Sir, – We wish to register our dismay at the prospect that Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) will be removed as a compulsory State examinable subject in the new junior cycle curriculum.
At present every Junior Certificate student in the State studies this subject which has at its core an exploration of the meaning and application of active citizenship in society grounded in an understanding of international human rights.
We are aware that the NCCA is formulating a similar, but optional short course, to replace the present CSPE course. Further to this, we understand that completion of the proposed new Junior Certificate requires cognisance of associated statements of learning which demand, for example, that students “value what it means to be an active citizen with rights and responsibilities in local and wider contexts”. However, we believe the current provision of citizenship education is superior.
At present every child is afforded the same opportunity to engage in a syllabus based on the following seven concepts: human dignity, human rights and responsibility, stewardship, understanding of development in society, democracy, law, and interdependence. It includes an externally assessed State exam (40 per cent) as well as the completion of an action project (60 per cent) which has been innovative, beneficial, popular with students and regarded well internationally.
The possibility will exist under the new proposals for citizenship and human rights education to be delivered in a cross-curricular and piece-meal fashion. Available research from the UK has shown this to be less than satisfactory.
As pointed out in by the Irish Commission for Human Rights in a report in 2012, “the re-designation of CSPE as a non-compulsory subject means that there would be no mandatory citizenship education available to all students for the first time since 1966”.
Ireland has an obligation to provide human rights education as a result of various United Nations Conventions to which the Irish State is a party.
For these reasons we feel the Junior Certificate proposals are a retrograde step, which will remove equality of opportunity in regard to human rights and citizenship education in the Irish education system. We therefore would call on the Government to reverse this decision. – Yours, etc,
JEANNE BARRETT,
Chairperson,
Association of Civic, Social
and Political Education
Teachers in Ireland,
Serpentine Avenue,
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.