Strengthening Civic Education in Primary Schools (SCEPS)

The project is designed to develop an ethic of civic leadership and responsibility in growing youth that will help to produce a young generation with strong self-esteem who participate in community services and promote peace, tolerance, respect, equality, justice, and dignity. Specific objectives of the project are to:

• Improve students' discipline, reduce student/youth violence and conflict in target schools and communities, enhance understanding of democratic principles by students in target schools, and increase awareness of social concerns.
• Expand or strengthen and support existing Boy and Girls Scouts Clubs and training and mentoring students to engage in community service work in primary schools.

Activities of the project include:

• Establishing Boy and Girls Scouts Clubs in 350 primary schools;
• Strengthening and supporting student governments through the provision of necessary materials and training in 500 primary schools; and
• Developing, printing and distributing supplementary reading materials that focus on civics issues and social concerns in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

The project works with primary schools to nurture students to interact with teachers and peers, express their feelings, respect people, exercise decision making and take responsibility. Through the extracurricular activities aligned with the primary school civic education curriculum, SCEPS enables students to develop the necessary skills for exercising governance and engaging in community services that will lay the foundation for their effective civic participation as adults.

In addition, through co-curricular activities such as Boys and Girls Scouts and through student councils, the project helps students become socially active and responsible. According to USAID, scouting can instil integrity, commitment to community service, and the practice of good citizenship in young people.

Overall, the project is designed to develop an ethic of civic leadership and responsibility in growing youth that will help to produce a young generation with strong self-esteem who participate in community services and promote peace, tolerance, respect, equality, justice, and dignity.

Governance, Youth, Education,

Civics and Ethical Education is one of the core pillars of the Ethiopia's "General Education Quality Improvement Program" and Ethiopia has a civic education curriculum in place. This project is designed to complement these programmes.