STUDENTS at Okehampton College held a day aiming to improve their interest in local and national current affairs recently.
The event, Make Your Voice Count, took place at the college last Thursday and involved a question time event, where students raised matters of concern with politicians representing all the major political parties.
The aim of the day was to overcome the apathy many young people have about current affairs and politics.
During the morning sessions students took an online political test, discussed issues which concerned them and heard from a trade union speaker about rights at work.
The afternoon saw the students get involved in a question time debate with speakers representing Labour, UKIP, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.
More than three-quarters of the students rated the question time event to be good or very good in an evaluation held at the end of the day.
Year 13 student Ashley Clark said: 'It was interesting to learn about the ins and outs of a workers' union, and being able to directly question politicians on important issues is a rare and valuable opportunity'.
Year 12 student Sophia Down added: 'Lots of issues were debated, from the Educational Maintenance Allowance that sixth form students receive, up to the impact of the credit crunch.'
Okehampton College citizenship leader Mike Gurney said: 'Many sixth form students are at the age where they can drive a car or buy drinks in a pub and they will also be old enough to vote in the European and local elections this June.
'I think it is important students see that politics is not something they can afford not to care about, it affects all their lives and they need to develop their understanding of issues.'