Civic Education for the Youth

Seminar organized by Nepal Foundation for Advanced Studies

12 August 2005, Dhankuta

"The objective is to energize the youth into participating in politics to strengthen democracy in the country. At the moment, we see the young generation frustrated and avoiding participation not only in politics but in other public areas as well. Many have even been leaving the country for various reasons."

He asked the participants to contribute their experiences in the discussions so that the forthcoming publication can incorporate relevant points as input for the book which will be part of the higher secondary school curriculum.

There were two presentations made to initiate the discussions. The first one was by Shiva Raj Dahal followed by Prof Guna Nidhi Sharma.

Shiva Raj Dahal discussed the deviation from the mainstream of national life by the younger generation and said that other stakeholders must come to the rescue when such things happen in a society. The means he identified was civic education designed to inform the youth about his/her responsibilities and the risks and challenges before them. Dahal's paper shows concern over the trend of Nepalese youth to leave the country for foreign employment and other purposes without any direct contribution to nation building at a time when the country direly needs it. In fact, he said, there is a huge number which has taken up arms creating even further problems for the society. He called for the political sector to show sensitivity to such wholesale deviation for the mainstream and work to show the proper direction where they can contribute their mite for the benefit of the society as a whole.

Prof. Gunanidhi Sharma: Youth in the country is a resource of the nation, their skills, zeal, perspectives all have a bearing on the present and also the future of the country. If we can utilize the resource properly, the society can be transformed unprecedentedly. Statistics on youth shows that the country should be passing through a golden age. But why is that not happening? Why are the available resources not yielding benefits? Whether in the peacekeeping forces or in fighting fascism in World War II, the Nepalese have made their contribution. Such contribution was and is being made by the Nepalese youth today as well.

The 30,000 fighters who returned from Europe after Second World War, of the 200,000 that went there to fight, played an important role in demolishing the Sati tradition and helped introduce other societal changes. They then later fought to push the British out of the region by giving a hand to anti-imperialist forces. Today's youth too is seen on the forefront on many fronts. The challenge today is to adopt the technology that is beneficial for us and displace the undesirable ones. The young generation is the one which needs to take up the challenge.

When a society is in transition, deviations can take place. The present is a time of transition. The government is not being able to channel the youth into taking up the challenge. Our plans and policies have not been able to meet the required policy needs. As a result, unemployment is on the rise, old traditions being allowed to die. And the policies are not up to the mark in meeting the surfacing challenges. At a time when unemployment is on the rise we have introduced the voluntary retirement schemes and other lay-off policies. Since such laid-off persons have taken up the small number of newly created jobs, the unemployed youth gets further displaced from the job market. They have either been forced to leave the country for job opportunities or gone underground and taken up arms. This is a result of policy failure.

To meet the challenge, we need to explain the youth of the situation that prevails and then create an environment for them to participate in the development process by focusing on their needs.

Meanwhile, the urban-rural gap is on the rise which has already witnessed almost a threefold increase in the income of the two regions. In sum, this is a result of leadership failure leading to policy failure. The government's claim that 11 per cent of those under the poverty line have disappeared in seven years appears to be misleading. The mistake appears to be in the sampling of respondents as the rural sector is not conducive for research at present. And that respondents may have been chosen from urban areas because of this difficulty. Other contrary pointers are: declining growth rate, absence of youth in the rural areas making productivity dip and the increasing income gap between urban and rural areas. The optimistic poverty data and the analysis appear to have been based on consumption, not production. Consumption can increase with remittance and higher asset prices. This cannot lead to a decline in the actual poverty data.

Narayan Joshi [Dhankuta Multiple Campus chief] The presentations by Shiv Raj Dahal and Prof. Gunanidhi Sharma were pertinent and I am thankful for that.

Any person who is dutiful towards the society and adopts the positive direction, such a person can be called a citizen and an education that pushes people towards such a direction, it is civic education. At the moment we lack discipline among youths, and civic education addresses that. In spite of improvements in the quality of education, there is a conspicuous lack of discipline among students. Once that component is included, we will have a perfect student. Soft tempered students are a rarity these days as we have not been orienting them to become so. Civic education contextualizes education to the country's situation and packages it into a nutshell for students to benefit from it.

