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Four lawmakers have renewed the push to integrate voter education in the high school curriculum to enable teenagers to vote responsibly and make an informed choice on the country’s future leaders.
Measures seeking mandatory voter education in all public and private high schools have been proposed since the 15th Congress in 2012, but got stuck at the committee level each time.
Southern Leyte Rep. Christopherson Yap, Quezon City Rep. Patrick Michael Vargas, as well as Parañaque City Representatives Gustavo Tambunting and Edwin Olivarez, separately filed House Bills Nos. 6270, 4463, 5106 and 5722 all seeking mandatory voter education for high school students.
The proposed measures are expected to be consolidated when they undergo scrutiny by the House committee on basic education and culture.
The four proposed measures tasks the Department of Education to integrate voter education in the junior and senior high school curricula and to work with the Commission on Elections and election experts in training teachers on the subject.They provide for the voter education syllabus to include discussions on the right to suffrage, as well as the electoral system and process and on educated voting.
The proposed measures also mandate all public and private high schools to acquire voter education textbooks and set funds in the annual General Appropriations Act. INQ
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