The move to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 is now followed by efforts to educate young voters through the Rukun Negara school programme to enable them to perform their duties responsibly.
The programme, triggered by the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Election Commission appears to be on the right track to expose young people to democratic practices and instil political literacy. “The programme is aimed specifically at youths aged 18 to 25 to create healthy political awareness and understanding of their rights as new voters,” said the ministry’s special duties officerThe specially designed Rukun Negara school programme syllabus is still at the drafting stage and has received input from various stakeholders including professors, politicians, culturalistsEfforts are also being made to train the programme’s facilitators to have sufficient knowledge to educate young people...
“Maybe each state will train about 200 people in the early stages for us to test if the programme works or not,” he said in an interview with Bernama today.conducted on weekends first and anyone could participate.through the Rakan Muda secretariat which is also under the supervision of the ministry, he said.
The programme was also in line with suggestions of some members of Parliament, among them Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz and Ismail Sabri Yaakob during a debate on the bill to reduce the age limit of voters.
Political literacy is not the issue. Corruption among politicians is. Tackle the real issue please.
Harharhar. But you don't practice what you preach. The session of brainwashing school children begins.