Public schools to increase the importance of civics in classrooms in move to strengthen democracy

Civics will now be taught in all subjects across the curriculum including English and maths as SA high schools move to protect and strengthen democratic institutions.

South Australian high school students will learn how democracy works under an $18.4m plan to decrease voter apathy and tackle the effects of disinformation.

Public school students in years 7 and 8 will study civics for an hour a week and the topic will be integrated into other subjects in years 9 and 10 to teach them about the value of democracy “in an age of disinformation and polarisation”, Premier Peter Malinauskas said.

“The best way to combat that (misinformation) is to make sure young people understand how the process works,” Mr Malinaukas said.

When asked if there was a low level of political literacy in the state, Mr Malinauskas said “the only honest answer is yes”.

“We need people to be engaged,” he said.

Civics is currently delivered through the humanities and social sciences subject, which is compulsory between years 3 to 8.

But the quality of delivery of content is mixed due to a lack of specialist teachers.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said part of funding will allow all teachers in years 9 and 10 to access professional development to integrate civics into their subjects.

Mr Boyer said civics can be taught in subjects such as maths through statistics and how numbers can be “manipulated by people to support their own case”.

In English, civics will be taught through the selection of texts such as George Orwell’s 1984.

Mr Boyer said the success of the plan will be measured by an increase in the number of students studying Politics, Power and People in year 12, a subject which has seen a 15 per cent decline in enrolments between 2021 and 2023.

“It’s got to start at years 7 and 8 and you’ve got to inspire kids,” Mr Boyer said of increasing participation in the subject.

All public schools also will be able to take part in an annual three-day active citizenship convention, which will allow students to see institutions such as government and the courts as well as mock debates.

A group chaired by the Education Department chief executive Professor Martin Westwell will oversee the implementation of the reforms.

Adelaide High School Year 9 students Euan and Hana will benefit from the increased focus on civics.

“In year 7 and 8 I learned virtually no civics,” Euan, 15, said.

“It’s going to help young people to make more informed decisions.”

His classmate Hana said more class time on civics “will open the gates to a lot more opportunity”.

“This will be a great opportunity to get an idea about what’s going on,” the 15-year-old said.

Marden Senior College year 12 student Diya said she was not aware she could study a civics subject until her final year of school.

“As a young person a lot of the information that we do get about politics … is from social media, so, Instagram and mainly TikTok,” Diya, 18, said.