Discovering Democracy
Extract from Brendan Nelson’s Letter for School Principals
As Commonwealth Minister for Education, I am committed to assisting you, your staff and parents to help young Australians to become active and informed citizens in our democracy. This is in line with all Education Ministers’ commitment to Goal 1.4 of the National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-first Century which states that when students leave schools they should be “active and informed citizens with an understanding and appreciation of Australia’s system of government and civic life.”
As an associated activity of the Discovering Democracy programme, it gives me pleasure to present your school with a video about the Australian Flag. The new teachers’ notes, included with the video, provide a link between the video and the Discovering Democracy resources which have been provided to all schools since 1998. Discovering Democracy is the national programme of civics and citizenship education. It assists students to learn about Australia’s system of government, our legal and political institutions, the history of Australian democracy and the nature of our civic life; it encourages them to become active and informed citizens.
………….
Yours sincerely
Brendan Nelson