New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday signed an MoU with the Union education ministry to take electoral literacy to classrooms across the country. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) seeks to integrate voter education and electoral literacy into the curricular framework, starting from classes 6 to 12 in all schools.
In a statement, the EC said that the "from classroom to polling stations" philosophy will prepare students in schools for their first vote.
As part of the pact, "democracy rooms" in senior secondary schools have also been proposed for display of voter education material and activities.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will introduce and update textbooks to include content on electoral literacy. It will also advise state education boards as well as other education boards in this regard.
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The integration will also extend to the curricular framework of all colleges and universities, tailored to suit different disciplines.
The EC has been concerned over low voter turnout and has attributed it to urban and youth apathy. Almost 29.7 crore electors out of 91 crore did not cast their vote in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
"The voting percentage was 67.4 per cent which the commission has taken as a challenge to improve upon," the statement said.
Speaking recently on young voters, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had said that right from their student days, their minds and understanding have to be inculcated about the important role of a voter in a democracy.
"Catching them young. They have turned 18 and have become a voter, but they are not very much aware of voting, ethos, magnitude. How to vote, whom to vote and what all considerations are to kept in mind -- that background is not ready," he had said while referring to the then proposed MoU.
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