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SA celebrates Schools Democracy Week - Newsroom - 14-10-2014
Learners and teachers around the country will continue to celebrate the second annual Schools Democracy Week until Sunday, the Electoral Commission of South Africa said on Tuesday.
The campaign is a project between the Electoral Commission and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to educate young people about democracy.
One of the project’s goals is to increase youth voter registration and to educate youngsters and first-time voters on voting.
The first Schools Democracy Week was held in 2013, following the signing of a three-year Memorandum of Agreement between the Electoral Commission and the department, to address the challenge of increasing youth participation in electoral democracy.
While young people make up the majority of the South African population, their participation in electoral processes is not as high as older voters.
Only 28% of potential voters under 30 voted in the 7 May 2014 elections, compared to an average turnout of over 60% for those aged 40 and older and 70% for those aged 60 and older.
Teaching and learning support materials for the 2014 Schools Democracy Week have been sent to schools. They include a 58-page booklet titled Becoming a Good Citizen: Electoral Democracy Toolkit for learners in secondary schools and a 95-page booklet called Not Too Young – Teaching Electoral Democracy to Young South Africans for teachers and younger learners in primary schools.
Additional fact sheets covering registration and various aspects of electoral democracy will also be provided to schools as part of this week’s activities.
All materials and classroom activities are linked to co-curricular activities and social media opportunities on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. - SAnews.gov.za