On 10 October 2019, about 40 students from the four secondary schools SEPUGS “Arseni Jovkov”, ASUC “Boro Petrusevski”, SUGS “Brakja Miladinovci” and SGGUGS “Zdravko Cvetkovski” jointly discussed the challenges in their environment that they face as young people. Although this was their first meeting, the secondary school students got to know each other fast and by the end they had ideas for youth action in their schools.
At the beginning of the meeting, the young people got to know each other through group games and activities. Then, they immediately started locating the problems in their schools. Among the major problems they want to solve they emphasized the landscaping of the yards, playgrounds, sports halls and libraries, the lack of space and equipment for completion of the assignments, as well as the hygiene in the toilets.
During the meeting, the young people also discussed the possible solutions to the challenges, aimed at improving the situation in the schools and the community. In the upcoming period, they will be trained in youth involvement, organized expression and debate. In the end, it is expected that the students will organize youth actions in the four schools where they will jointly solve some of the problems they have identified.
The overall process is supported by the USAID Youth Ethnic Integration Project, in cooperation with the Youth Education Forum. Otherwise, starting from last year, these four secondary schools started organizing joint classes with students studying in different languages of instruction, with the support of the Project. By creating opportunities for the students to socialize and cooperate on various civic initiatives, the USAID Youth Ethnic Integration Project fosters democratic values and positive interactions among the young people from different ethnic communities.
This activity is part of the Youth Ethnic Integration Project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
This article is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of MCEC and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
