International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue XII, December 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Teaching of Civic Education in Zambian Secondary Schools as a Strategy for Effective Political Participation

Davy Mainde¹, Daniel Katongo Chola^2
1The University of Zambia
²Mulungushi University

Abstract;- The core focus of this study was to investigate the teaching of Civic Education in Zambian secondary schools and how it serves as a strategy for effective political participation in the community. This study was used a qualitative case study. Twenty (20) professional teachers in Civic Education and Thirty-Five (35) learners in Civic Education classes from Five(05) selected secondary schools in Lusaka district of Lusaka province were purposively nominated through homogenous sampling. One – to – one interview was used to collect information from teachers while focus group discussion was used to collected data from learners in Civic Education classes. The study established that the teaching of Civic Education in schools is positively serving a role of training learners for effective political participation as it provide them with knowledge on governance issues. It was also established that Civic Education prepare learners for effective leadership and critical thinking which are key to political participation. Further, the study established that learners are prepared for the way of life and political tolerance as they effectively participate in political affairs of their community. It was recommended that Schools should strengthen local Continuous Professional Development (CPD); the government of the republic of Zambia to come up with a clear policy that will arouse the interest of the young people through the teaching of Civic Education to effectively participate in political activities of their community while still in school; and the Ministry of General Education to constantly call for educational conferences to sensitise Civic Education teachers on the need to prepare learners for effective political participation as outline in the 2013 Zambia education curriculum framework.

Key Terms: Civic Education, Political Participation, Civic Knowledge, Civic Skills and Civic Dispositions

I. INTRODUCTION

Citizens of any given community are required to take part in its operations either directly or indirectly. This has various dimensions which includes; economic, political or community participation. Oakley and Marsden (1984) look at participation as a concept that is closely linked to rural development. Participatory citizenship means becoming actively involved in building a better society. Thus, Mukisa (2009) relatecitizen involvement to a bottom-up process of development. Additionally, Yezi (2013) views political participation as consisting of those legal activities by private citizens that are more or less directly aimed at influencing the selection of government personnel and/or the actions they take. Political participation can be seen when citizens get involved in choosing of their representatives through voting.
Following the enactment of the Mvunga Constitution and the reintroduction of multi-party participatory democracy in 1991, there has been a number of efforts to reinvigorate citizens’ interest in political participation in Zambia. For instance, the Zambia Civic Education Association (ZCEA) was formed in 1993 to empower the Zambian citizenry in coping with the new democratic dispensations (Katongo, 2013), which led to the reintroduction of teaching of Civic Education in 2003 which was banned in 1978 at the senior secondary school level (Muleya, 2015), to act as a link between junior secondary school civics and the time when one graduates from tertiary education (Niemi & Junn, 1998). The course was to impart into learners skills, knowledge and virtues needed for effective political participation in the community. Since then, the teaching of Civic Education at the senior secondary school has impacted the community through its civic knowledge, civic skills and civic values which are key education determinant in every citizen maturity. Topics such as elections, rights and constitution in Civic Education (Muntengwa, 2020) are a key in arousing interests of pupils when they become adults if taught through appropriate strategies. It is against this background that this study was conducted to investigate the teaching of Civic Education in Zambian secondary schools and how it serves as a strategy for effective political participation in Lusaka district.

Problem Statement

The democratic goals of education are; liberty (which entails knowledge), opportunity (which necessitate skills) and mutual respect (which concern dispositions) among people (Sardoc, 2018). Citizens ought to know when and how to exercise their liberties, to put into appropriate practices knowledge learnt and to have self-conviction to actively take part in public decision making processes. Eurydice Report (2017) provides the first step towards understanding what citizenship education is,as to understand its functions, which is none other than bridging the gap between the individual and the community. This gap can be addressed if citizens become informed, active and engaged in political, social, and other related issues of life through provision of relevant education (ACARA, 2012; Muleya, 2019a). In simplicity, the teaching of Civic Education globally should provide learners with knowledge, impart skills and inculcate good moral values to learners which will arouse their interest to actively take part in political affairs of their community.