Making youth politically aware

The election to the Karnataka Assembly has just ended, and the electorate has chosen its leaders amid mixed reports about its commitment to the election process. One disturbing news was that many first-time voters from the old Mysore region publicly sold their votes for money.

Meanwhile, in Bengaluru, a female celebrity spoke passionately to the press about the youth’s fundamental duty of casting votes. But when asked what she thought were critical contemporary political issues voters must consider before voting, she evaded direct answers, saying all she cared for was education.

What made the educated youth resort to selling their votes? And why doesn’t the idea of education include political awareness and engagement? The political knowledge required to vote responsibly and the basis of choosing the candidate are deemed irrelevant for most first-time voters.

Education’s sole purpose is acquiring a degree, preferably with today’s much-hyped employability skills, and landing cushy jobs with fat salaries. Such ‘educated’ citizens are devoid of socio-political awareness and focused on personal growth. Will they be able to comprehend and evaluate issues or develop the courage to express opinions critically and freely about people, organisations, ideologies, and life, or make sense of the world and contribute positively to the nation’s development?

Whose responsibility?

The onus of creating a well-informed younger generation conscious of its rights and duties rests mainly on educational institutions. But scrutiny of how institutes of higher learning have responded to this social obligation presents a dismal picture. Political discussions and issues deemed controversial are commonly avoided on educational campuses.

Many students are cynical about and indifferent to politics. A few institutions do allow student-led organisations that are also politically active. However, some of these party-based student organisations have become disruptive and destructive, which discredits the very purpose of their existence.

A balanced approach wherein students are encouraged to engage in debates, even about seemingly controversial topics, allowing for peaceful and nonviolent disagreements to ensure political awareness, engagement, and participation is the need of the hour.

To achieve this, students must possess sufficient knowledge about political affairs, objective and positive outlook for comprehension, and the capacity to evaluate and arrive at conclusions dispassionately. It’s not easy, especially when our education’s focus is chiefly employment-driven and the society itself is unappreciative of practical criticism. However, we must try.

Currently, the Indian Constitution and the Environment are mandatory for all undergraduate students. The impact of the two, however, is trifling. To augment their effectiveness and impart a foundational understanding of politics, courses such as civics, political theory and critical thinking should be compulsory in the curriculum. Students must understand that their lives are defined and shaped by the politics of the day. All students, irrespective of their chosen streams, must undergo these courses.

Instilling critical thinking

The course on critical thinking will help students become reasoned thinkers, problem solvers and informed judges. Armed with critical thinking skills, they will raise vital questions. They will learn to think open-mindedly, allowing for dissent and arriving at well-reasoned conclusions. 

Additionally, colleges should introduce courses on decision-making to help students make informed, reasonable and appropriate choices. Through this course, students can learn the art of assessing all options available using the data provided and examine possible consequences before taking the final call. Such courses are offered on a few campuses already, but opportunities to practise them for experiential and hands-on learning are lacking in most.

Institutions must come forward to use the classroom space to discuss and analyse current events and encourage multiple viewpoints, which helps appreciate diverse thinking and foster tolerance and empathy. Open forums can be created for non-arts-humanities students, as their streams have less scope for such discussions.

In addition, students may be encouraged to volunteer and work in community engagements to create awareness about their social responsibilities. Leadership and service-learning opportunities are a huge booster in this respect. The value of active citizenship has to be experientially learned and not merely through books. 

Educational institutions play a mammoth role in instilling political responsibility in all students, failing which inane comments and episodes of misusing rights become inevitable..

(The writer is a professor and dean at CHRIST University, Bengaluru)