Marks up for grabs,students set to make parents vote

V N Abhyankar,central in-charge of the gurukul school that falls in the newly carved out Maval constituency,called it a small beginning. He said the school will consider scaling up the grace marks to 10-15. “This will be decided soon. The move will surely motivate many parents to come out and vote,” he said.

“Marks are not important. It is just an attempt to drive home the point that casting vote helps in getting the right candidate to represent us in Parliament. Creating awareness is the key to voting,” said Shivraj Pimpude,assistant teacher. Pimpude said it is observed generally that 50 per cent of parents stay away from voting.

But how will the school find out whether the parents have voted? “We expect parents to sign and write in the diaries about having cast their vote. We will take their word. We don’t have to check their index fingers to find out whether they actually cast their votes,” Pimpude said.

The school is also taking the concept across the state. “We have called up at least 25 schools in Mumbai,Konkan,Satara,Karad and other places of the state conveying them about our novel move. Most of the schools are likely to implement the move as they sounded positive about it,” Pimpude said.

Suman Shenoy,principal of Jnana Prabodhini School,said it has 2,000 students and has a separate gurukul system with 180 children.

“Unlike the gurukul school where students will get bonus marks,we are telling all 2,000 students to impress upon their parents to cast their votes. Everyday during prayers,children are exhorted to persuade their parents to vote,” Shenoy said.

Quentin Moore,whose family runs the Judson School in Pimpri,said they would hold an emergency meeting of all teachers on the premises on Wednesday to decide about giving bonus marks to children whose parents vote in the elections. “It’s a fantastic idea. Everybody must pitch in to create awareness about voting. Unless sensible people vote,there is no chance we will get the right candidate who will take up public issues in Parliament,” he said.