The purpose of this assignment is to discuss the assertion that civic education is a prerequisite to national development.Firstly,it will define major words in the assignment and this will be followed by a detailed discussion of the assertion that civic education is a prerequisite to national development and finally a conclusion.
Civic education may be defined as the process of educating citizens of their rights and responsibilities in order to empower and motivate them so that they can participate in the governance process of a nation.Gutmann (1987:287) defines civic education as “The cultivation of the virtues, knowledge and skills necessary for political participation.” National development is the ability of a country to improve the social welfare of people, for example by providing quality education, water, good transport network, good health so forth.Civic education is a required prior condition to national development because it helps people to understand not only their rights but their responsibility and the role they play as members of civil society. Civic education teaches students patriotism nationalism, civility, cooperative learning, Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making, all these lead to national development.
Freire (1970:92) comments “True dialogue cannot exist unless the dialoguers engage in critical thinking which perceives reality as processes of transformation, rather than as a static activity.”National development takes place when citizens understand public policy and how to monitor and influence public policy, and this can be achieved when citizens have knowledge of civic education. Civic education helps citizens to understand the importance of voting and staying informed about governance polices. Civic education helps citizens to identify problems, gather information and develop action plan to policy makers and how to implement their own projects.
Citizens with good civic education uphold human rights and human diginity.This means that people are able to participate freely in politics of a nation and this enables people in a nation to have freedom of expression and in turn contribute to national development by expressing their views on issues of governance. Civic education equips the citizenry with practical knowledge on how their own electoral system, legislature, local government and legal system operate.Citizens with good civic education knowledge know their civic rights and duties, For example enlightened citizens contribute to national development through voting.
These citizens participate in elections and put leaders whom they think can bring development.Citizens have the responsibility of influencing government decision. These citizens can decide on which party should lead the nation as they read their party manifestos, from the information which citizens gather, they decide on which party has better policies and programmes which can be used to make government decision that will benefit their nation. Civic education is needed for national development because citizens who are enlightened know their family, community and national rights. Citizens whom know their family rights are able to better their lives and also influence developmental projects in their community.For example citizens who know their constitution rights take time to visit their elected members of parliament in their offices to clarify issues they are not clear about and also make suggestions that can help in developing their communities’ thus spreading development to the whole nation.
Galston (1989:93) argues that “citizens need to develop the capacity to evaluate the talents, character and performance of public officials.” From the above quotation it can then be concluded that citizens and civil society groups need to strengthen their ability to interact with others and those in authority and also make their voices heard by those in power.Civic education help citizens to understand gender issues and responsibilities, this is to say that regardless of ones gender whether male or female they can be able to contribute to national development through taking part in national programmes and projects through their members of parliament, for example women parliamentarians are able to present women’s’ views that can bring development in a country. The Zambian government has gone through a shift phase of no women representation in parliament to a government of women representation and this has cheered women in our nation because issues that oppressed the women can now be talked about freely and also find solutions to issues that affect women in a negative way so that there can be gender equality which will allow women participate in policy making of the nation and contribute to national development. The integration of civic education and national education is an important starting point to build a harmonious society.
The development of the nation relies on civic knowledge and social responsibility of citizens and their ability to turn a driving force to develop the nation. Citizens with civic knowledge participate in community duties in order to improve the living standards in their community, for example citizens may participate in building a school in the community which will benefit the entire community. It will take citizens with civic knowledge to take part in community initiatives that focus at developing their society for every citizen to live in a conducive environment. These citizens feel they have a right in contributing to national development and take interest in national projects and programmes which focus on developmental issues.
The citizens take time to follow on what is happening and the stages at which these projects and programmes are. These citizens are curious and always take time to understand what the government in power is doing to develop their nation.For example in Zambia citizens with good civic education knowledge are always clued to their radios and television sets listening to programmes that talk about development and they also take time to phone in and criticize the government in power and also make suggestions on issues they feel government may be neglecting. On the other hand citizens without good civic education knowledge find difficulties in participating in national development programmes because they feel that they are not part of the government.
