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Teachers worried about election campaigning at schools
Teachers argue that holding electoral campaign events at school is detrimental to the interest of students, teachers and parents and can disrupt day-to-day learning activities.
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A polling committee member shares information about the 2024 general elections with several students in an event in Badung, Bali, on Aug. 14, 2023. Badung regency General Elections Commission (KPU) is wooing first-time voters to cast their vote during the elections. (Antara/Fikri Yusuf)
A policy change allowing electoral campaign events in schools has drawn criticism from educators, as teachers fear that schools may fall prey to political partisanship and party debates rather than being part of the democratic education of students, especially first-time voters.
As the curtain rises on next year’s general election, political parties and candidates have started forming campaign strategies to win the hearts of young people, who are expected to make up the majority of voters at the February polls.
Months before the start of the official campaign window, the Constitutional Court issued a ruling last week allowing campaigns to be held in educational institutions. The campaigners only need to secure a permit from the establishment, but are not allowed to use any campaign attributes in such events.
Further details on the regulation of school campaigns remain unclear, as the General Elections Commission (KPU) is still working to revise the regulation on campaign events following the court ruling.
Educators immediately raised their concerns about such a policy change, arguing that holding campaigns in senior high schools and further education institutions could be detrimental to students’ learning.
“The Constitutional Court ruling is detrimental to the interests of students, teachers and parents as it will disrupt day-to-day learning,” said Iman Zanatul Haeri of the Association for Education and Teachers (P2G) in a recent statement.
Allowing campaigns in schools, he added, would provide an inevitable opportunity for political partisanship in the classroom, especially if teachers, principals or local education agencies already had preferences for certain political parties or candidates.
