Constitution Clubs open in 800 schools

A city-based NGO has trained social science teachers to set up clubs to create awareness about the Constitution and the Preamble in 800 schools in Karnataka. Of these, four schools fall under Bengaluru Urban and 12 under Bengaluru Rural.

The initiative of starting Children’s Constitution Clubs was launched on International Day of Democracy (September 15) last year. The Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) is running the initiative under the guidance of the Department of Social Welfare, Karnataka.

Headquartered in Koramangala, CMCA has been working towards citizenship education since 2000. Its CEO and co-founder Priya Krishnamurthy says they have conducted district-wise training and equipped social science teachers on how to run these clubs.

The clubs are set up for 8th grade students. They are required to come up with a name and logo for their club. They are taught the concepts of democracy and fraternity. Weekly sessions on equality and diversity, local governments, gender, personal integrity, critical thinking, how to assimilate news, and how to tell facts from misinformation are conducted. The students are also taught how to make a call to a government helpline and how to be an active citizen.

Students of grades 6, 7, 9 and 10 can participate in workshops organised by the clubs. The workshops for 6th and 7th graders focus on topics like child rights and using water responsibly, while the ones for 9th and 10th grades feature issues like gender stereotyping, and living in harmony with nature.

CMCA’s aim is to create awareness about constitutional values enshrined in the Preamble and espoused by Dr B R Ambedkar, who is considered the father of the Indian Constitution. “In school, the subject of civics covers theoretical aspects of a democracy like what a parliamentary democracy is. We try to connect concepts like justice, liberty, equality and fraternity to children’s daily lives,” explains Priya.

Visit cmcaindia.org or call 2553 8584/85 for details