Education
Why Do We Need Citizenship Education In Nigeria
In this article, we are going to explore Why Do We Need Citizenship Education In Nigeria? We hope you find this article a very interesting read.
Citizenship education is simply the teaching of effective participation of citizens of a particular country in the processes of democratic development of that nation, and its ultimate goal is to teach a citizen of a country to live in freedom.
The importance of citizenship education at any level cannot be underestimated. Citizenship education helps in ensuring effective civic participation by citizens of a country.
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Participating effectively in the development of individual society is actually an essential aspect of strengthening the ability of such a society to ensure that, it manages its own affairs successfully.
Citizenship education, if one looks at it closely, the education is actually based on some values and some principles such as; transparency, and participation, and active response, and accountability, and empowerment, as well as, justice.
What then are the integral components of citizenship education? The integral components of citizenship education include the means of communication and also access to information.
And we must not forget that, citizenship education is an essential and at the same time, an efficient way of ensuring the participation of citizens of a country in democratic processes as well as, in the development of one’s society.
The citizenship education can actually helps citizens of a country to fully express their opinion either as an individual or as a group.
Citizenship participation is very essential, since it is based on the defence of individual citizen of a country as well as, the collective rights of every citizen, even as it helps in ensuring the realization of the citizens’ obligations in every society.
Why Citizenship Education?
There are quite a number of reasons why we study citizenship education, and in this article, I will be discussing quite a number of them, however, below are some of the reasons why citizenship education is essential, and they are:
1. Value Of Democracy
The key reason why we study citizenship education is the teaching and the impartation of the citizens with the necessary knowledge about the mechanism of democratic processes in a country.
The citizen of this country have the rights to be convinced of the values and also the advantages of democracy. They also through citizenship education have the qualities of being independent and being critically minded citizens.
2. Contribution To Common Good
Citizenship education gives citizens the rights to contributing to the common good of their countries. Contributing outstandingly to the common good of one’s country is one of the key principles and the fundamentals of citizenship education. What then is the concept of the common good?
The concept of the common good simply means that any political society has a different set of values, and these sets of values are quite significant for every member of society.
3. Freedom Awareness
Freedom is among the reasons why we study citizenship education, and is one of the very strongest and desired human needs.
Having freedom means that, a citizen can implement his plans, and makes independent choice of life decisions, as well as making a choice of ways to achieve those goals.
4. Political Equality
Political equality is simply understanding the equality of opportunity that citizens of a country have in order to achieve their individual goals.
The outcome of citizens’ political aspirations will always remain quite different, pending on citizens abilities and their individual inclinations.
Social and political equality usually speaks of the very absence of the social and political classes in the society, as well as, privileges in one’s society.
5. Knowing And Understanding The Truth
True is important and necessary in any democratic society. Citizens of a country ought to know about the happenings in their individual society, which they create.
As democratic citizens of a society, they have the constitutional right to demanding from public officials an account of their actions, and how they, the officials spent their money and the decisions they have taken to better the lots of the members of the public.
6. Having Political Knowledge
Political knowledge in one’s society will help the citizens to know and understand the very functioning mechanism of their society, especially now many of these societies are practising modern democracy.
7. Knowledge Of One’s Constitutional Rights
Every citizen of a country supposed to have the right to knowledge. The knowledge of the constitution or the constitutional system of that country.
In other words, it is the citizenship education that gives citizens of a country the very idea of the fundamentals of their individual constitutional system, which they operate in their nations. It also allowed for the citizens’ rights and the freedoms as specified in the constitution of their nations.
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8. Knowledge Of Society’s Structure
Citizens have the rights to know and understand the structure of their society. They have the rights to know and understand their norms and their values, as well as, the very problems of social development, and this is made possible through citizenship education.
Citizenship education also allows the citizens to know and understand their place in the society, including the complexities of social relations, and family, and education, and culture, as well as, age and also gender differentiation.
9. Knowledge Of History
One will agree with me that, knowledge of history is essential and necessary for the citizens of a country. Knowledge of history actually helps the citizens of a country to know and understand the present so as to be able to plan for the future.
In the process of citizenship education, a citizen can obtain some knowledge, and as a result, form some value preferences, which can make him acquire certain personal qualities.
The knowledge, of course, can also help the citizens of a country to develop civic skills of thinking and that of their behavior.
10 Civil Competencies
Citizenship education helps in the formation of civic competencies. The education allows a citizen to effectively cope with the social role, specified for citizens of that country.
It helps citizens to fully use their civil rights and civil freedoms. Actually, the objectives of citizenship education are great. The learning about democracy has a very essential object, to educating a responsible citizen and a critically thinking citizen.
The citizens of a country should be willing to communicate with the fellow citizens, as well as, participate effectively in every affair of their state. The importance of citizenship and its objectives, no doubt, is in freedom and also in responsible decisions.
Conclusion
The importance of citizenship education at any level cannot be underestimated. Citizenship education helps in ensuring effective civic participation by citizens of a country.
Participating effectively in the development of individual society is actually an essential aspect of strengthening the ability of such a society to ensure that, it manages its own affairs successfully.