A school teacher has captured the internet’s attention with his innovative way of teaching democracy. Instead of sticking to textbooks, he conducted a mock election in his classroom, giving students first-hand experience of campaigning, voting and civic responsibility.
The viral video, shared on Instagram by the user Masterji, shows children taking part in the different stages of the democratic process, from voter registration and campaigning to polling and counting votes. Students created slogans, fielded candidates and even had party symbols assigned to them.
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“I was teaching the chapter Government and Democracy, so I organised a classroom election,” Masterji explained. “Four candidates were given four days to campaign. I appointed two children as presiding officers and made a polling booth. To ensure fairness, monitors were turned into police officers.”
The election day saw students casting their vote by showing their ID cards after which their fingers were inked. In the end, the candidate who had the catchy slogan ‘Samosa dabao, Somesh jitao’ had a landslide victory. He treated everyone to samosas.
The activity not only made the lesson fun but also helped students develop important skills such as public speaking, decision-making and teamwork.
The video has crossed 1.9 million views, drawing widespread praise. One user wrote, “The kind of education every school needed.” Another added, “We need teachers like you.”