By: Kalilu Ibrahim Totangi
In a letter addressed to “all Heads of Primary and Junior Secondary Schools,” the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Schools (MBSSE) has authorized that Civics should be put on the schools’ timetable as a ‘stand-alone’ subject, starting September 2022.
This is a huge announcement, coming only a few years after the establishment of the National Council for Civic Education and Development (NaCCED). In his inaugural address to the nation at the State Opening of the Fifth Parliament in May 2018, President Julius Maada Bio proclaimed the establishment of a Commission to “develop the curriculum, produce teaching and learning materials, and train teachers so as to reintroduce civics as a subject of teaching and learning in schools”.
In his foreword to the publications, the President writes: “I have always believed that for education to be meaningful in a democracy, it should provide pupils with the necessary tools to effectively participate in the development of their communities.” “For this and other reasons,” he said, “my government has decided to reintroduce Civics as a subject of learning in schools at the Basic Education Level”.
The overarching goal of teaching Civics, Civic Education or Citizenship Education at the basic education level is educating children, from early childhood, to become responsible, clear-thinking and enlightened members of society, capable of creative thinking and critical analysis in making informed decisions about themselves and participating effectively in society development.
It involves creating knowledge and understanding by introducing concepts such as laws and rules, democracy, justice, freedom, authority and the rule of law, and so on; developing skills and aptitudes, including creative thinking, information analysis, expression, conflict management and participation; and nurturing values and dispositions, including respect for justice, openness, tolerance, willingness to listen to, and work with others.
The core areas of the curriculum and learning outcomes include life skills acquisition. Children are expected to acquire basic life skills like assertiveness, self-awareness, self-discipline and self-esteem, problem solving (self-realization), self-expression, peer resistance, and informed decision-making (critical thinking). The curriculum also explores issues around peaceful co-existence, unity, and national cohesion. Learners are expected to appreciate the religion, rituals, and cultural practices of others, develop the spirit of nationalism, patriotism and respect for national symbols, and law and order in society. The texts also deal with relationships, roles, and responsibilities. This involves issues around diversity or dealing with differences, rights and obligations, and the concept of fair play, among others.
The curriculum also explores concepts such as good governance. Learners are expected to develop an understanding of good citizen characteristics, politics, and democracy, understand and appreciate the values of rewards and sanctions and others.
Considering that the world has ever so much become a global village, the curriculum and textbooks explore issues around global citizenship. Citizens are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the position of Sierra Leone within its sub-regional, African, and global contexts, by investigating the geographical, historical, socio-economic and political interrelatedness of nations, and to appreciate their roles are national, subregional and global citizens.
We here at the National Council for Civic Education and Development (NaCCED) are elated that those years of arduous work and collaborations have borne fruit. We are equally grateful to the numerous partners and friends who have contributed to this process.
Now that we have fulfilled President Bio’s pledge to reintroduce Civics as a stand-alone subject in schools, we find the compelling need to focus some time on the out-of-school citizenship education. Already, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), NaCCED has developed an Out-of-School Civic Education curriculum, which we have pretested in 18 (eighteen) communities in Tonkolili and Kenema districts. We have also held out-of-school engagement trainings around good citizenship and major historical events, government at the community level, honesty, corruption and bribery, managing our environment, drugs and drug abuse, respecting diversity, cultism and society, ethnicity and national cohesion, among others. This has helped prepare us to engage on a broader civic engagement and learning process, that we hope will engender a tranquil environment in the run-up to and post the 2023 Presidential and General elections.
