Funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the new Council of Europe project “Democracy Starts in Schools – Engaging School Children in Decision Making Processes in Schools and Communities” aims to support democracy in Georgia by contributing to greater participation of young people in the decision-making processes at the local level through democratic citizenship education and practices in schools.
Formal education plays a key role in preparing young people for life as active and responsible citizens. It is in school that young people acquire knowledge about democracy, develop competences for democratic culture, democratic attitudes, and values, and develop a culture of participation from an early age.
The project will support the integration of the Council of Europe’s democratic school governance methodology in Georgian schools, which involves the participation in the decision-making process by all school stakeholders. Active participation in school life and in the learning process provides schoolchildren with the opportunity to live in a democratic community and helps them develop competences for becoming active members of a democratic society.
The project will also help strengthen the links between schools and communities by linking the learning process to real life situations and working in partnership with other community stakeholders such as civil society organisations. This will make the learning process less theoretical and more embedded in real life and will strengthen schoolchildren’s competences for democratic culture such as solidarity, responsibility, empathy, peaceful communication and respect for diversity.
The proposed measures are expected to result in greater participation of schoolchildren in schools and communities, thus contributing to greater civic participation of young people in the social and political life of Georgia in the longer term. Moreover, by strengthening the ties between schools and their communities, schools will become more active agents of democracy at the local level, promoting these values not just within schools but also in the wider school communities.
