Active Youth

by Aida
(Sarajevo)

Original Text: Active Youth

This project promotes creation of modules through which secondary school students, in an interactive way and in practice, recognize the importance of educational approach based on the development of life skills and key competencies.

Over 1.000 secondary school students, their teachers and school counselors, from 50 secondary schools (different profiles), and 17 cities, were directly involved in this project. This was a process that consisted of seven phases:

- regional one-day workshops on key competencies and life skills, and a relationship between education and labour market (November 2010)
- open call for mini-projects and applications (December, 2010)
- youth encounters - presentation of mini projects with advisory support (21st and 22nd December, 2010)
- mentorship and project preparation (December 2010 – February 2011)
- regional one-day workshops on project management (February 2011)
- ratification of contracts and awarding of grants in the amount of 1.200 EUR/ implementation of mini projects with metorship and reporting (March 2011 – June 2011)
- final evaluation seminar (7th and 8th June, 2011)

This process showed that young people (14-18 years), when given space, direction and mentorship, can create fantastic projects in local community, recognize the needs and identify all relevant actors, be creative, and in practice implement their ideas into action, just like real managers and leaders. Through this action they directly learn through practical work and advance entire set of competencies and life skills analytical ability, idea articulation to team and research work, project and event management, presentation and communication skills, work with media and local authorities, etc. This experience was not only very useful for them personally, but their mini projects had a social relevance, and the whole process was very pleasant, entertaining and motivating for them, the elements that often lack in our education system.

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Revised Text:

This project promoted the creation of modules through which secondary school students, in an interactive way and in practice, recognized the importance of educational approaches based on the development of life skills and key competencies.

More than one thousand secondary school students, their teachers and school counselors, from 50 secondary schools (having different profiles), and 17 cities, were directly involved in this project. This was a process that consisted of seven phases:

• regional one-day workshops on key competencies and life skills, and the relationship between education and the labour market (November 2010)
  
  
• open call and applications for mini-projects (December, 2010)
  
  
• youth encounters - presentation of mini projects with advisory support (21st and 22nd December, 2010)
  
  
• mentor-ship and project preparation (December 2010 – February 2011)
  
  
• regional one-day workshops on project management (February 2011)
  
  
• ratification of contracts and awarding of grants in the amount of 1.200 EUR/ implementation of mini projects with mentor-ship and reporting (March 2011 – June 2011)
  
  
• final evaluation seminar (7th and 8th June, 2011)

This process showed that young people (14-18 years), when given space, direction and mentorship, can create fantastic projects in local communities, recognize the needs and identify all relevant actors, be creative, and implement their ideas into action, just like real managers and leaders. Through this action, students directly learn through practical work and advance an entire set of competencies and life skills; analytical ability, idea articulation to team, research work, project and event management, presentation and communication skills, work with media and local authorities, etc.

This experience was not only very useful for the students personally, but their mini projects had a social relevance, and the whole process was very pleasant, entertaining and motivating for them, elements that are often lacking in our education system.

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