Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter

From left: Stephanie Stewart of South Side, downtown Kingston; Jerado Stewart and Glasford Barracks, both of Denham Town. Stephanie wants to become a public relations manager, Jerado a computer technician and Glasford an executive chef. They are all part of the Couples Resorts 2007 Inner-city Initiative project.

Support for political parties in Jamaica has been referred to as a cult, with some supporters lacking the maturity to make informed decisions not entirely based on preference or tradition.

A group of young inner-city youths, however, is proposing that the importance of the franchise and the political process should be fundamental in the educational system to change these practices.

Group consensus

The consensus of the group, which participated in a Gleaner Editors' forum recently, is that a majority of Jamaicans did not value their vote or their nation, and, as such, were easily swayed by corrupt politicians.

"Dem don't teach us civics or the importance of votes. I never learnt anything about the system or civics, while going to school," one female participant says.

A young male in the group is in agreement. He says, on his own initiative, he learned about his country and that was when he was in university. "I learnt about the Jamaican Constitution after doing a research project in history, and then I say, 'Let me look on this piece here,' and it started to interest me and that's how comes I learn how the Jamaican Government work," he claims.

State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Noel Montieth, says while there is not a specific subject that focuses on the Jamaican Constitution or the political process, different areas within these topics can be included in social studies.

Lack of awareness

However, the youths believe the lack of awareness of the importance of the political system leads to their abuse. "I think The Gleaner should do a questionnaire and ask people what dem love more, if them love Jamaica or if dem love the JLP or the PNP and I have a strong feeling that the response will be that they love the party more," says one young man.