Like every other 16-year-old, I can’t wait to turn 18. Mostly because I can finally affirm my independence of thought in the governing of my country India, and in my role as a voter. However, like most other 18 year olds, I will be abysmally unprepared for the role of a citizen. The blame rests squarely on my insipid and inadequate high school civics curriculum.

Dictated by ‘earn to live’ rather than ‘learn to live’, high school curriculums lubricate assembly lines churning out students to feed an economy, rather than building citizenry for a healthy society. Physics, chemistry and biology are independent subject streams with computer science and economics as electives. In contrast, history and civics have, unfortunately, been compressed into one subject. Civics lessons are a mere factual account of India’s constitution and composition of governance, a dull regurgitation of Google facts. To any high schooler, civics is a subject to win easy marks, because it is a mere memory test requiring zero thought. I have spent several 50-minute lesson slots lamenting the loss of invaluable opportunities to engage with my peers on issues that we will face as citizens of the world.

We live in strange times – caught between fake news, real news and alternative truths. We are bitterly divided along values and ideologies. Adding to this conundrum are politicians, who engage in rhetoric to obscure facts. Personal accountability and social decency are no longer criterion for public office. Angry and anxious, citizens are unable to find middle ground.

Civics is about citizenry and its intended goal is to create a capacity for civic discourse. As adolescents, we are still developing our core values and it is an opportune time to introduce healthy habits of citizenry through a well thought out civics curriculum. An engaged society of citizens capable of constructive civil dialogue is less likely to be the target of opportunistic politicians. With so few youngsters participating in elections as voters and far fewer daring to enter fields of politics and governance, it is time for an urgent review of our civics curriculum.

- The reader is a student based in Dubai.