Operation

Announcement of the bal sansad election: As soon as we were ready with an action plan, the idea of a general election was announced in the assembly and all the details along with the dates were posted on the notice board. This announcement started a discussion about elections among the students.

The idea was to elect two members of parliament (MP) from each class, one girl and one boy. So, each voter (student) was supposed to vote for a girl MP and a boy MP from their class, just like a parliamentary/assembly election where a voter must vote for their MP/MLA. One MP was to be nominated by the teachers to make it an odd number because the school had three grades, and from each grade two MPs would make six. Hence, one MP was to be nominated. Then, these MPs would elect their leader, who would be the prime minister of the school.

Discussion among teachers: During lunch hours with the teachers, I directed the discussion toward the link between the chapters in the NCERT social science textbooks of grades 6, 7, and 8 (government, local government and administration, state government) and the proposed bal sansad election.

Awareness and campaigning: Once the teachers were convinced, I got around to explaining to the students about the formation of the election commission, the nomination procedure, and nomination form (refer annexure), which the candidates could take from the head teacher who was the election commissioner. The same day, five students (two boys and three girls) from grade 6, seven students (four girls and three boys) from grade 7, and four students (two girls and two boys) from grade 8 filed their nomination for MPs of their class.

We organized awareness programs, held campaigns and talked about voting procedures with the voters (students), had the candidates identify problems in the school and its functioning, and come up with possible solutions. Teachers helped candidates prepare their speeches. The promises that the candidates made in their speeches were quite inspiring – ‘will keep the school campus clean’, ‘will keep the classrooms clean’, ‘will maintain the greenery of the school compound’, ‘will increase the number of students present in the class on Friday on Jumma’, ‘will help students who face difficulty in their studies’, etc. I gave the candidates their election symbols based on the objects found in the school, such as book, pen, glass, notebook, etc.

Pre-poll preparation: The day of the election arrived. We made a ballot box, a small wooden stick patched with a rubber stamp, and cleared a corner in a classroom for voters to vote in privacy.

Polling: Teachers were made presiding officers. One teacher inked fingers, one listed the names and got the signatures of the students (voters), another noted down the minutes of the process and the Head Teacher provided the ballot paper. I maintained discipline and managed the queue. I was also journalling the voting procedure. During my entire time at this school, the voting day witnessed the highest presence of students, higher than on regular days. The polling process lasted for two hours. I would say that these two hours were the best moments of teaching and learning, as every student and teacher was fully involved.

After the voting was completed, the ballot box was sealed and kept in the office.

Counting: Students were called and assembled before lunch and the ballot box was opened in the presence of the candidates. The candidates signed a paper stating that the ballot box was opened in front of them and they agreed that the counting could now start. One teacher each took charge of the three different grades. The Head Teacher started noting down the votes received by each candidate. The results surprised the teachers as the candidates they thought would win received very few votes.

As the counting started, I conducted an exit poll asking students and candidates about their predictions.