Civic Education in Eritrean Schools -How is it going?

Summary

This study is about Civic Education (Civics) in Eritrea.

The aim was to evaluate the subject

Civics, introduced in Eritrean Secondary Schools in 1998.

This study has three focuses. First,

a general progress report. Second, to assess the teachers’ experiences.

And finally, to study the methodologies that are used. Semi-structured interviews with students,teachers, school leaders,university teachers and government officials

were conducted. Open observations in secondary schools and at Asmara University were also made.

Another method was studies of docum

ents. Textbooks, teacher’s guide for textbooks, syllabus and reports from the

Ministry of Education w

ere studied. I met many hardworking and ambitious teachers.

They are doing a remarkable work even though the circumstances are tough.

The main results are that no Civics teachers are trained and no text books

are produced for te students.Very few teachers have attend ed a workshop.

Both teachers and students feel that Civics is not as important as other subjects.

Civics, not being included in the m

atriculation exam, strengthens this feeling. At many schools the home room

teachers are appointed to teach Civics. They do not have time to p repare the lessons properly and they do not have enough k

nowledge in the subject. English is used as medium of instruction and this is an

obstacle in several ways. Most teachers do not use the  student-centered methodology that is proposed by the Departm

ent of General Education. It is unclear in how many Zobas (administrative regions)

Civics isactually taught   read more