On March 21, 2022, students who are members of the Idea Fusion Center, supported by the USAID Youth Ethnic Integration Project, implemented by the Macedonian Civic Education Center (MCEC), presented their idea for student networking at the national level in front of representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science, the Bureau for Development of Education and the Center for Vocational Education and Training. Among those present were teachers, student support staff and directors of the involved schools, as well as representatives of the USAID Office in North Macedonia.
During the first semester of the school year 2021/22, all members of the Idea Fusion Center participated in the development of a common idea to address the challenges that young people across the country face.
“One of the biggest challenges for the students is the lack of opportunities for mutual socialization. When used properly, technology can enable students to communicate and cooperate wherever they are”, say the students.
They suggest using the options of the National Platform for Distance Learning, developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that each student has their own profile on the platform, the idea is to use this possibility and create three sections on this platform: a place for sharing success stories in order to recognize the work of teachers/students, who have achieved excellent results in a certain area or have implemented a student initiative that would serve as an inspiration for others; blogs created by students on topics of their interest; forums where students can join and open discussions on various topics, together with their peers.
They presented this idea to the representatives of the educational institutions in order to receive feedback regarding its successful implementation and possible implementation.
“This is a great idea that is achievable. It just needs to be put on paper and the mechanisms for its realization should be determined,” said the representatives of the educational institutions.
Dawn Carmin, USAID’s General Development Office Director in North Macedonia, acknowledged the students’ creativity and enthusiasm and said, “It’s nice to see the whole community gathered together towards a common goal. I think that through this idea of the students, digital tools can be used for good and they can be useful to young people. I am honored and pleased to be a part of this discussion.”
The students – members of the Idea Fusion Center, will continue to work on the realization of their ideas within the schools and municipalities. With the help of the school coordinators, they will jointly focus on promoting the activities that they have implemented so far and motivating their peers to implement student initiatives.
This activity is part of the Youth Ethnic Integration Project, supported 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 the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or the United States Government.
