Pay Attention to Civic Education to Reorient Mindset of Youth - - NCCE Chairperson

By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu

The Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Josephine Nkrumah, says it is time Africa paid attention to civic education to re-orient the mindset of the youth.

This, she said would help tune the mindset of the teeming youth in Africa to understand their role in nation-building.

Ms Nkrumah said this on Wednesday when a multi-sectorial delegation from Uganda paid a courtesy call on her at her office in Accra.

The Ugandan delegation which comprised government representatives, civil society organisations, academia, UN and security agencies were on a three-day fact-finding mission to Ghana and also to interact with their Ghanaian counterparts in areas including electoral management, civic education, and peace building.

According to Ms Nkrumah, both countries had proposed to begin a journey of building a network of civic education institutions across West Africa.

She indicated that her outfit would be in touch with the UN Resident Coordinator Ms Rosa Malango, who led the Ugandan delegation, to begin the process of engaging other civic education institutions in other West African countries.

"This is to enable us build a network that looks at civic education holistically not only from a national perspective but more importantly from the perspective of the continent that holds the most natural resources," she added.

The Chairperson NCCE said civic education was necessary for national development, hence the need to integrate it into the educational system to help the upcoming youth grow up to become better citizens.

She further educated the delegation on Ghana's electoral processes as the country approaches the general elections next year.

Ms Nkrumah said the commission was working with traditional authorities to promote civic education in their various jurisdictions toward nation building.

The head of the delegation, Ms Malango, said the mission was in line with the South-South cooperation and pathway that allowed the UN to support the government deal with challenging emerging issues.

"It was very important for us to come to Ghana where your civic education initiative have existed for a long time, to understand the institutional challenges and know what works and what does not work as well as to understand the financing modalities in tackling civil education, elections and peacebuilding in Ghana," she added.

Ms Malango urged the NCCE to ensure Ghana's traditions were aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by roping in the traditional leaders to bring their knowledge and cultural diversity to bear on the attainment of the SDGs.

Read Full Story