For example in Zambia when the draft constitution was taken to the districts for the people to read the constitution and speak out their views, and probably make suggestions and recommendations three quarters of the targeted citizens did not even bother to read the constitution because of lack of civic knowledge of what the draft constitution was and the response was poor. Richard (1998:11) writes “One can live one’s whole life without knowing that the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces or, for that matter, without knowing the name of the president. But how many political discussion and how many news reports would incomprehensible without this information.”This clearly shows that civic education is a prerequisite to national development in a country like Zambia.
After sensation and educating people on what the draft constitution was, the response from citizens improved and people took time to read the draft constitution and suggestions and recommmendations were made. Civic education knowledge is a required prior condition to national development because enlightened citizens have high levels of political knowledge and make consistent choices and sticks to them over time.They assess leaders on basis of policies and ideologies as well as character and by so doing they make informed decision on who should lead the nation into development. These are citizens have information, experience and skills and they can work with others to solve local problems or create things of public value.Mwaipaya (1980:46) has observed: “in view of all this, it has become evident that a reliable foundation for national development is the intellectual cultivation of the citizens.
However, since the full development of mental potentials is possible when citizens undergo an education training programme, it becomes even more convincing that national development can be achieved only through a well-planned and properly implemented mass education system.” From the above quotation it can be concluded that civic education is a prior condition required for national development.Citizens contribute to national development because they are ready to render any kind of service to the nation because of the civic knowledge which they have, for example responsible citizens with good knowledge know a great deal about the government, politics and public affairs also tend to vote and join organizations while those with low levels of knowledge do not participate.Peoples knowledge about their rights and duties is decisive in promoting civic participations, a citizen with civic knowledge will be obedient to those in authority in society and also respect others rights, For example a good citizen knows that they have an obligation to pay taxes and they will do so because they know that the money paid through taxes will be used by the government to repair roads or build a bridge in the community to benefit all people in the community. Enlightened citizens support journalists, human rights activists and organizations that create awareness of human rights in the community so that other citizens can also be equipped with civic knowledge and together as a nation everybody can be focused into bringing development in the nation National development on the other hand can be hindered if citizens do not have civic knowledge, citizens especially the poor, oppressed and marginalized need to overcome the realities through civic education as it focuses on less powerful groups including low levels of literacy, apathy and distrust due to years of oppression, exploitation and marginalization.
There is also reluctance to discuss or speak out on issues of concern, as this may be perceived as too risky and all these issues hinder citizens from participating in national development. While civic education has proved to be effective in strengthening political tolerance or trust in political institutions, in some cases participants have shown a tendency of becoming more distrustful and skeptical of their governments.The prevalence of corruption, indiscipline, disrespect for both elders and the rule of law, indifference to duty and misappropriation of public funds can be said to clear manifestation of the absence of civic education in a nation.Recognising the importance of civic education is a vital tool for national development and it prepares young citizens to have sound minds towards their country and their nation will be great, devoid of problems of corruption, cheating and other bad vices. Civic education has helped in addressing issues domestic violence, drug abuse and HIV/AIDS.
Civic education teaches citizens about their rights and people use the same rights to speak against issues of domestic violence and drug abuse.When citizens are free from drug abuse and domestic violence they will be able to participate in programmes of national development, unlike when people are constantly abusing drugs they will focus their energies to drug trafficking and pay no attention to the welfare of their families and communities they live in thus retarding national development. This is so because these citizens cannot live as useful beings in their society. In conclusion, civic education is a prerequisite to national development because many civic issues in the society boarder on it. For a nation to develop, there is need to have citizens with good civic knowledge and civic skills and dispositions which help them to understand their own political system, their rights and responsibilities and it also empowers citizens to analyze, evaluate and defend positions on public issues and use their knowledge to participate in civic and political processes of a nation.
