Nowadays, it is common to hear children wishing to be prime ministers of their respective countries. And hearing such a wish from your own child is an inspiring and tantalizing topic. For Simon Kebede, a father of two, hearing his elder daughter, Madot Simon, six, and a student at Ethio National School, aspiring to be a prime minister was stupendous.
As he said, when he learnt the dream of his daughter to follow suit of Dr. Abiy Ahmed and become a prime minister, he was compelled to raise eyebrows with admiration and disbelief. “Is it unusual for women to be prime minister?” Madot forwarded her questions suspiciously after she observed his feeling. “Of course they can. But they should be hard workers, readers, debaters and independent. They should have to develop zeal and enthusiasm to realize their future dreams,” he replied.
According to Simon, the quality of tomorrow’s leaders lies on the strong and healthy foundation we build on today’s students. Thus, guiding to the desired direction and helping them in nation-building is critical. In this regard, Civic Education is an effective tool for empowering, and promoting citizen participation in democratic and development processes. In the past regimes, the democratic education- “Moral Education”, “Political Education” and currently “Civic and Ethical Education”- were offered to students.
Unfortunately, the lessons further than serving the purposes of infusing the political systems’ agenda, could not create informed, active and civic-minded community members. “Teaching students civic responsibilities and democratic principles theoretically in classrooms could not empower them to precept and practice functional democratization processes”, he added. Simon strongly believes that, the main purpose of Civic and Ethical Education can be considered as the formation of civil qualities on the basis of new knowledge, skills and values that help individuals to solve emerging problems, adapt to changing socio-economic and political conditions, protect their own and others’ rights and interests.
This interactive and participative natured education should be learned and nurtured by students themselves through conducting free and fair elections of student leaders in schools which mirrors as close as possible, the process of conducting national elections. Unfortunately, no school takes democratic students election process seriously, he stated. “Our students must learn firsthand about the power to influence changes in our society.
Therefore, apparently learning the election process in schools and at home can only serve to bring about greater participation when these teenagers and children go out into the World. Hands-on participation in the democratic student election process, which reflects as close as possible to the national or regional elections can only produce students who develop the desired qualities: leadership, drive change, decision making, responsible, accountable, just to mention a few.”
In this regard, he furthered, conducting democratic election of students in schools is of greater importance. For this to happen, the first thing to give due emphasis in preparing for student elections is that the mandates of the student organization constitution should be in line with any school guidelines or policies. Ideally, the process of conducting student election should reflect the process of conducting a national election. There are many ways to conduct the actual election but what should be remembered is that every eligible student should be given a legitimate opportunity to vote. The major differences between student and national elections are the issues, voter participation and stricter election rules.
However, none of the differences diminish the validity of a student election, Simon said. As to him, the first difference, the issues, gives students to elect a candidate that will help them have a better school year or overall school experience. “I do not think they would vote for a candidate who they think will do a poor job with regard to executing activities designated to.” Equally, they know very well the issues that are important to them when they cast their votes.”
The second difference is the percentage of the potential electorate that votes. “In a good national election we are overjoyed with at 70 percent voter turnout, it means that 30 percent of the eligible voters can determine who the leaders are. In most student elections the voter turnout is close to 100 percent and, again in most cases, a majority not a plurality of votes cast decides the election. The third majority difference, according to him, is the ease at which a person can become a candidate.
In regional or national elections, the amount of money that it takes to campaign discourages many from giving consideration to running. Most schools put limits on what kind of campaigning can be undertaken or how much can be spent. As a result, for the most part, whether or not a student becomes a candidate is determined by the attitude of the student not buy his/her wealth or lack thereof. While talking the implementation phase of students’ election Simon said that in preparing for student elections, the first thing to take into consideration is school guidelines or policies, and the constitutional mandates of the students’ organization.
The mandates of the student organization constitution should be in line with any school guidelines or policies and it is vital to make sure that election adheres strictly to the student organization’s constitution. In line with this, National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) should train elections advisors on how elections and elections campaign process is conducted in late July (Nehase/Pagume) or early September (Meskerem).
