Mandatory voter education in high school?

[DailyCore]

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Paranaque Rep. Edwin Olivarez, the same guy behind the eco-extreme House Bill 6087 (“Family Tree Planting Act of 2012") filed a bill that will affect high school students in the Philippines.

COMELEC bats for voter education in HS

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has announced that it supports a bill that seeks to make voter education mandatory in the high school curriculum.

House Bill No. 5784, introduced by Paranaque Rep. Edwin L. Olivarez, states that voters’ education should be taught to fourth year high school students in both public and private schools including those who are enrolled in the Alternative Learning System (ALS).

The bill tasks the Department of Education (DepEd), the COMELEC, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to develop a common curriculum that shall include: Values Formation; Importance of the right to suffrage and the sanctity of the ballot; Factors in evaluating and choosing candidates, and the Electoral Process in the Philippines.

COMELEC Commissioner and Voter Education Champion Elias R. Yusoph had earlier expressed approval for the measure.

An article posted on the agency website quoted Yusoph as saying that the bill would be “a big boost to the COMELEC’s continuing effort to educate the electorate, most especially the youth, on the value of the people’s right to suffrage and on the rudiments of the electoral process.”

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php...e=261338860234

[crossramz]

the question is kinsa sad ang accredited mo lecture ani sa students? basin ma biased na noun sa incumbent..

[salbahis]

actually dali raman itudlo kay pag serbisyo nako sauna sa election ni agi man sad mi ani, dali rajud masabtan... they should also include s3x education, and anti-stupidity education..

[street_of_no_return]

para nako mas maayo if before ang election mag seminar kung unsa about ang Election ang for the GOOD of the Country.

wala ra gihapun nay gamit ng High School Grad kai ang uban mabuhi ra ug pangape wa ra gihapun..

[shearts]

this is another useless policy like that pathetic joke a.k.a. k12 program..kani nga mga project most likely jud ky mga kalit2x lang ni nga plano sa mga oplok para aron ingnon kuno nga naa sila nabuhat..

pustahanay pa ta 10 years worth of my salary nga ang kana maglecture biased na on certain candidates depende kung kinsa ang nakahatag ug pinakadaku nga money..if politiko ko, paying the lecturer good money would be a very smart thing for me para masdaku nga chance nga makadaog ko..

[æRLO]

voter education is alright but it can be EASILY manipulated. Is this to raise awareness or just another tool for mind conditioning? It has to remain a non-partisan function all throughout.

[Code Talker]

nindot ang tumong pero mag kulang na sad sa pundo

[Detective Mask]

I wonder if this guy has actually worked in the education sector.

Personally, I think it would be best if these things are just integrated in the current urriculum. And from what I see, it looks like it is already integrated in some way. "Values Formation" is likely in Values Education already. "Right to suffrage" and "Electoral Process" is already in Social Studies. As for "Factors in evaluating and choosing candidates", that can be quite subjective and would be better delivered in an extracurricular activity or seminar. However, I really don't see how that can be properly taught.

Besides, schools have student councils, which helps educate students about how the electoral process works via simulation.

The thing about this, though, is that this can generate little interest among students if elections are still far away. After all, students may not be interested in learning about something that is not graded. And it would be crazy to force teachers to grade student outputs in voter education.

So, I'd suggest that this bill be scrapped.