Jaipur, Aug. 26 -- Students from class 9 to 12 in Rajasthan schools will be taught value of the ballot and ethical voting, officials familiar with the matter said on Monday, after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the state election department and school education department. The MoU was signed between Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Naveen Mahajan and School Education Department Secretary Krishna Kunal at the Secretariat. "As part of the MoU, students from Classes IX to XII will learn about the importance of voting, ethical electoral practices, and democratic values through strengthened Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs). Besides, ELCs in all government and private secondary/higher secondary schools of the state will be strengthened and their activities streamlined as per the concept of the Election Commission of India.," a statement stated. Mahajan said that ELCs are already being formed and operated for students of classes IX to XII under the supervision of the school education department. "To ensure online monitoring, dedicated ELC entry modules have been provided on the Shala Darpan portal for government schools and the Private School portal. Rajasthan is possibly the first state in India to create a digital infrastructure for strengthening school-level ELCs. With this, advance voter registration of all 17-year-old students in classes 9 to 12 will become easier, and as soon as they turn 18, they will automatically receive their voter ID cards, enabling them to fulfil their democratic duty as active voters in upcoming elections," he said. "The MoU's objective is to spread voter education, awareness, and democratic values among students at the school level, and to develop an understanding of the electoral process among future voters." He added that in future, NCERT's voter education curriculum - developed under the guidance of the Election Commission of India and the Ministry of Education-will also be incorporated into Rajasthan's school education. School Education Secretary Krishna Kunal said the MoU will contribute to the holistic development of students by instilling voter education and democratic values....