Public Policy
December 01 2000
by Mike TuffreyThe teaching of citizenship has shot up the political agenda: progressives see it as a way to build a socially cohesive society; traditionalists fret that it takes time away from proper subjects like history and in any case is bound to fail as you can't teach better behaviour. As Briefing went to press, the government was launching its 'young citizen's passport'. In language many companies will recognise, it says citizenship education is about rights and responsibilities and cites volunteering as a valuable tool.
All the more pity, then, that no one withsolid experience of business has been appointed to the working party. Community affairs managers have learned lots these past two decades about how to be an active citizen. Many of the techniques apply readily to any corporate body, such as a school: think about the impact of your basic operations - who you employ, whether you pollute, how you reach out to customers with special needs; then use the purchasing power of your supply chain effectively; and finally make a voluntary community contribution, often best in time or in-kind.
Some companies' educational engagement has long been about helping schools be better citizens. Since 1995, Barclays New Futures has helped nearly 60,000 pupils from over 900 schools volunteer for community action in partnership with CSV. Over four years, Centrica's British Gas School Energy scheme has helped over a thousand schools save many millions in energy costs, part-funding energy efficiency equipment and advice (schools account for a quarter of the public sector's energy bill).
With citizenship an issue of growing salience, now is the time for other companies to think how they can help schools teach these wider lessons about society.