Introducing political studies in schools to equip students with the skills they need to vote responsibly might not be the right solution to help young people understand the value of their vote, Children’s Commissioner Pauline Miceli believes.
Instead, a cross-curricular approach at secondary school level should be taken.
Ms Miceli gave comments to the Times of Malta in the wake of suggestions by a group of secondary students who put forward the idea of introducing political studies in schools to Education Minister Evarist Bartolo last week as Parliament debates drafting a law aimed at lowering the voting age in general elections from 18 to 16.
The students voiced their concerns that while they were in favour of being given the right to vote at the age of 16 they were not being exposed to political topics in school.
I doubt a new subject in the too-loaded curriculum will result in the desired skills
According to Ms Miceli, however, the current curriculum is already “too loaded” and a more holistic approach to learning would yield better results.
“I doubt that by introducing a new subject to the already-too-loaded curriculum at secondary school level would result in attaining the desired skills: it should be a cross-curricular approach,” the Commissioner said. She pointed out that it is more important to support young people to develop the necessary skills by encouraging them to participate in debates and share informed opinions during normal lessons.
“Many of our teachers are doing this, mainly through subjects like history, social studies, religion and ethics, PSCD and environmental studies.
“Giving children a voice and truly listening to their opinions will help them to develop critical thinking skills. We need to move away from partisan politics by focusing more on the issues which come up for discussion,” Ms Miceli went on.
On the risks of young people being more easily influenced by their families or peers, the Commissioner said that while choosing one party or another comes at a later stage, when young people are presented with electoral programmes, she pointed out that they are no different from adults, who “may be influenced in their lives and political choices by their peers, families and significant others”.