By Luke Buckland, Second Year, Politics and International Relations
Low youth voter turnout is well documented and the last general election saw the joint lowest voter turnout of 18 to 25 year olds this century. It has been largely declining since the voting age was lowered to 18 in 1969. The impacts of this are well documented. Without the need to appeal to young people, parties run elections and govern with older people in mind. Young people in turn feel less represented and voter apathy sinks in.
Yet, included in the Labour Manifesto for the last election, was a commitment to reduce the voting age further to 16 and 17 year olds. A whole new age group might have the right to vote and be disillusioned by the results. It seems counterintuitive. If currently, the government does not seem able to represent young people, how does introducing more help this problem?
The proposed argument for lowering the voting age, is to align this right with other responsibilities that can be taken on at 16 and 17. Keir Starmer said ‘If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your armed forces, then you ought to be able to vote.’ Lowering the voting age may then just be an administrative task, bringing voting age in line with other responsibilities. It could also be an attempt to capitalise upon the significant youth support for Labour seen during the election.
Whatever the reason, the results will likely be a high voter turnout among 16 and 17 year olds as occurred in 1969. But to learn from the failures of 1969 we need to look for other solutions as well as lowering the voting age to increase political participation among young people. One way is to educate. An extensive civic education has been shown to increase political participation and positively impact attitudes to politics. If we can mobilise new young voters to be more enthusiastic about the political system while they are allowed to vote, it may be possible to combat voter apathy and low turnout among young people for good.
On the face of it, the mandatory Citizenship Education subject does provide this extensive civic education. Its aims include acquiring a sound knowledge of how the UK is governed, its political system, the role of law and justice and how laws are shaped and enforced. Beyond the political field, Citizenship Education teaches children about participation in volunteering, managing money on a day-to-day basis and financial planning. Citizenship Education goes further than merely teaching knowledge to equipping children with the skills to be better adults. The school system is often called impractical and criticized for not teaching children about real issues that people face in adulthood. Proper Citizenship Education is a way to face this allegation.
Beneath the surface, however, the implementation of Citizenship Education has been consistently poor since it was made compulsory in 2002. It was revealed in 2019 that only one in seven schools have a single trained Citizenship teacher . Shockingly, the government even shot down a House of Lords Committee recommendation to have a Citizenship specialist in all schools the previous year. Without proper staffing for Citizenship Education in schools, it is hard to deliver accurate and consistent education. Governments have been neglectful of the subject to the detriment of children. Though pupils may have the vote when they leave school, they miss out on a proper education about the political system.
There is also little pressure to improve this dire situation in schools. A recent House of Lords Report found that many Ofsted inspectors did not even differentiate between PSHE and Citizenship Education as they did not know what the subject was. It outlines a disappointing reality that both teachers and Ofsted inspectors are not sufficiently trained in Citizenship Education. What should be a subject providing practical solutions to the realities of adulthood and vital education about politics is being delivered with little care, and it seems that regulators are looking the other way.
Of course, the failure of Citizenship Education must be placed in the context of an education system where teachers are already overstretched and underpaid. Recruitment targets were missed in 10 subjects in 2022/2023. Many teachers cite ‘excessive workloads’ as the main reason for leaving the profession. Increasing the number of teachers, and retaining those already working is already a challenge. Extending this to Citizenship Education would also be very difficult. But there is hope in Labour’s aspirations to improve the education sector. The installation of VAT on private schools will no doubt increase funding towards education. Bridget Philipson’s commitment to recruiting 6500 new teachers holds promise for the possibility that they could be trained in Citizenship Education.
But a change to improve Citizenship Education is something that has to be a top priority if the voting age is to be lowered to 16- and 17-year-olds. Teacher training in the subject must increase so that every school has at least, one qualified teacher. Regulators actually need to regulate the provisions for Citizenship Education in schools. Citizenship Education has potential to teach pupils about the most important political matters and necessary skills such as financial planning. It can reinvigorate an age group which has been indifferent to politics for decades. It will be difficult considering the challenges faced in education, but if the aim behind lowering the voting age is to spark enthusiasm about politics among younger people, a revamp of Citizenship Education must come alongside it.
