Topical Working Groups
Panel 4: Education for Democracy/ Civic Education
Chair: David McQuoid-Mason
Panelists: M. Aslam, Guntars Catlaks, Arturo Saenz, Nimi Walson-Jack, Udin S. Winataputra, Talgat Nurlybayev, Mary Larkin

The Education for Democracy/Civic Education panel was divided into six commissions. The first commission was in charge of establishing a consultative and steering group to implement and monitor the plan of action. The main tasks of the steering group would be to advance concretely the coordination of the work of the NGO’s that focus on democracy/civic education towards bringing advanced recommendations and presentations to the Forum in Chile in two years, and to carry out the Plan of Action developed by other commissions. The steering group would be composed of approximately 50 people, all representatives of NGO’s around the world. Within six months, the steering group will reconvene in New York City. Following this meeting, regional meetings would be organized and convened. To further encourage coordination, a closed e-mail group will be established (in two weeks), that would include the participants in the working group. The American Forum for Global Education will assist in the start-up of the steering group. This group will be funded by a $5,000 contribution by each government participating in the Ministerial Meeting at Seoul.

The second commission was to ensure that education for democracy/civic education would be integrated into the school curricula. They advocated that civic education be a compulsory subject in schools and a pre-requisite for advancement from one level of schooling to another. The main task, this group established, was to pass relevant legislation. To ensure this, a commission would be established, to undertake the following steps:

• Conduct a needs assessment of civic education, both inside and outside schools.
• Establish a set of goals and objectives for civic education, so it meets both local and national needs.
• Develop a sequential curriculum framework.
• Prepare a sequential program of learning that meets the curriculum framework.
• Provide a variety of learning curriculum, including books, handouts, videos and the use of technology.
• Establish and institutionalize pre-service and in-service teachers education programs for all teachers of civic education. A process of retraining and re-orientation of teachers would be necessary to increase the pool of teachers available for civic education.
• Develop and support a professional association of civic educators, which will foster high standards of performance.
• Conduct research, program evaluation and assessment of students that can establish how well students actually meet the intentions and standards set.

In the implementation of the eight steps listed above, member countries are encouraged to ensure cross-cultural and national integration of the curriculum and sharing of experiences.

The third commission was to secure funding for democracy/civic education in schools. The group proposed the following three main recommendations.

1. After the expiry of the UN Decade of Human Rights Education in 2004, the United Nations should declare the years 2005 to 2014 the Decade of Education of Democratic Citizenship.
2. The Third All World Assembly ‘World Movement for Democracy’ during April 2003 in Durban, South Africa, should put the question of the UN Decade of Education for Democratic Citizenship on its Agenda.
3. The UN Decade of Education for Democratic Citizenship should be announced at the Council of the Community of Democracies Forum in Santiago, Chile in 2004.

The group suggested that governments work together with stakeholders to develop national programs and envisage appropriate funding. International organizations, together with the stakeholders, would create a working group for starting and implementing the Decade of Education of Democratic Citizenship. Furthermore, a conference on implementing the Decade, be organized for the ministers of education and stakeholders. Governments should create national working groups to plan the implementation of the Decade.

The fourth commission’s task was to expand cooperation between governments and NGO’s to share materials and ideas for best teaching practices. The group focused on long-term strategies, management, funding and taxation, dealing with people outside the school system, and research. The members of this commission first emphasized the importance of long term strategies in areas such as curriculum design, development, and teacher training. The need to change and upgrade people’s skills and materials/equipment, as well as obtaining funding, will take considerable time, which needs to be accounted for when implementing an implementation strategy. In regards to management, the members expressed caution at NGO’s becoming an instrument of the government to produce political indoctrination in the form of civic education. Governments should recognize and protect the independence of NGO’s dealing with democracy/civic education. Governments and NGOs should collaborate in developing and reviewing the curriculum and teaching methods used for democracy/civic education. In terms of funding, the members again expressed caution that funding should not be a means for governments to influence NGOs. Funding bodies should be widely represented, with experts and professionals in the panel to decide funding policies. The group suggested that governments not tax NGOs that provide democracy/civic education.

The fifth commission’s main task was to engage countries with experience in democracy/civic education in assisting those that do not have this experience. The members reiterated the Warsaw Declaration’s endorsement of democracy education, and its recognition of the necessity of collaboration between governments and NGOs. They also supported the continuation and extenuation of civic education exchange programs. Specifically, the group stressed the following: equal share of resources and ideas; using technology for incorporation and involvement between countries and participants; and the need for sustainable results.

The sixth commission was in charge of appealing to international institutions (such as the UNDP and the World Bank). The two main recommendations the members proposed were the following:

1. The Community of Democracies should establish a partnership between governments, NGOs and international institutions for the promotion of democracy/civic education world-wide.
2. The Governments of the Convening Group should, within six months, convene a meeting of representatives of their governments along with an equal number of representatives of national and international NGOs, and major donors such as UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank, the EU, the Asian Development Bank, donor governments, etc.

M. ASLAM (Professor, Indira Gandhi National Open University, India)

For the development of democracy to push forward, countries must become more responsive to the needs and concerns of the common people. Aslam stated that this can be achieved by strengthening formal democratic institutions and by ensuring equity in education.

