Electoral literacy clubs: preparing future voters of India

Simran Sachdeva

At 18 you are given the right to vote. Exciting experience definitely, but it is also an experience that young citizens are unprepared for. With no knowledge of what the election process involves, what their role is, they cast their first vote. In order to prepare young children to turn into thinking voters the Election Commission of India is starting Electoral Literacy Clubs in schools.

Engaging with politics: teaching democracy

Alex M. George

Civics is a living subject. Students need to constantly engage with it in order to understand the nuances of living responsibly in a democracy. Unfortunately our textbooks treat this subject as static knowledge that can simply be imparted through the text. We need to re-imagine civics education if we want active civic engagement in our societies.

The political classroom

Joel Westheimer

Why do we shy away from discussing politics in the classroom? When politics, political parties and their strategies are such a big part of democratic functioning of a government shouldn’t we be encouraging political discussions in the classroom? If we want politically aware citizens, who can participate in their democracies, this is a change that we must make to our pedagogy.

Educative engagements

Neha Pradhan Arora
Getting children to actively participate in community engagement programmes is a wonderful way to impart the knowledge of civics in children. Community engagement programmes call on children to scan the problems in their communities and use their knowledge of the subject to help solve problems such as a drainage system, drinking water, cleanliness , etc. When children see the change their involvement brings their learning is all that much more.

The everyday business of being a citizen

Sonal Iyer and Neha Yadav
Every job requires you to undergo some kind of training to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job well. Being responsible citizens of our country is also a job and a job that we have to do well. Therefore it is necessary that we train our children in the area of being good citizens of this country.

A commitment to good governance

Swapni Shah
To sustain a democracy, its citizens need to have a certain skillset, attitude, knowledge and vaule. The best way to inculcate these is to let children confront real-life problems and learn in the process of finding solutions.

Building better communities

Pranali Sisodiya
If our citizens have to be active participants in a democracy, we have to train them from a young age. Kumar NIRMAN is a programme that involves children in engaging with real problems faced by people and working together to find solutions.

Sowing the seeds of citizenship

Navjot Kohli, Meghana Desai, Deboshree Bhatacharjee
It is all very well to talk about democratic classrooms and child-friendly pedagogy, but how can teachers implement these ideas in their classrooms? In order to help our children transform into democratic citizens, our teachers must first be trained to teach accordingly. The Shantilal Muttha Foundation with its Mulyavardhan project and teaching aids aims to do precisely that.

Making the constitution matter

Vandana K and Kanika Sinha
For most young people in India, neither the Constitution nor its contents hold much importance. So how do we help them embody the spirit of the Constitution? ComMunity Youth Collective brings you a game that will allow children to interact and engage with the Constitution at a deeper level and learn about it.

Weaving the fabric of citizenship

Preeti Saha
What is a service learning project? What does it involve? And why is it the most engaging way of learning civics and civic responsibilities? Find answers to these questions in this article.