The educational system of a country is one of the most important resources available to voter educators. Whatever system exists in a country, voter educators will want to consider the resources available to them in terms of curriculum, training opportunities, staff and volunteer recruitment pools, as well as possible learning sites.
National Education System
An educational system includes both formal and informal educational institutions at the primary, secondary, and university level. Formal institutions are those conducting, either privately or on behalf of the state, a graded curriculum that results in a state-recognised certificate, diploma, or degree that might also have international currency. Informal institutions are those conducting shorter vocational, professional developmental and personal enrichment programmes that are not necessarily recognized by the state even though they may issue certificates of successful completion. Such certificates may be recognised by a professional or vocational association. The gap between formal and informal education is often one of scope.
Primary education consists of the basic educational grades normally offered to children in a compulsory system. Secondary education, often called high school, will generally include a more differentiated curriculum in preparation for graduation and perhaps college matriculation. Finally, higher education includes colleges and universities, as well as vocational and technical
education. Often these institutions combine a series of formal courses with a range of less formal educational opportunities. In some educational systems, vocational and technical training may be offered at any one of these levels of education. In addition, there may be a variety of continuing education and training opportunities, particularly in countries that have substantial private or civil society sectors.
Some countries have an articulated educational system regulated through a national certification framework. In these countries, education and training throughout the myriad institutions considered above might enable people to move around the system and achieve certificates and integrated educational opportunities. In other countries, the systems are more rigid and the various institutions determine progress and outcomes independently.
Curriculum
There will need to be consideration of whether the educational system provides universal opportunities for people to learn about government, politics, voting behaviour, or general societal rules and standards. If this is the case, educators will have to assess whether this will replace any part of an informal voter education programme for adults or whether the formal curriculum has been designed to reduce or inhibit people's participation in democratic activity.
In many cases, primary and secondary education will have provided skills, attitudes and knowledge that provide a foundation for more detailed education in support of democracy or elections. In some cases, however, national education systems may have been forged to ensure support for a regime that is not democratic and where difference is not welcomed. In such cases, primary and secondary education may have left a heritage that severely compromises people's ability to engage in democratic behaviour: whether resolving differences, making decisions, voting, or participating in democratic institutions. In situations like this, voter and civic education programmes may have to be extensive.
Training Opportunities
Educators operating in election and civic spheres face considerable handicaps in obtaining training for themselves or finding trained colleagues. In fact, the majority of people working in this field enter it laterally with either a social science, political or a general educational background. Because adult education often includes work with disadvantaged people, and
because overcoming disadvantage requires political action at various levels, such people may enter the field more readily.
The education system of a country will provide these informal training paths, and may also provide more formal training paths to a greater or lesser degree, depending not only on the extent that the country has a consolidated democracy, but also on the extent that the system interacts with social movements and evolving learner needs. It is interesting to note that some of the most vital training opportunities, and the most innovative programmes, are available in countries that have marginal democracies and intense social conflicts.
Those responsible for developing educators will want to discover training opportunities within the system and, where necessary, supplement these with short term informal training on the job.
Staff and Volunteer Recruitment Pools
Voter education programmes require large numbers of staff over a very short period of time. At the most, these personnel may receive orientation about the material available in conjunction with limited adult education skills. In large programmes, having a pool of trained teachers from whom to draw at short notice is obviously advantageous. There is a caveat, however. Formal education demands certain types of skills and behaviour. There is often a gap between the classroom and the voter education site that not all teachers are able to comprehend.
So educators will want to look carefully at the educational system in order to identify what levels of the system provide the most likely candidates for their programme. They will also note the dates of formal system terms of matriculation, including examination schedules, so that unrealistic expectations are not created about the extent to which teachers and instructors from formal systems can move into the voter education programme.
Learning Sites
Almost as important as obtaining staff and volunteer recruits will be obtaining cheap and accessible sites for conducting the voter education programme. Apart from those aspects of the programme that capitalize on bringing it to places where there are large groups of people, there will also be aspects of the programme that require seminar and conference room facilities (e.g. training of educators, workshops and briefings, preparation of materials, and running of focus groups). Educational institutions, whether private or state-funded, can often be made available at low cost. In some cases, they may also provide residential facilities for extended programmes.
Once again, as with other aspects of voter education programmes, there may need to be a balancing of the costs and convenience against public perceptions of some or all of these institutions.
