’; that is, a significant contribution to make to the development of themselves, their families, communities and by extension the society. Thus, the importance of understanding their rights and responsibilities.
I would therefore like to recommend that the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports continues its civic education programme and actively seek to have it mainstreamed into the programmes of the public sector generally, such the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Local Government and other public agencies. It should be a part of the training for members of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force. Efforts should also be made to find innovative ways of having the programme rolled out in the private and civil society sectors as well. There is a need for it to be taught at the individual, community, institutional and wider societal levels.
Finally, if Guyana is really to be competitive as a country, we have to improve the quality of our citizenry, our service to each other and the country and the quality of the country as a whole. I also wish to make the point that Civic should not be mistaken for Social Studies.
Audreyanna Thomas

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