When coming across the term “Civic Education,” many are caught by surprise. Only after hearing the definition do they remember all the issues surrounding the concept of civic education. Civic education teaches people the practical and political aspects of their citizenship, their rights and duties as competent citizens in a democratic state and society. Here is the tricky part; citizens are more likely to engage in the local self-governing procedures if they are informed of those. Also, they should learn of the ways that they can participate in the decision-making processes and similar governmental events. Thus, to have politically engaged citizens a state must implement civic education and teach its people about the government and everything concerning it.
In the Armenian educational system, civic education is taught as a part of a subject called “Social Sciences,” or as more widely known in Armenian Ő°ŐˇŐ˝ŐˇÖ€ŐˇŐŻŐˇŐŁŐ«ŐżŐ¸Ö‚Ő©ŐµŐ¸Ö‚Ő¶ (hasarakagitutyun). Social Sciences has been integrated into the curriculums since 2008; students from eighth to 12th grade are required to study the subject. As established in the subject criteria, “The democratization processes in the Republic of Armenia demand the upbringing of civic qualities such as awareness and realization of one’s rights and responsibilities, positive participation leadership … of a democratic society.” The social sciences textbooks in Armenia are not only influenced by Armenian laws but also those of the Charter “Democratic Civic Education and Human Rights Education” of the Council of Europe. The textbooks should revolve around the following components:
- Democracy and law,
- Public responsibility,
- Diversity and Active public participation.
Despite the efforts towards raising awareness about civic education through the subject, students and school curriculums do not give enough credit and importance to the topic.
Recently, a student club called “Civic Education” has been established in AUA that disseminates and teaches civic education. The club was founded by sophomore EC students Valentina Chilingaryan, Nonna Hovhannisyan and Zhanna Kuroyan.
The club President Valentina Chilingraryan believes that AUA’s “Civic Education” student club aims to raise awareness about different social topics through informal education by organizing debates, seminars and various activities among AUA students that promote the idea of being a part of the union of informed citizens. She is enthusiastic and has plans of initiating a social development project alongside her education at AUA. The plan of founding a club was supported by her friends Zhanna and Nonna. “I just fell in love with the idea of how we together, three girls, can take steps towards social change in our community,” adds Valentina.
The founders of the club assure the club is an important asset to the AUA community as they believe that social issues very often stem from misinformation and public awareness is key to effective communication about those issues.
To enlarge the circle of its beneficiaries the club is going to organize different kinds of activities based on all students’ interests in the theme of civic education. Their end goal is to help AUA students raise awareness in their immediate communities. The club members come from different towns and regions, making it a beneficial condition for spreading awareness in a wide range of areas, instead of working solely with people living in the capital city. “We imagine seeing our club members initiating social projects in their communities in the future, which will aim to solve the social issues at the practical level as well,” concludes Valentina.
It is too soon to say if the club founded by EC students, will manage to fill in the gaps of civic education but the first steps are definitely being made towards improvement.
