Constitutional Awareness among Secondary School Students: An Empirical Assessment

Author(s): Minakshi Mishra

Abstract:

Even after 76 years as a Republic, democracy in India has not fully transformed into a way of life. Misuse of power, subversion of democratic institutions, and persistent inequalities of caste, creed, sect and gender indicate a gap between constitutional ideals and social reality. Though the Preamble enshrines socialism, secularism, and democracy, these values have not attained their expected position in society due to illiteracy and social dissensions. Since schools are primary agencies of political socialisation, this study assesses the level of constitutional awareness among Class XI secondary school students. Using a descriptive survey design, data were collected from 500 students across 10 government and private schools in Delhi through a self-developed Constitutional Awareness Test (CAT) and semi-structured interviews with 20 teachers. Findings reveal that 76% of students were unaware of the meaning of ‘Socialism’ in the Indian context, 74% defined secularism as “all religions equal”, 62% could not identify all the Fundamental Duties, and about 81% could not identify all the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles. However, 62% showed high awareness of the right to vote. Thematic analysis of interviews identified three barriers: (1) Textbook-centric rote learning, (2) Lack of dialogic pedagogy on controversial issues, and (3) Disconnect between course content and students’ lived realities. The study concludes that constitutional literacy requires pedagogical shifts from information transfer to critical inquiry, lived citizenship projects, and teacher preparation in constitutional morality.

keywords:
Constitutional Awareness, Constitutional Morality.

Pages: 113-116     |    13 View     |    2 Download