EXCERPTS FROM FLOOR COMMENTS

• The topic of discussion today should have been the method of civic education- how to impart that education. Should we take such education to the villages, introduce it to the schoos, or how? How do we include it in the curriculum so that a maximum participation of youth is achieved. This should have been a technical discussion.
• Discipline is a necessary character of a good citizen. Please add that in you paper. Regarding patriotism, what will a hungry man do with it? The youth have not been able to understand what patriotism should lead to. Is it just to serve one or the other political leader?
• Civic education alone will not produce good citizens. The 2011 BS education policy had introduced the subject to all the classes in schools. Those students are the ones running the nation today. And look what we have come to. Why could not the 2011 policy produce good citizens? What is the process that allows students to internalize what he has learned?
• The paper is slightly confusing about whether it is trying to find out what civic education is, or is it seeking a policy on civic education, or teaching methods or curriculum or what?
• I believe that we should focus on the process and policy. Without good policy good results cannot be expected. We see education producing education gaps between the rich [private schools] and the poor [public schools]. The paper should talk about ways to narrow the gap.
• Bahulbad and Bahudalbad [pluralism and multi-partyism] have been used interchangeably in the paper. Please tell me if they mean the same thing. Is our objective to develop a good citizen or a citizen appropriate for a multiparty system?
• The contention of the paper is that middle class youth are being misled and lower class going underground, but what about the higher class?
• What are the risks of implementing the civic education and what are the challenges? This would help us resolve the possible problems along the way.
• What if we replace civic education with democratic education?
• Education, organization and discipline are what lead to development. And, development is to do with humans and not objects. Similarly, not just knowledge and skills, but also attitude needs to be developed in students. This is why we need civic education. So far this has not happened.
• We see different kinds of people and classes. Their roles too differ accordingly. Civic education should be able to provide that discriminating faculty to the students to identify their own role.
• Students today are not eager to learn what we want to teach them. This is not the problem of the student. It is the weakness on the part of policy.
• Will you implement the output of this seminar? The country is in conflict. And we appear to be discussing only theoretical issues. The paper preaches to everyone on what to do and is thus confusing. We are only imparting awareness but no employment. If you had included the concerned youth in this programme it would be useful.
• There is already civic education going on in the villages- the Janabadi education [Maoist curriculum] through FM radio stations.
• The Maoists have not demanded anything from campuses. Campuses do not face the problems we in the schools face. They have given directives to schools on what education curriculum to follow.
• The 2028 BS education plan had an objective of creating manpower to support the Panchayat system. But the graduates who went through that curriculum actually overthrew the system. The multiparty system wanted students to be loyal to the system but that system too has gone into disrepute today. We are at a time when the Maoists are calling for a Janabadi education while the state talking about patriotic education.
• How do we impart an education which makes citizens respect each other without stepping on each other's toes? How do we prevent youth from taking up arms? This is the concern of the day.
• Political, economic and other issues have been lumped in the paper together making things confusing. I think a citizen should be self-reliant and endowed with all the rights. But our situation is such that ever since the unification of the nation, the political issues have been sidelined. There has been no equitable distribution of development.
• Students do not share their knowledge with their families. This kind of education happens only in a feudal system.
• You mention that the youth have gone underground. But why have they-- because they are aware or because they do not have any other opportunity?
• Until we abandon the habit of criticizing and blaming the working class nothing will happen.
• Allegations of corruption have been made by regressionists but they do not themselves practice what they preach.
• There is no guarantee that civic education will change the perspective of students. If we still talk about telling students about corrupt people and what bad the organizations have committed, this will put us a step back from where the Janabadi education already is. It actually promises students where it will take them rather than playing the blame game.
• The education we impart should be able to give the student a living, not just manners and discipline.
• The paper avoids dealing with the contemporary education context. The Maoists have been enforcing the Janabadi education while the monarchists want the patriotic education implemented. Those of us believing in democracy are talking about civic education.
• The state protects itself through education policy. It is talking about patriotic education at the moment. In fact, we need practical education, an education that gives us employment. If the Maoists are moving ahead with the Janabadi education and if the state pushes the patriotic education, the education sector will turn into a battleground. We need scientific education. One that helps end violence.
• Jay Prithvi Bahadur Singh talked about practical education that gave people a livelihood and also one that resulted in peace. Paul Frere too sought education in rural areas of Brazil. The paper should be quoting Jay Prithvi Bahadur Singh of 100 years ago rather than Branson and other foreigners.

REPLY BY AUTHORS

Shiv Raj Dahal: The seminar began several years ago to discus youth and democracy. The output came to be used by schools. That has pushed us into upgrading the book we had then produced by organizing similar discussions in different parts of the country to do so. We also want democracy to be strengthened.

Pluralism is the plurality in society, like the four castes and 36 groups that we have, while multipartyism is to do with politics.

Regarding politics, we need to have people to look at it positively. Unless we participate in healthy and constructive politics, we will be forced to be ruled by fools.

We have been trading our youth for cash, ever since the World Wars.

Democracy is just a process and we should not expect everything to come all at once. Our objective is to develop people into democratic citizens which results into a democratic political culture.

It is not just poverty, but traditional feudal power structures, policy weaknesses and societal weaknesses have been responsible for pushing the youth into seeking foreign employment.

Bishnu Maden: Pluralism is not the four castes and 36 groups. Pluralism has to do with democracy, but the former can exist in autocracy as well.

Ananda Srestha: There was talk about who would implement the issues we raise in the seminar. I agree that we need to implement many things, especially pertaining to the education sector. What we do is put together the findings and publish them and make it available for the policymakers. Hence, policymakers have the duty to implement, and does not fall within NEFAS' responsibility. Our concern is with the academic part, the theoretical aspect of the subject.

Gunanidhi Sharma: The topic of Bahunbad came up and I do not like the term, probably you mean authoritarianism. I do not like the term Dalit either, and would prefer them to be called marginalized. There is social dualism and double standards in our context. The state has played a role in creating the dichotomy. Not just persons but money too is contributing to this. Rich people are having their children go to medical colleges with sheer force of money power, and not their qualification. The poor but qualified student does not get admitted. I do think that the society needs to be restructured to allow the benefits to be redistributed. For that, we need to transform the conflict. Not just participatory politics but also participatory development is required for that transformation.

Chairperson's remarks

The discussion has been fruitful for us in understanding that the youth need to be continually updated on the political situation and to their duties and responsibilities. The youth today are a misguided lot. I hope the organizers can organize programmes involving the youth as well.