Thai kindergartners elect school president in early democracy lesson
A school just south of Bangkok has held an election for kindergarten president to teach young students about democracy.
Anuban Samut Songkhram School held the election on Tuesday to teach students about their roles in a democratic system.
A total of 840 kindergarten students voted in the election and were given four candidates to choose from. Each of the four Year 3 classrooms nominated one candidate along with their campaign team. The candidates then got the chance to give a speech during the morning and at break time.
All of the candidates promised to give their fellow students access to the playground every day, but candidate No 4 also vowed to make the school toilets smell nice.
The voting procedure was the same as an official Thai election, with students signing and receiving their ballot, before entering the polling booth to vote for their favourite candidate and then putting the ballot in the box.
The aim of Tuesday’s activity, he said, was to give students an actual experience of how democracy works. They got to know about voting, campaigning and working as a team, he added.
