Student volunteers for SIR: Minister V Sivankutty voices concerns over academic impact

Thiruvananthapuram: Minister for General Education V Sivankutty has objected to the move to deploy student volunteers for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, citing the disruption it could cause to their studies.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Sivankutty said some Revenue officials had sought the services of National Service Scheme (NSS) and National Cadet Corps (NCC) student volunteers for election-related tasks, including the revision of electoral rolls. However, academic activities were currently in full swing in schools, and important examinations were scheduled in the coming days, he noted.

Allowing students to be away from classrooms for more than 10 days for “data collection and digitisation” was unacceptable, he said. Sivankutty pointed out that while NSS and NCC encouraged extracurricular and social service initiatives, losing instructional hours during school days was not justified. Assigning students official responsibilities unrelated to their academic requirements amounted to a violation of their right to education, he added.

He said officials of the General Education Department had been instructed to ensure that students’ academic activities were not affected.

Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Rathan U Kelkar said more than 1,700 Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) were functioning in schools and colleges to promote awareness among young people about the right to vote and familiarise them with procedures such as voter registration and polling.

Students from these ELCs, along with NSS volunteers and others, were participating in the SIR. District electoral officers were seeking volunteers to ease the workload of booth-level officers during the revision. Volunteers would support form distribution, form filling and digitisation, and only those who had the time and interest would be involved, Kelkar said in a statement, stressing that participation was entirely voluntary.

He praised the contributions of ELCs towards the SIR in Agali, Attappady and Kozhikode, and added that the State would present cash awards to the best-performing ELCs on National Voters’ Day.

On reports that the Elathur Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) had sought school students’ participation in the SIR, Kelkar said the ERO had clarified that the intention was to involve students on a voluntary basis, with teachers’ consent, and without disrupting academic schedules.

He noted that an ELC was already active in the school concerned, providing an opportunity for students to familiarise themselves with the electoral process.