Facing declining voter interest and a population that was opting out of involvement in running its own community at all levels, Jersey launched an extensive citizenship programme, including reducing the voting age, to try to get young people into the habit of being involved, writes Jersey's Education Minister.
Sen. Vibert is Jersey's Minister for Education, Sport and Culture and is also Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Jersey Branch of the CPA. He was first elected to the States as a Deputy of the parish of St Brelade in 1996 and elected as a Senator in 2002.
actively engage in it through the ballot box?
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Jersey, in common with many mature democracies, faces the challenge of falling voter participation rates and attempts to turn this round are being made by efforts to interest young people from an early age to become active citizens. This is being pursued in a variety of
ways to try to ensure the potential voters of the future participate more than the current voters who often record turnouts of below 40 per cent. There is a new citizenship programme being run in all island schools, the voting
Sen. Mike E. Vibert.
age has been lowered to 16 and each year Jersey holds its own Youth Assembly.
Teaching citizenship As Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, I have been particularly involved in developing a citizenship programme for all schools in the island which is now part of the curriculum.
ow do you generate and maintain young people's interest in their community to the extent they
This programme involves young
people learning about their community from arrival at school at the age of 5 or earlier until they leave some 11 to 13 years later. In September 2005, I commissioned a
review of citizenship teaching in Jersey schools to inform future curriculum developments in respect of the island's democracy, current affairs and its political system. Following this, further work was commissioned to:
1. Construct a programme of study in
citizenship for all key stages; 2. Provide guidance to schools to
ensure that the programme was explicit in terms of knowledge, skills and understanding; 3. Encourage an "active" approach to
learning about citizenship, and 4. Develop resources to support the delivery of the curriculum.
Amongst all of those consulted, a common view emerged that, whilst recognizing existing cultural diversity, it was essential for young people to learn about the social structure and