MOU Signed to Bring Electoral Literacy to Classrooms Across the Country

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The Ministry of Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Election Commission of India (ECI) to teach school and college students about their future role and duties as voters in the election process, as part of the curricular and extra-curricular interventions in educational institutions.

The MOU underscores the development of an institutional framework that seeks to incorporate electoral literacy formally into the school and college education system. This includes structured curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities, all of which will help in preparing future and new voters for greater electoral participation and in effect strengthening democracy. It is crucial to capture the attention of young minds and educate them about the significance and value of their vote in every election.

The MOU aims to systematically integrate voter education and electoral literacy into the curriculum, starting from classes 6 to 12 in all schools. This integration will also extend to the curricular framework for all colleges and universities, tailored to suit different disciplines and credited accordingly. NCERT will introduce and update textbooks to include content on electoral literacy and will advise State Education Boards and other Boards to follow suit.

This electoral literacy endeavour emphasises the orientation and training of teachers in effectively imparting electoral literacy in classrooms. It fosters a sense of responsibility within State Education Departments for establishing Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) in schools and colleges. It encourages various activities to promote voter awareness among students, ensuring they are well-versed with the country’s electoral system and encouraging them to register as voters and participate enthusiastically, with a well-informed and ethical approach, in every election.

The student electoral literacy effort seeks to evolve a robust mechanism to fulfill the aspirational goal of ECI to handover the voter ID card to every student immediately after their attaining the age of 18 years: an institutional framework to be created for online registration of eligible and prospective students who have attained 17+ years of age(after every qualifying date (1st January, 1st April, 1st July and 1st October of every calendar year) and during the annual summary revision of electoral rolls.

It also looking to include electoral literacy in the curriculum for adult literacy and basic education, creating educational content focused on electoral processes for lifelong learning. Designate one of the rooms in every senior secondary school as the ‘Democracy Room’ for the regular display of voter education materials and the conduct of Continuous Electoral and Democracy Education(CEDE) activities throughout the year. A dedicated ‘Democracy Room’ will offer a platform for students to learn, discuss, and participate in various aspects of our democratic processes throughout the year.

The MOU is aimed at extending the ECI’s flagship Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) in schools and colleges. The objective is to encourage universal and enlightened participation of future voters in elections. The MOU also aims to address the issues like apathy among urban and young voters, as a crucial aspect of Continuous Electoral and Democracy Education. This integration seeks to motivate future voters to participate more actively in elections, fostering responsible citizenship, and reinforcing our democratic system with informed and dutiful citizens.

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