A Study of Causes of Decline in Citizenship Education in Pakistan at Secondary Level

Abstract

It is being noted with increasing concern that the concept of citizenship appears to have no importance and impact in our education system and society. I consider that this area has been a blot on the social arena of my country for a long time causing negative consequences for the, ever fragile, democratic processes. The field of citizenship education is a widespread turf that includes the aspects of politics, philosophy and ideology and also involves the academic approaches, goals and perspectives. When looked at the most basic level, the elementary purpose of citizenship education has been agreed to be the development of good democratic citizens. Implementation of citizenship education is multi-dimensional in that it includes educational policies, development of curriculum and academic strategies; therefore the expression of the purpose is possible in multiple terms. Citizenship too has dual orientations: progressive and conservative, can be used to maintain the status quo.

Keywords: Citizenship Education; Democratic Citizen; Rights and Responsibilities; Development of Curriculum; Decline in Standards; Moral Values; Civic and Human Rights; Politics