ECZ FORMS VOTER EDUCATION CLUBS IN SCHOOLS

By Joseph Lungu & Perrykent Nkole

The right to seek, receive and impart information in various forms according to article 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC/CRC) has moved a step further in being fulfilled through the Electoral Commission of Zambia's (ECZ)’s decision to form Voter Education School clubs.

The Voter Education School Clubs (VES) were launched in September in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education. The clubs are currently running in all the 10 provinces of Zambia.

The formation of Voter Education School Clubs has also fulfilled part of the Electoral Act no. 12 of 2006, article 76 of the Constitution of Zambia which outlines one of the responsibilities of the Electoral Commission of Zambia as being ‘to conduct voter education’.

The Voter Education School Club’s main aim is to work with the school system to enlighten school going children on electoral matters and create awareness on their responsibilities in the electoral process. The clubs shall also endeavor to come up with activities that promote ideas of honesty, integrity, transparency and accountability and shall ensure that these ideas and their practical applications are appreciated by the school community.

The intention of the club is to inculcate a culture of integrity and loyalty into school going children, to use school children as a channel to reach the wider Zambian community with voter education messages, to spread voter education messages in schools and involve school going children in the fight against electoral malpractices and to enable teachers and pupils understand the electoral process.

The ECZ expects all the pupils to instill upon themselves the principles of non-partisanship, objectivity, transparency and openness in order for them to grow up into responsible citizens able to participate profoundly in the electoral procedure. A good illustration of what the ECZ is trying to prevent can be derived from some of the previous elections we have had in the country where less than a quarter of registered voters took part in the elections. Through the teachings children will receive at the voter newly created club, it is hoped that situations like low voter turnout will be no more in future.

The clubs shall be for pupils and all programs shall be pupil-driven. The club patron shall be a member of the teaching or administration staff of the school appointed by the school management. He or she shall be a bond between the club and the school authorities and shall ensure that activities of the club are not a variance with the rules and regulations set by the school.

Club meetings will be conducted in an orderly manner with respect for individuals. Whenever a meeting is held, records of such a meeting shall be taken down and entered in the VES club activity book which every school is expected to keep.

The ECZ wants to create a relationship based on mutual understanding and shared values, therefore, it shall play an advisory role to the clubs, will provide human or material resources if requested for and when available will help organize and monitor activities for the clubs.

Discipline and respect for self, other pupils, teachers and the school system wide-ranging have been set as the key factors and shall be expected from all those associated with the voter education school clubs.

 Speaking in an interview with the Children's News Agency, ECZ Deputy Director Mrs Jacquelyn Mubita said that is important to sensitize pupils about the electoral process to enable them to be responsible citizens because young people nowadays are being used as political tools of violence. She also stated that with this great step that the ECZ has taken, an electoral malpractice free country is possible.

And a child schooling at one of the schools where the club is running said that he feels happy following the introduction of these clubs in schools because they do not only benefit those that are members of the club, but also other pupils because they will learn from their friends who are members of the club. He also stated that he believes the teachings from the club meetings could also lead to a reduction in the cases of political violence and electoral rigging in the country.

It is said that ‘life is 10% what happens to a person and 90% how he reacts to it’, so it is up to these young people to make the fight against electoral malpractice successful. The Children’s News Agency with support from European Union.