IT SOUNDS like the ultimate pipe dream. These will target poorer areas of Britain, where women are traditionally reluctant to get involved in politics."This is a major initiative to hear the views of ordinary women and to give them the opportunity to let the Government know what it can do to improve their lives," said an aide to Lady Jay. Women have said that they feel that the Government is being run by men for men and that the Prime Minister can be "smarmy".They also complain that they do not identify with the "laddishness" of New Labour.The campaign, entitled "Listening to Women", will be accompanied by a roadshow of leading Labour figures including Baroness Jay, the Minister for Women, and Tessa Jowell, the Health Minister.They will hold informal seminars around the country to gauge women's views on what Labour is doing wrong and how it can improve. This will be circulated to all ministers later this year.The initiative follows research by the Labour Party which found that many, particularly middle-class, white-collar women, believe that the Prime Minister cannot relate to their lives.Labour's private polling found that women around the country have repeatedly said Mr Blair is "out of touch" and "remote" from ordinary people. The initiative follows evidence from Labour's private polling - revealed in the Independent on Sunday - that Tony Blair is "unappealing" to women, despite his efforts to win over female voters. The postcards will be circulated at the checkouts of stores such as Marks & Spencer and Bhs, as well as libraries, doctors' surgeries and advice centres.The questionnaires on what the Government should do to help women will ask female voters to identify, from a list including the economy, crime and education, the single most important issue facing the country today.The postcards will also include telephone numbers for the women's unit in the Cabinet Office - which recently called for more role models for teenage girls.Their views will shape an influential report identifying policy areas across government where women are ignored and should be considered more closely. Issues such as MPs' accountability, proportional representation and federalism and controversial topics such as nationalisation and income distribution should all be within their grasp.. THE GOVERNMENT is to canvass the views of women on what really matters in their lives by sending out one million bright orange, reply- paid postcards to shops and libraries.

And they should take part in a question and answer sessions with someone from the local community.By 14, they should know about the use and misuse of statistics, use role- play to express views with which they disagree, learn about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, equal opportunities, discrimination and trade unions.By the end of compulsory schooling, Prof Crick envisages that pupils will have an adult knowledge of how the political system works. They should be able to tell an MP from an MEP, a democracy from a dictatorship and a prime minister from a president. They should also understand the difference between kind and unkind, good and bad and right and wrong.By 11 they should be discussing moral dilemmas and understand increasingly sophisticated political terms. But Mr Potter said: "The intention of the Crick report is that people should be given the opportunity to think independently and to challenge views."Prof Crick suggests that children as young as seven should take part in simple debates and vote, "reflect on issues of social and moral concern" and know what fairness means. "With the pressures on schools, the danger would be that teachers would feel they were too busy to teach it."Some critics have warned of the danger of indoctrination in citizenship lessons. All schools will be expected to encourage children to take part in voluntary work and to become active citizens in their communities.John Potter, Community Service Volunteers' director of education for citizenship, welcomed the idea of a formal entitlement to citizenship lessons but said that it would be regrettable if that did not extend to primary schools. He recommended that 5 per cent of curriculum time should be spent on it, about one or two lessons a week.Primary schools may not be forced to teach citizenship but there will be guidelines on issues which can be included in existing lessons on personal and social education.

The changes are part of a review of the whole National Curriculum and the recommendations are expected to be put in place next year.Citizenship lessons almost certainly will be based on a report from Prof Crick's advisory group, published last year. Teachers have also warned that the curriculum is already overcrowded and that, if citizenship is to be added, other subjects will have to go.But Mr Blunkett and Prof Crick argue that, unless citizenship is put on a statutory footing, it will not be taught. Others, including Chris Woodhead, the Chief Inspector of Schools, are concerned that schools will neglect the academic basics in favour of lessons in political literacy. Another group looked at what pupils should be taught about moral, spiritual and social development.Mr Blunkett believes citizenship lessons are vital to safeguard democracy at a time when a dwindling number of young people bother to vote. Professor Bernard Crick, Mr Blunkett's former tutor, and Michael Brunson, ITN's political editor, are among those pressing for legislation to ensure that citizenship is taught.Sir Simon Rattle, Dawn French and Lenny Henry, who were in a group on creativity and culture, worried that compulsory citizenship might leave less time for artistic activities.Sir Geoffrey Holland, vice-chancellor of the University of Exeter and former permanent secretary at the Department for Education and Employment, chaired a group on sustainable development, which doubted the wisdom of an immediate change in the law. Eleven-year-olds will be taught about freedom of speech and how to tell an MP from an MEP.There will also be guidelines on the things every teenager should know to prepare them for adult life: the difference between right and wrong, what to eat, how to protect the environment and how to be a good parent.David Blunkett, the Secretary of State for Education, wants pupils to be taught about morality and involvement in the community, as well as about how the House of Commons works and the sort of topics which featured in old-fashioned civics lessons.The plans, which will be announced in April, are still being finalised, but Mr Blunkett is understood to have taken the controversial decision that citizenship lessons should eventually be compulsory, at least in secondary schools.His proposal that schools should have time to adjust to the new lessons comes after months of in-fighting between a series of high-profile advisory groups. "CITIZENSHIP LESSONS" will be compulsory in all secondary schools by 2002, under plans being finalised by ministers.