The education ministry's decision to encourage high school students to become actively involved in political activities is well-intentioned. But if the experience in the United States is any indication, it will have unforeseen consequences.
At height of the Vietnam War in 1965, 15-year-old John Tinker, his 13-year-old sister, and their 16-year-old friend wore black armbands to school to protest U.S. involvement. School policy at the time prohibited the practice, with violators subject to suspension. The rationale for the ban was that it disrupted learning.
After the American Civil Liberties Union approached the family, a lawsuit was filed that eventually made its way to the Supreme Court. In 1969, the high court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. Ever since, the burden of proof has been on schools.