From Samuel Agbewode
The Kadjebi District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr. Daniel Agbesi Latsu, has called on the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service (GES) to make the study of civic education an examinable core subject in the curriculum of schools, from the Junior High (JHS) to the Senior High school (SHS) levels.
Mr. Latsu noted that this would help produce patriotic youth with a clear understanding of their rights and responsibilities, as well as cherish such virtues as integrity, tolerance and appreciate other societal values, which constitute a firm foundation upon which a healthy society is built.
The Kadjebi District Director of the NCCE, who said this during the inauguration of the Kosamba Junior High School (JHS) Civic Education Club (CEC) in the Kadjebi District, said such education, at an early stage, would help the youth to be conversant with the contents of the 1992 Constitution, and be ready to help protect, uphold and defend it against all forms of abuse and violation.
Mr. Latsu observed that the present situation where civic education and government were hardly considered part of academic discipline in our educational institutions was not the best, because its absence at the JHS and the SHS levels had produced youth leaving school with little or no knowledge about their civic and moral responsibilities.
He said: “Our desire, as a country, to have well informed and critical minded youth, capable of promoting and sustaining our democracy, could be achieved, if and only the youth were civically-conscious, conversant and abreast with their civic and moral responsibilities,” he stressed.
Mr. Latsu said civic education was a shared responsibility which must be performed by all citizens, irrespective of race, gender and ethnic background, noting that the failure of the citizenry to be involved ought to be seen as a major threat to the country’s resolve to building a strong democratic culture.
An Assistant Civic Education Officer of the NCCE at Kadjebi, Mr. Gabriel Kwame Dzanka, appealed to the students to develop an interest in the study of the 1992 Constitution, to enable them play their roles more effectively, adding that adequate knowledge of the Constitution would enable the people to fully participate in the governance process of the country.
He told the pupils and students to cultivate the virtue of tolerance, which, he stressed, was crucial in their lives, since it would help in the promotion of peace among members of the communities, noting that peace was a prerequisite to the development of society, and urged them to lead the crusade of promoting peace wherever they found themselves.
The Headmaster of the Kosamba JHS, Mr. Aminu Osman, who received the Constitution books on behalf of the school, commended the management and staff of the NCCE for their commitment to duty, which resulted in the inauguration of the club in the school, and urged the pupils and students to take advantage of the opportunities available.
The 26-member club has Master Selorm Sobia as Chairman, Master Courage Nukpe as Secretary, Miss Rosemary Torlolo as Treasurer, Master Exornam Aziakpor as Organiser, and Mr. Evans Anara as Patron. The inauguration of the Kosamba JHS CEC brings to 24 the number of Civic Education clubs in the Kadjebi District.