For the second year, the Commissioner for Children and Young People has partnered with the Parliament of South Australia to offer Civics in the City grants to regional schools.
The Civics in the City program provides disadvantaged schools with funding to visit the Adelaide CBD and engage with the learning experiences they would otherwise miss out on. Students from the recipient school will receive a guided tour and activity session in the Parliament of South Australia.
In 2022, over 60 schools – representing 3883 students – applied for grants totalling $194,940. Of these applications, five schools received grants, exhausting the approximately $12,000 pool of funding.
In 2023, the funding pool has increased to $80,000, meaning more students from regional South Australia will be able to visit the State’s civic centre. From the 63 applications – representing 3397 students and requesting a total of $326,929 – 25 schools from across the State have been selected to receive funding this year:
- Andamooka Primary School
- Bordertown High School
- Callington Primary School
- Ceduna Area School
- Compton Primary School
- Coober Pedy Area School
- Glenburnie Primary School
- Glossop Community School
- Hincks Avenue Primary School
- Kongorong Primary School
- Koolunga Primary School
- Mallala Primary School
- Mil Lel Primary School
- Moorak Primary School
- Peterborough High School
- Poonindie Community Learning Centre
- Port Broughton Area School
- Port Lincoln High School
- Port Lincoln Primary School
- Renmark High School
- Riverton Primary School
- Snowtown Primary School
- Wallaroo Mines Primary School
- Whyalla Stuart Primary School R-6
- Yahl Primary School”
Civics and citizenship education is vital to prepare children and young people to engage in society and be active members of their community and, often, the best way to engage students in key learning objectives is through hands-on experiences and excursions. Unfortunately, many schools cannot afford to travel to the CBD to undertake this kind of learning. The Civics in the City program alleviates some of the financial pressures on schools and allows those students to participate in educational activities that engage them with civics processes.
Helen Connolly, the Commissioner for Children and Young People, commented: “Children and young people want to understand the systems that govern them and how to engage in the decisions that affect them, that is why civics education is so important. Further, hands-on experiences are much more powerful than classroom lessons. I encourage all students to visit Parliament House and other civics destinations around Adelaide to gain a lasting understanding of how our parliamentary democracy works.”
