The primary schools started organizing Civic Education Open Days during which youth initiatives are presented thаt аrе a result of the Civic Education reforms. The Civic Education reform process is led by the Ministry of Education and Science and the Bureau for Development of Education, supported by the USAID Youth Ethnic Integration Project and the Strengthening Multiethnic Cooperation in Municipalities Project of the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation.
The students from the primary schools “Lirija” from the village of Vrutok, Gostivar, “Straso Pindzur” from Kavadarci, “Kiril I Metodij” from the village of Stajkovci, Gazi Baba, “Metodi Mitevski Brico” in Lozovo and “Grigor Prlicev” in Ohrid, organized several activities as part of the Civic Education Days in their schools.
In Vrutok, the students from the three schools drew fun games in the yard of the “Lirija” school and made bins for plastic and paper. All of them spent time together and got to know each other during the initiative, at the same time exchanging experience and bridging the ethnic barriers.
Their peers from the “Straso Pindzur” school from Kavadarci organized an event on the occasion of the “Week of the Child” with numerous activities that included workshops, artistic performances, sports competition, humanitarian action and making a mural for the children rights.
An interesting event also happened in the primary school “Kiril i Metodij” in the village of Stajkovci. The students presentеd the initiatives on which they worked in the past period and which they still continue to develop in front of the present guests. The topics that young people deal with include ecology and prevention of violence and discrimination for the purposes of increasing the safety in their school.
“We have elected a school community – student parliament and we have proposed new initiatives aimed at beautifying our school. We made our school a very pleasant and safe place by means of the student initiatives. We painted the fence in the central part, we planted flowers and trees, we have a gazebo, and the entertainment section of the yard was also paved”, said the students from the primary school “Kiril i Metodij” in the village of Stajkovci.
In the school “Metodi Mitevski Brico” in Lozovo, the students participated in a real democratic process of election of a president of the student community. Three candidates presented their programs, with numerous ideas and proposals for improvement of the school, the teaching process and the extracurricular activities, followed by voting by the students from the eight and the ninth grades. During the voting, the students had the opportunity to discuss with the mayor of the municipality, who promised them that their proposals would be included in the annual programs of the municipality.
During the Open Day for Civic Education in the primary school “Grigor Prlicev” in Ohrid, the students organized an eco action and presented their ideas for improving the conditions in the school.
These initiatives and activities are a result of the new Civic Education curriculum. The new concept also implies active participation of students in specific student initiatives for a positive change in the community, through which the democratic culture of young people is developed.
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.
