The Union ministry of human resource development has set in motion a plan to include more information about the democratic exercise of voting in school syllabi, including as extra and co-curricular activities, following a request from the Election Commission.
As many as 20 million first-time voters are added to the electoral list every year and the EC wants to focus on this demographic of 15-17-year-olds or 62% of the future voters to drive home the importance of the franchise and ethical voting.
Though information about electoral processes is part of civic science syllabus in most states, the poll panel wants more. It has cited the examples of countries such as the United States, Canada, South Korea and Australia where electoral literacy is part of the school curriculum.
“Schools in these countries carry out mock elections either close to the state or national elections or an annual exercise to familiarise the students with the actual voting and counting process. Even young democracies like Kenya, Namibia and Myanmar have included voter education in the school curricula, adopting best practices from countries where voter education has been successfully imparted in schools,” the panel said in its letter to HRD minister Prakash Javadekar.
The curriculum is expected to cover the whole gamut of electoral aspects, from the formation of political parties to how elections are held and the use of electronic methods of casting a vote to malpractices.
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As many as 20 million first-time voters are added to the electoral list every year and the EC wants to focus on this demographic of 15-17-year-olds or 62% of the future voters to drive home the importance of the franchise and ethical voting.
Though information about electoral processes is part of civic science syllabus in most states, the poll panel wants more. It has cited the examples of countries such as the United States, Canada, South Korea and Australia where electoral literacy is part of the school curriculum.
“Schools in these countries carry out mock elections either close to the state or national elections or an annual exercise to familiarise the students with the actual voting and counting process. Even young democracies like Kenya, Namibia and Myanmar have included voter education in the school curricula, adopting best practices from countries where voter education has been successfully imparted in schools,” the panel said in its letter to HRD minister Prakash Javadekar.
The curriculum is expected to cover the whole gamut of electoral aspects, from the formation of political parties to how elections are held and the use of electronic methods of casting a vote to malpractices.
Click To Read More
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