According to the BBC the number of 18-25s who voted in the 2015 General Election was 58%, up from 44% in 2010. However, there is still a large majority of young people who do not hold a basic knowledge of the political system and are vastly disengaged.

We rely on Maths and English every day, and we’re also seeing a rise in the importance of the sciences and languages due to the multiculturalism and globalisation that is increasingly surrounding us. If we give the highest importance to these subjects in school, because they underpin our everyday lives, then why is politics not one of these subjects too?

The campaign that we envisaged as a group, and that is already in action, is one which see’s more emphasis on the importance of an education in (basic) politics.

Currently Citizenship/PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) lessons – which were partially implemented to cover this – are failing; they are often more gravitated to focusing on the individual’s relationships in society and less so political structures which dominate it.

If we want to engage more people and address the disengagement among some young people then we believe we need to appropriately educate them by introducing effective basic political education in schools so that they are introduced to the democracy and are able to make an informed decision when it comes to voting.

Lessons in basic politics would teach young people how to participate and be involved in the democracy, it would give them the basis on which they are able to make an informed decision (and their own decision that has not been wholly influenced by mass media) when voting, introduce them to key concepts and the history that has shaped the politics we have today and also let them know that their involvement, and their voice, is important.

This need not be a standalone lesson as it is already a small part of Key Stage 3 and 4 courses, but potentially not enough time is given to it on the curriculum. Improvement of political modules, and making them compulsory, could aid in increasing participation in elections, with those young people using their knowledge and understanding of party politics to form their own opinions rather than relying heavily on the prejudices in the media, as well as allowing them to feel more involved in society.

We’re told that we live in a representative democratic society, but how is this possible if people don’t know the basics of politics and are therefore basing their judgement on media coverage?

This campaign is a grassroots campaign and requires alliances to be made within the community to help build up supporters. It also requires a working relationship with MPs in order to gain their support. In order to build up these alliances we require online and offline campaigning, more work with school-aged children to register and boost their interest in the subject. We are also looking for feedback (from school-aged children and parents/adults alike), further development of suggested lesson plans and other promotion/marketing techniques which allow us to put forward our case to the government/education authorities.

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