The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has made an important step to address voter apathy among India’s youth. The NCERT intends to develop and update textbooks with electoral literacy content, and has invited State Education Boards and other educational entities to do the same.
This educational endeavour will begin with grades 6 through 12 in all schools and will be integrated into college and university courses. The content will be customised to various fields and appropriately credited, ensuring a complete approach to electoral education.
This action is part of a Memorandum of Understanding inked recently by the Election Commission of India and the Ministry of Education. The major goal is to expand the Election Commission’s flagship programme, Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), to schools and colleges.
The Memorandum of Understanding addresses the troubling issue of voter apathy, especially among urban and young Indians. According to a top Election Commission official, almost 297 million eligible voters out of 910 million did not vote in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. This memorandum is a proactive measure aimed at instilling an understanding of voting literacy in young people through educational institutions. The long-term goal is to increase urban and youth voter understanding and engagement in the forthcoming general elections.
The publication presents several ways, including teacher orientation and training to effectively teach electoral literacy in classrooms. It also emphasises the formation of Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) in schools and universities. These groups will support a variety of activities targeted at increasing student voter knowledge. Furthermore, the programme attempts to build a robust framework to deliver voter ID cards to every student upon reaching the age of 18, in line with the Election Commission’s aspirational goal.
Furthermore, the proposal calls for the inclusion of an electoral literacy part in the curriculum for adult literacy and basic education. It also suggests designating a specific room in each senior secondary school as the ‘Democracy Room.’ This room will be used to exhibit voter education materials on a regular basis and to hold Continuous Electoral and Democracy Education (CEDE) activities throughout the year.
In essence, this coordinated effort between the Election Commission and educational authorities demonstrates a proactive approach to empowering the younger generation with critical knowledge about the democratic process, producing a more involved and informed citizenry.
