The third annual Schools Democracy Week (SDW) will be launched tomorrow as part of a joint project between the Electoral Commission of South Africa and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to promote electoral democracy among learners. The campaign will run until 27 April 2015 in schools countrywide.
Thousands of learners in hundreds of schools will engage in civic education and voter registration activities for the week which ends in the 21st anniversary of South Africa’s first democratic election.
“We hope that the timing of this year’s Schools Democracy Week in the week in which we celebrate the 21st anniversary of our first historic democratic elections will give the topic of democracy extra significance and context,” said Vice Chairperson of the Electoral Commission Mr Terry Tselane.
For the first time this year, education booklets produced for Schools Democracy Week are also being provided in braille and audio so that they are accessible to visually-impaired pupils.
The Deputy Minister of Basic Education Mr Enver Surty expressed his delight for the partnership with the Electoral Commission to raise awareness among learners and potential young voters about the significance of voting in our democracy.
“Specifically, I am further encouraged, humbled in fact, that the IEC has taken it upon themselves to have a braille translation of the material and have distributed this to all schools across the country that cater for learners with visual impairment. Inclusivity is certainly the cornerstone of our democracy”, added Deputy Minister Surty.
“Democracy and Citizenship Education is a core section of our Life Orientation Curriculum. As learners, I hope you will take some time to familiarize yourself with the material and participate in the activities during School Democracy Week. As educators, I urge you to integrate the content of the material into the normal delivery of curriculum in the classroom,” said Deputy Minister Surty.
And in another first for Schools Democracy Week, the Electoral Commission will be expanding the education drive beyond classrooms to all young South Africans via a social media and television campaign.
On television, audiences will see a series of 10 short infomercials which highlight aspects of the registration and voting process to first-time voters in a dynamic, fresh and funky way. They are also being promoted via social media as part of a special focus on voter education via social media for the week.
The first Schools Democracy Week was held in 2013 following the signing of a 3-year Memorandum of Agreement between the Electoral Commission and the Department of Basic Education that same year to address the challenges of increasing youth participation in electoral democracy.
While young people make up the majority of the South African population (40% of our current total population of some 53 million people was born after the advent of our democracy in 1994 and nearly two-thirds of our population is under 35 years of age), participation in elections by young people is not as high as that for older voters.
Registration levels ahead of the National and Provincial Elections in May 2014 show that the lowest voter registration levels were for voters aged 18 – 19 (33.6% registration) followed by those aged 20 – 29 (60.7% registration). This compares to registration levels of almost 90 percent and above for other age categories.
“Encouraging young people to register and vote in elections is a critical component to ensuring the continued credibility of future elections – especially as research shows that one people have voted once, they usually continue to vote in future elections,” said Mr Tselane.
“Young people have a proud tradition of leading and support democracy in our country. We must guard against disillusionment and disinterest. That starts in the classrooms and in homes with reminding our children where we come from not so very long ago and why we must continue to deepen and protect our democracy,” he said.
Among the activities planned for SDW are debates and discussions around democracy and human rights topics, learning about the fundamentals of electoral democracy and voting, and participating in mock elections.
For more details on the Schools Democracy Week programme and materials, please visit the IEC website at www.elections.org.za or the Department of Basic Education’s website at http://www.education.gov.za/
Centurion
19 April 2015
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