North Macedonia: Students and teachers showed how they started the changes in their schools

On November 23, 2022, a final event was held within the project “Start the Change”, which united around 100 students, teachers, and representatives from educational institutions. With the active participation of young people, the achievements and successes within the project were presented and celebrated, and the importance of strengthening the voice of young people for positive community changes was emphasized.

During the event, representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science of North Macedonia presented the document with guidelines for making additions to the education policies, which was developed with the support of the project, and spoke about the importance of supporting young people and their ideas.

In order to present the numerous activities carried out in their schools, students from the five project schools SS “Nikola Karev” – Strumica, SS “Pero Nakov” – Kumanovo, PS “Brothers Ramiz – Hamid” – Skopje, SS “Brothers Miladinovci” – Skopje and PS “Kuzman Josifovski – Pitu” – Skopje arranged stands with their creations and explained what activities they implemented and what impact they had on their surroundings.

As part of the event, an interactive workshop was held for the students, where they mapped problems and potential solutions related to what an ideal school means to them. They presented them to the audience and discussed how they could be implemented in the schools.

The project “Start the Change” contributed to encouraging, supporting, and strengthening the voice of children and young people. Through the involvement of about 500 students in the project activities, young people got the opportunity to actively participate in their local communities. Also, 100 teachers and school support staff participated in trainings and events in the country and abroad, strengthening their knowledge and skills to support students.