Once the advisors are trained, the trained senior advisors will train the next school year incoming advisors. Likewise, the time the elections should be held must be scheduled. Scheduling elections early enough for students to register and attend the events should be a consideration. Elections are held not earlier than 10th of Tikimit (October), and not later than the end of 15th Tikimit. Elections advisors may choose within these times when they wish to hold their elections, but most choose to do so as early as possible in order to ensure representation, he elaborated.
The ability to seek office should be opened to all group members, and limited only by school guidelines or policies. Each potential candidate should have to submit an office candidacy form which comprises candidates’ name, grade and other relevant information including a complete list of the duties and responsibilities of the office. A very specific date should be set for the due date of office candidacy forms.
30th Meskerem (September) will be the due date. There is no reason to change this date after it has been announced or to accept forms late, Simon underscored. Potential electorate students should be registered first using their student ID. On the polling day they vote by showing it. A student without student ID is banned for elections. Once all of the candidates have been established there should be a mandatory candidate meeting.
Not attending this meeting should result in immediate disqualification because on the meeting advisors will give orientation to the candidates. As to him, in holding a democratic student election, there are five steps: calling for nominations, making the ballot papers, conducting the election (polling day), counting the votes, and announcing the results. However, once the election is conducted, the tabulation of votes should be accurate without question and the winner should be announced no later than the day following the election.
Once counted, the ballots should be kept in a secure place for a designated period of time (for a week) so that they can be recounted if the election is challenged. “Working for the students union has many advantages. First and foremost, elected students would develop the ability to drive change. By leading campaigns or organizing events, you can steer the direction of a given society, club or wider school, and advance the causes that you and your peers believe in”.
The other advantage is, he added, taking a more active role will also allow the organizer and the electees to interact with students and a diverse range of people with different background including, academics, school senior management, club staff from and this can result in the formation of strong, long-lasting friendships. Perhaps the biggest advantage of becoming more involved in student’s union is boosting one’s employability as it equips students with a wide range of knowledge and skills.
There are, however, some drawbacks; most notably the fairly obvious fact increased involvement results in increased time pressures. For the more demanding roles particularly, you must be willing to sacrifice much of your time, which may impact upon your studies or social life, he noted. Local advisors should get the chance to advise the government, as long as their advice is fruitful, they can change the nation and themselves, with a minimum cost.
Likewise the Ministry of Education should give due attention and incorporate Civic and Ethical Education and student elections process in its curriculum. The National Electoral Board (NEBE) for its part should have to take the issue seriously and act accordingly so as to increase students’ participation in democratic and development processes and at the end of the day generate responsible citizens. As Simon uttered he passed through a lot of ups and downs to make students’ election at school a reality.
To, realize this; he intends to establish a local charity organization with the aim of reaching in all schools and conducting democratic student elections as non-curricular activities in Ethiopia. The organization has a goal to nurturing and upbringing democratic students. To set ‘Habesha Students’ Election Day’ in the calendar like National Flag Day, Water Day and other similar events.
Any entity, governmental or nongovernmental organizations, individuals, communication and media institutions, political parties, who are interested in the establishment of the local charity could be board member or will donate their support. As he was never been a member of any party, the organization to be established is free from any political affiliation. Thus, he urged scholars and professionals to work together, give directions and advices and involved in nations’ reform instead of opposing the government. It is essential to bear in mind that the responsibility of teaching civics, history and democracy to the new generation is not entirely left to nation’s education system.
Helping kids to understand politics is important to the basic survival of democracy. Parents or guardians should begin with preschool-age children and focus on issues they can relate to. Politics can be defined as ‘group decisionmaking’, thus teaching children how to work together and make important decisions within the family is a vital step in preparing them for democracy. “We have taken our democracy for granted; hence nearly half of our population misses the opportunity to vote.
The coming regional and national election finds us at a crossroads, one at which our values and our roles as the Africa’s sole super power will be tested. There will probably come a day in the not-too-distant future when our children and grand children will look back at this election and ask us if we stood up to counted.
I believe they will lose respect for us if we do not.” The experiences of Southern Oregon University, Hoovex Institution, University of Huddersfield’s Students’ Union, Cardiff University’s Students’ Union are the best references for the relevancy of democratic student elections process in schools. Almost, all schools which are found in Europe and USA run student elections campaign annually, he concluded.
The Ethiopian Herald, March 27/2019
BY STAFF REPORTER