Best Practices:

• Reorientation of School syllabus to bring in elements of civic education and human rights
• Adult Education (formal and non-formal; multi-media package)
• Human Rights Education: Specialized courses and programs offered by universities.
• Human Rights Commission- To undertake and promote research. Spread human rights literacy. Encourage the efforts of NGO's.

Obstacles:

• Inadequate resource allocation to education
• Economic backwardness and high levels of poverty
• Other social obstacles

Recommendations:

• Strengthening institutions of local self-government/democratic decentralization
• Adequate allocation of resources
• Incorporating civic education/democracy in the National Curriculum

GUNTARS CATLAKS (Executive Director CIVITAS, Belgium)

Catlaks posed several questions to guide discussion. How does civic education work? How do you assess and manage it? How do you achieve and manage international cooperation to bring about civic education reform? How do you incorporate international goals of civic education reform, into civic education organizations?

ARTURO SAENZ (Professor, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico)

Best Practices:

• Saenz first discussed three governmental institutions that were important to democracy/civic education: the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Federal Electoral Institute. Within the Ministry of Education, the teaching of civic instruction has been changing. In the 1990s, the National Commission of Human Rights which promotes civic education such as the teaching of rights and guarantees, and the importance of civic responsibility of children. The Ministry of Interior promotes programs and citizen participation, infant and adolescent public advances, rights and values for Mexican children, and the encouragement of high school students to be involved in the community, to name just a few.

Obstacles:

• No free textbooks for civic education

Recommendations

• Government should be more open, and should carry out programs for everybody in the four spheres (schools, political parties, churches and family

NIMI WALSON-JACK (Director, CITAS Nigeria, Nigeria)

Background:

• Ghana has an effective National Commission for Education
• Countries like Nigeria, however, have no civic education because of military rule
• NGO's, churches and mosques provide civic education in communities
• Civics and history are combined
• Government is an option in the school syllabus

Obstacles:

• Teachers think that the curriculum is full
• The Ministry of Education thinks they have exclusive rights over the education curricula.
• Pay is irregular for teachers, thus, they do not want to take on extra assignments.

This has led to labor strikes.

• With 100-150 students per class, it is hard for students to participate in class. There is not enough attention given to individual students.
• Most countries do not have a full democratic government.
• Effectiveness is hampered by dealing with school authorities, and not by individual teachers.
• Human rights, environment, conflict resolution and character education are programs desired by schools.
• Human rights, environment, conflict resolution and character education are programs absent from school curricula.

UDIN S. WINATAPUTRA (Chairman, Research and Development Institute, Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia)

Background:

• The aim is to try to implement democracy in real life, instead of just in paper.
• 1961- introduced civic education
• Civic education has become a compulsory subject in schools from the primary to the university level.
• However, civic education is sometimes used as a vehicle for political indoctrination.
• Collaboration with the Center for Civic Education in the US and other international organization
• New assessment on Indonesian civic education; using didactic transmission
• Introduction of new methods in teaching civil education
• “We the People Project Citizen” program
• Due to such programs, there has been more participation; an acceptance of morediversified ideas; and the aspiration to act on democratic ideas has increased.

Obstacles:

• Large, and ethnically-diversified country separated by islands
• Heterogeneous council

Recommendations:

• Trying to develop a new model of education to adopt
• Trying to adopt civic education in Islamic universities

TALGAT NURLYBAYEV (Executive Director, Central Asian Resource and Education Center, Kazakhstan)

Background:

• Absence of civil consciousness and responsibility
• Transition period problems, economic problems, absence of civil society
• Islamic fundamentalism
• Eg. Turkmenistan has a dictatorship, thus it is impossible to conduct civil education. Several NGOs exist but these are mainly small informal groups (comprised mainly of youth, women and environmentalists).
• Eg. Uzbekistan and Turjikistan both have a strict authoritarian government,though they both permit some level of civic education. For example, educational centers publish textbooks on war and civics for middle school, which is approved by the Ministry of Education.
• In Kazakhstan and Krygystan there are no obstacles for education. Many NGOs are engaged in civic programs there.

Obstacles:

• Lack of democracy
• Legacy of the Soviet education system
• Lack of centralization
• Low priority of education in government policy. Thus, there is insufficient financing
• Struggle against terrorism

Recommendations:

• Give more rights at the indigenous level
• Use the best international educational materials
• Allocation of resources
• More democracy in society

MARY LARKIN (Street Law, USA)

Best Practices:

• Curriculum and materials for teachers and school systems such as books and lesson plans
• Civic materials are non-partisan and non-political
• Curricula combine knowledge, skills and content
• National and state standards and testing
• NGO's are supported and funded by government (Department of Justice; Ministry of Education)

Obstacles:

• Standards and testing encourage knowledge gain but don’t emphasize skills development
• There is teacher training in every state, but there needs to be more because theteacher force is leaving, and new teachers need to be trained.
• Civic education still hasn’t reached the student and adult population who are disenfranchised from the states (eg. people of color).
• There needs to be more civic education at an earlier age, and it needs to stay longer.
• There needs to be constant funding

Recommendations:

• More training for teachers
• Need constant funding
• Start at an earlier age, and stay longer
• Need inter-agency funding for civics education, as well as inter-government support and recognition