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Civic Education for Youth
A discussion organized by Nepal Foundation
for Advanced Studies (NEFAS)
1 April 2006, Banepa, Kavre Palanchok
Teachers of schools in Banepa, a town east
of Kathmandu Valley, and its surroundings gathered to discuss
the importance of civic education for youth on 1 April 2006 as
part of the ongoing series of discussion on the subject organized
by Nepal Foundation for Advanced Studies in different parts of
the country.
Many of the participants at this NEFAS seminar,
held in cooperation with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, stressed
the need for improving the school curriculum to turn the tide
in the society's favour.
Most of the teachers pointed out the weaknesses
in the teaching methodology adopted by schools saying that schools
have been emphasizing rote learning over practical knowledge
and theoretical brainstorming over vocational skills. The society,
participants said, was in a mess because youth were not only
lacking in the urge to do something for the society but were
leaving the country in hordes seeking better work environment,
studies and even better life. Their lack of disciplined approach
in everything they do is stark proof that there is a great void
in civic education, the school teachers said.
Other participants had grosser problems at
hand to deal with, for example their inability to run their
classes smoothly because of the general security situation in
the country. Still some others saw gross interference by the
political sector in the periodic modification of the school
curriculum to suit their partisan interests.
Introducing the theme, Shiv Raj Dahal kicked
off the discussion with his presentation in which he blamed
the political leaders of ignoring the need of the society to
turn "people into citizens", so that they can responsibly
contribute positively to the society. It is this ignorance,
he said, was giving politics a bad name. The mind-set of students
is such that the political sector comes last in the priority
list of students while pursuing higher education. They would
rather join technical and vocational training classes rather
than acquaint themselves with politics, he said. Politicization
is therefore necessary. The participants agreed that political
awareness in students is not the problem today, but making the
schools a ground for playing partisan politics is.
Commenting on Dahal's presentation, Chandradev
Bhatta said that the civil society has a great role to play
in enabling the state to carry out its tasks in an effective
manner, but that this happens only through civic empowerment.
And, civic empowerment cannot occur unless there is civic education,
he said. Nepalese civil society is not geared towards achieving
that goal as they are partisanized along party lines, they have
been criticized for working for private profit and they are
mostly urban based, he said.
Earlier, the seminar began with NEFAS Executive
Director Ananda Srestha asking the participants to unearth the
problems in the civic education curriculum they were teaching
and ways to deal with them. The suggestions, he said, would
be included in a book being compiled for the new civic education
curriculum in schools.
FES representative in Nepal, Dev Raj Dahal,
highlighted the theme of the discussion saying that students
badly needed to know the roles that different social actors
play for them to find a suitable place in society. Mere saying
that people are sovereign is not enough, he said and added that
the Constitution must be understood by students to be able to
act in that manner.
Professor Ram Kumar Dahal of Tribhuvan University
had chaired the discussions.
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