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In This Issue...Links to the News:
March 11, 2016
Project Citizens Ghana is a huge
success - Coordinator
Accra, Nov. 18, GNA – Mrs. Fanny Judith Kumah, a Director of
the National Commission on Civic Education, has described
the pilot phase of the ‘Project Citizens Ghana’ launched
early this year as a huge success, saying it would help
deepen the democratic governance in the country.
The Project, an initiative of the National Commission on
Civic Education and supported by the Centre for Education of
the United States of America (CIVITAS) aimed at promoting
and championing civic education studies to help the youth to
understand the fundamental values and principles of
constitutional democracy.
It is also to encourage the youth to move away from the use
of radical means of effecting change in their societies by
adopting and using deliberative methods to hold their
leaders accountable.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at an evaluation workshop
of the project in Accra, Mrs Kumah, who is also a
coordinator of the project, said students from beneficiary
schools had demonstrated through the presentations of their
various portfolios that they could become agents of
development and good governance by helping solve the
challenges facing their various communities.
The evaluation meeting was to allow the teachers, students
and other stakeholders who participated in the pilot to
discuss problems they faced in implementing the project.
It was also to review and elaborate the teachers and
students guidelines to enhance better teaching and learning
and improve on future programmes.
Mrs Kumah said, while there were plans to extend the project
to other schools across the country, the Commission would
hasten slowly in doing so to ensure that the focus of the
project was not destroyed.
She said participatory democracy would be meaningful only if
the people, especially students were equipped to engage in
cooperative learning, create their own understanding,
encourage critically thinking through problems and offering
solutions and exposed to responsible citizenship.
She said the project would help individuals to develop
inquiring minds, ability to innovate and adapt and the
capacity to apply knowledge and skills acquired to solve
problems.
Through the project students learn how to express their
ideas, decide, which level of government, district or
national and agency is most appropriate for dealing with
problems they identify and how to monitor and influence
public policy decisions.
The students work cooperatively with each other and with
teachers and adult volunteers to identify a problem to
study, gather information, examine information, examine
solutions, develop public policy positions and create action
plans.
The results are presented in the form of a portfolio to
other classes or community for assessment.
Mrs Kumah said the concept would be introduced into the
social studies curriculum to make students more informed
about their civic responsibilities and the need to
participate in local and national governance since the
country’s democratic development and growth depended on
effective participation by all citizens.
Twenty schools drawn equally from the Northern and Greater
Accra Regions participated in the pilot phase of the
project, which saw the portfolio on Child Labour presented
by students of Accra High School emerging winner at the
national competition.
Accra High School also won laurels at the Regional Fair held
in Dakar, Senegal.
GNA
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