Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The excitement of the election season has charged up school students, who in spite of being ineligible to vote, conducted awareness campaigns, composed rap songs and organised demonstrations to educate people on the importance of voting in the city.
Apart from students, many city schools too have taken steps such as carrying out “appointee elections” and offered discounts to parents who have voted during the admission process.
Hriday Tulsiani, 17, has visited nearly 17 civic schools in his quest to educate schoolchildren on the importance of voting. Wanting to spread the teachings passed on by his parents some years ago, Tulsiani began the initiative called ‘Vote India’ in a bid to help increase voter turnout in the city.
“I had interactive sessions with students from Classes 5 to 9. Even if these students are not yet eligible to vote, the knowledge will equip them for future, and at the same time, they can pass on the message to their parents. Most children are unaware about the concept of democracy. I tell them what a constituency is, how the election process works, including why it is important to vote,” he says. Click here for more election news
Borrowing from the recent trend, students of Classes 8 and 9 of Mount Litera School International have collectively composed a rap song urging citizens to exercise their franchise. The song Vote do touches upon the issues of agrarian and water crises, education for girls, condition of roads and corruption among others.
Speaking on the role children could play during elections, the school head of secondary, Vishnu Sharma, said, “Our children have delved deeper into understanding how a democracy functions and put their learning to music. For composing the rap, they conducted research to understand the issues our country is facing as of now and why every eligible adult should cast their vote for a better tomorrow,” he said.
Last week, students of Classes 7 to 9 from People’s Education Society, Dadar, held a demonstration at the two corners of the street where the school is located. Director of the school Santosh Pawaskar told The Indian Express, “Students held placards urging people to vote, adjust their vacation, etc, which received much attention from pedestrians.”
Schools have also started taking initiatives to ensure their students are election-ready. Atomic Energy Central School – 6 recently conducted ‘appointees election’ to give students an experience of the real election environment. The activity included a classroom that was turned into a polling booth, with polling officers, a ballot box and even an inking of fingers for the voters.
