India
Ministry Of Education: Election Commission and ministry of education collaborate to promote electoral literacy in schools and colleges | India News
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NEW DELHI: Keen to take electoral literacy to the classrooms, the Election Commission on Thursday entered into a memorandum of understanding with the ministry of education to groom school and college students to be informed, enlightened and responsible voters in the future.
The MoU seeks to systematically integrate voters’ education and lessons on electoral literacy into the curricular framework for Classes 6-12 at school level and also across all colleges and universities, where it will be tailored to suit different disciplines.
An EC statement said the initiative to include schools and colleges in the reach of its systematic voters’ education and electoral participation programme (SVEEP) will prepare students in schools for their first vote and ingrain democratic values and ethos into their impressionable minds. Speaking recently on young voters, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar had emphasised the need to “catch them young” and make them aware of the important role of a voter in democracy, the voting process, ethos and magnitude of elections, so that they can make an informed choice as voters.
The larger objective of the MoU is to tackle voter apathy. This apathy, largely seen in young and urban voters, had manifested in the non-participation of one-third of the electorate in 2019 general elections.
As per terms of the MoU, NCERT will incorporate content on electoral literacy in school textbooks and advise State Education Boards to follow suit. The content will also be built into co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, such as establishment of electoral literacy clubs and a dedicated ‘democracy room’ in every senior secondary school for the regular display of voter education materials and the conduct of Continuous Electoral and Democracy Education (CEDE) activities.
CEDE will help university students develop critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills to actively participate in university-level politics, including engaging in informed debates and discussions.
SVEEP activities in schools and colleges will encourage students to register as voters as they approach 18 years of age, facilitating the EC’s aspirational goal of handing over the voter ID card to every student attaining minimum voting age.
The MoU seeks to systematically integrate voters’ education and lessons on electoral literacy into the curricular framework for Classes 6-12 at school level and also across all colleges and universities, where it will be tailored to suit different disciplines.
An EC statement said the initiative to include schools and colleges in the reach of its systematic voters’ education and electoral participation programme (SVEEP) will prepare students in schools for their first vote and ingrain democratic values and ethos into their impressionable minds. Speaking recently on young voters, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar had emphasised the need to “catch them young” and make them aware of the important role of a voter in democracy, the voting process, ethos and magnitude of elections, so that they can make an informed choice as voters.
The larger objective of the MoU is to tackle voter apathy. This apathy, largely seen in young and urban voters, had manifested in the non-participation of one-third of the electorate in 2019 general elections.
As per terms of the MoU, NCERT will incorporate content on electoral literacy in school textbooks and advise State Education Boards to follow suit. The content will also be built into co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, such as establishment of electoral literacy clubs and a dedicated ‘democracy room’ in every senior secondary school for the regular display of voter education materials and the conduct of Continuous Electoral and Democracy Education (CEDE) activities.
CEDE will help university students develop critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills to actively participate in university-level politics, including engaging in informed debates and discussions.
SVEEP activities in schools and colleges will encourage students to register as voters as they approach 18 years of age, facilitating the EC’s aspirational goal of handing over the voter ID card to every student attaining minimum voting age.
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