On the occasion of International Children's Day, the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program, together with the Verkhovna Rada Educational Center and the Agency for Educational Policy Development, organized a parliamentary civic education workshop entitled "We Are Lawmakers!" About a hundred Ukrainian schoolchildren participated in the workshop, deepening their knowledge of the parliament in an interactive way.
In his welcoming remarks, Oleksandr Piskun, Democracy and Governance Program Manager at USAID Ukraine, said: "Our dream was to create an educational center in the Verkhovna Rada. And how much has been done in the 5 years of its operation! During this time, more than 200 thousand children have attended our lessons and trainings. On behalf of USAID, I would like to say that we will continue to pay great attention to the development of this particular area. I sincerely believe that the future belongs to young people! We are all working for our victory now, and I believe we will win."
The event was joined by MPs, including Ivan Krulko, Roman Hryshchuk and Oleksandr Goreniuk, and was attended by 7-11th grade students from Bucha, Irpin, Kyiv and Melitopol schools who tried our simulation game "Under 18: We Are Lawmakers".
Igor Kogut, advisor of the RADA: Next Generation Program, said: "We strive to develop civic education so that children become responsible citizens and know how the parliament works, how the political process works, and why it is important. Ukraine is a European country, and the EU cannot make any decision without the participation of citizens. That is why we are jointly building a better state in the interests of citizens, where people will trust each other, where there will be trust in the parliament, government and political forces."
First, the participants of the event discussed the results of the simulation game "We Are Lawmakers!". As part of this game, Ukrainian high school students developed petitions throughout 2024, then discussed them during meetings of imaginary Verkhovna Rada committees and implemented these ideas in their own bills. In total, more than five hundred students from 43 schools in Ukraine took part in this initiative, which was implemented thanks to the Agency for Educational Policy Development under the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program.
During the event, the participants of the "We Are Lawmakers!" project talked to MPs about their legislative initiatives and shared their impressions of the game.
Anastasia Kostenko, team of the Kyiv Small Academy of Sciences and Specialized School #269: "Our team was sincerely happy to take part in this wonderful project. We worked in the Committee on the Health of the Nation and wrote a petition "On the Regulation of Psychological Assistance to the Military." Now our country is fighting for independence and sovereignty, and most of the military were just ordinary people like you and me a few days ago, they were just living, and now they are defending us. Let us protect them as well! Our team has set itself the goal of improving the provision of quality psychological assistance to the military."
Andriy Yatsura, student of Bucha Lyceum #4: "We prepared a petition on education and developed a bill to reduce the number of subjects on the NMT, because it has a very big psychological impact on students. It is very difficult to write four tests in one day! So we suggested removing one of the main subjects, math, and reclassifying it as an additional subject. We also proposed to increase the impact of the motivation letter upon admission."
Polina Fedorchenko, team of the coordination space of assistance "Melitopol Right Here. Kyiv": "It was really hard for our team, because the participants were of different ages, from different schools, with different forms of education. At the first stage of the game, we worked on the idea of a bill to support children's mental health. And in the second stage, we supported the petition of Novovolynsk Lyceum No. 1 to legalize euthanasia in Ukraine on medical grounds. For me personally, this topic is very important and touching. We had many discussions and discussed our ideas at meetings with MPs. Now we realize that society is not quite ready for such changes. However, we will work on it, because we are a new generation. Among us are future lawyers, doctors, psychologists - and MPs too! We will continue to work for the development of our country. Thank you for your attention! Melitopol is Ukraine!"
During the event, the VRU Educational Center held an interactive lecture and quiz to deepen the children's knowledge of the Parliament and the legislative process in Ukraine. The winner of the competition received valuable prizes.
Schoolchildren also took part in a simulation game, during which they imitated the budget process in the Verkhovna Rada committees. The students pretended to be MPs and engaged in heated discussions. In this way, young people can learn in practice how the parliament works and what its role is in shaping public policy
Here are the reviews of the "young lawmakers":
"With the help of this project, I learned how to write bills, express my thoughts, not be afraid of the public, make decisive decisions, and not be afraid," shares her impressions Angelina Romanchenko, a student of Kyiv Specialized School 129.
"In this project, I realized that I still lack professional skills, and our team realized how much it takes to run a state. Being elected by the people is not only a right but also a great responsibility. That's why we need to learn parliamentarism right now!" says Nazar Lutsenko, a student of Irpin Lyceum #2.
The development of parliamentary civic education is one of the key areas of work of the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program. Knowledgeable, responsible and active youth is the foundation of a sustainable democratic society.
