More than 120 male and female students from six secondary schools from the area of Mostar, Konjic and Čapljina actively participated in the activities of the first year of the “Let’s Debate Change” project.
Through this project, funded by the Swiss development organization “Solidar Suisse”, and implemented by the Local Democracy Agency (LDA) Mostar, these young people implemented a total of six initiatives that improved educational resources, aimed at improving the quality of educational processes, and strengthening the skills of high school students that will enable them to enter the labor market. With these initiatives, high school students showed and proved how important an active approach and critical thinking are in solving the challenges they and their peers face.
Initiatives in Mostar – technology in the service of education
In Mostar, the students of the High School of Hospitality and Tourism and the Junior High School of Construction designed and implemented the initiatives “Future through technology” and “Digital practical teaching”. As part of these two initiatives, educational resources were improved through the acquisition of modern IT equipment, with the aim of improving the digital skills of male and female students. The importance of the initiatives was also recognized by the City of Mostar, which provided additional support through co-financing in the amount of 2,500 KM. “The project taught us the importance of teamwork, patience and adaptation to challenges. As we solved the technical challenges and organized the work, it became increasingly clear how critical the collaboration between students, teachers and experts is to achieving success. Also, this project encouraged us to think about long-term goals and the impact of our activities, which will be useful not only at school, but also in our future professional and private lives,” emphasized Matea Milićević, coordinator of the initiative in front of the Middle Hospitality and Tourism Mostar school.
Čapljina – practice and space for socializing
Pupils of the Čapljina High School, through the initiative “Let’s talk about changes”, decided to improve the practical teaching for the courses of nutritionist technician and power engineer. The equipment acquired through the project will enable future generations to acquire practical knowledge, connect theory and practice, and provide modern education conditions. At the same time, their fellow high school students worked on the initiative “Our Park”, with the aim of creating a safe and pleasant space for socializing in the school park. By acquiring equipment and furniture, this space will enable the development of creativity, socialization and a sustainable legacy for future generations.
Horse – security and inspiration
The students of the technical majors of Konjic Junior High School realized the initiative “Safety and hygiene”, through which the necessary sanitary equipment and hygiene supplies were provided. By doing so, they succeeded in creating safer and healthier conditions for students’ daily stay at school. On the other hand, their male and female high school colleagues dedicated themselves to creating an inspiring environment through the “Zone of Inspiration” initiative. By equipping the school canteen and social corner, they ensured a space where students can relax, socialize and feel at home. They did not spare their time, and actively participated in mounting and setting up the equipment. Thus, they showed by their example that an active individual can directly influence positive changes in his local community. “Working on the project was a complete refresher for me. I would include projects as part of the teaching process, because children have the opportunity to learn so much. Through the activities of the project, we included different profiles of students, and I can claim that the children learned, mastered and used a lot of new things. After this, we as professors see our students from a new angle, and they also see each other in a completely different light. This is an extraordinary story that should be continued and introduced into the curriculum. After this, I am of the opinion that mandatory student volunteering should be introduced in order to get out of the “digital framework”. “Being a bond between students is a wonderful thing,” said prof. Sanja Maksumić, the project coordinator in front of the Junior High School Konjic.
Developing skills and creating debate clubs
In order to get tools for designing and implementing initiatives, students from all six schools, 120 of them, were educated about the methodology of research through participatory action (PAR) through the project. By analyzing the needs of their communities, high school students developed critical thinking, strengthened capacities and founded debate clubs that became incubators of new ideas and platforms for young activists. Through the project, students strengthened their leadership and communication skills as part of the Summer Camp, and through specialized workshops received training for writing and implementing their initiatives. The most important thing of all is that these young people have successfully applied the acquired skills and knowledge, and through active and critical action have initiated real changes in their communities. It is important to emphasize that the project was carried out with the continuous support of the local governments, the City of Mostar, the City of Konjic and the City of Čapljina, and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of HNŽ. The Let’s Debate Change project is financed by the Swiss development organization “Solidar Suisse” and implemented by the Local Democracy Agency (LDA) Mostar. The total value of the implemented initiatives is more than 22,000 KM, of which the City of Mostar co-financed 2,500 KM. The total value of the “Let’s Debate Change” project is 91,924.00 KM.
Source: bljesak.info
