School Election Project rolls out

The Solomon Islands Electoral Commission rolled out its School Election Project for students of Tamboko Community High School in Northwest Guadalcanal today.

The program complemented the Year 8 social studies curriculum, which focused on democracy, elections, governance and leadership.

It involves a series of practical exercises designed to encourage students to engage in the electoral process.

Head of the Social Studies Department at Tamboko School, Derrick Maqiti said the program will give students an in-depth understanding of the country’s electoral and voting process.

“This will be a very big help to our students, because we are far from urban centers and with the people who deal directly  with elections coming to our school is really great,” he said.

“This will definitely improve our students knowledge and understanding of how the country’s electoral system works.”

Meanwhile, Lily Chekana, the head of the school election project said the idea of the project stemmed from the low turnout of voters in previous elections.

Ms Chekana said the main target were teachers and students.

“Data has shown that in past elections, the number of people who voted was lower than the number of people who registered, ” she said.

“People need to understand the importance of voting and elections, and  how their votes contribute to the decision making process of the country.”

She said the her team will be travelling out to the provinces next month to continue the election awareness in schools and rural communities.

The School Elections Project was conducted with help from the United Nations Development Programme through it’s Strengthening the Electoral Cycle in the Solomon Islands Project (SECSIP).