According to a recent study, new immigrants to Canada have a far better and improved knowledge of the history of the nation than the inborn country nationals, even as this is quite surprising. This nationwide survey has proved that the native people of the Canada are comparatively less aware of their own historical background.
For the study a survey was done and 2,300 people were covered. The said study explores the perspectives of the respondents on the Canadian history, along with how they evaluate their own grasp on the subject.
Almost 82% of the polled respondents, who were born outside of the country, claimed that they have very sound or fairly strong knowledge of the Canadian history. On the other hand, only about 70% of respondents, who were born in Canada, claimed to have sound historical knowledge about their own native land. Remarkably, nearly about 27% immigrant respondents and 16% Canada-born nationals claimed their knowledge of Canadian history to be very strong.
In this connection, Jack Jedwab, the Executive Director of Association of Canadian Studies (ACS) was quoted as saying that the main cause of immigrants' having sound knowledge about the history of Canada was due to fact that pretty recently, in several cases, the immigrants had to be familiar with the country's past, as it was a part of the process of obtaining Canadian citizenship.
However, to become a full-fledged citizen, the immigrants have to pass a citizenship test, which involves a historical aspect. Apart from that, while the native citizens are provided with a Canadian history education during the course of their primary and secondary studies, they don't get the refresher course that the new immigrants get in their quest to obtain citizenship.
He further went on to add that immigrants may become more familiar with the growth and evolution of the nation due to their direct association to the nation's multicultural identity, which has become the central narrative in the history of Canada. The immigrants identify themselves as part of it.
The said report also reveals that under the direction of Mr. Jason Kenney, the Immigration and Citizenship Minister of Canada, last year the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) revised and updated its citizenship guide -- the Discover Canada -- for the new immigrants to learn about the nation's historical background.
It is mentioned on the official site for the Discover Canada study guide that whether any individual is a citizen of the country by birth or choice, he or she should learn about the history, heritage and citizenship of the nation.
The Immigration Department of Canada also increased its passing score for the 20-question test from 60% to 75%, and executed a random scramble system to guarantee no two tests have similarities in them and thus subject to repetition and memorization by the candidates.
Mr. Kenney also added that these changes wouldn't restrict the determined immigrants from passing the test of Canadian citizenship.
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