Students’ involvement in the decision-making process is a complex, broad, sensitive and sometimes controversial subject. “The managers of education institutions should create trustworthy spaces for efficient communication with students. In all the areas where there are children, the voice of these should be heard,” expert in children’s rights Iosif Moldovanu stated in an online workshop titled “Male and Female Students’ Involvement in Decision-Making” that was organized by the National Child Abuse Prevention Center.
The event was held in the framework of the EVA Project “Promoting Gender Equality in Cahul and Ungheni Districts” that is financed by the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova and is implemented by the National Child Abuse Prevention Center in partnership with UN Woman Moldova and UNICEF Moldova. The webinar was intended for teachers, managers of education intuitions and parents.
At the beginning of the workshop, UNICEF programs coordinator Gheorghe Trofin said the webinar is important because the participation of children in the decision-making process is a right enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. For children, it is very important to feel that they are part of the educational process. There where the children are asked to state their opinion, the academic results of children are better. “The school is a world for the children and it should be the one that the children see and want.”
“The voice of children should be heard so that we support their ideas. The teachers should put them questions and listen to their answers. Sometimes the children themselves put the question and then provide the answer. The children bring creativity, inventiveness and create a proper state at school by their voices,” stated Iosif Moldovanu, noting that the children should be asked to state their opinions within organized class- or school-level groups.
The workshop entitled “Male and Female Students’ Involvement in Decision-Making” was the third one held as part of the EVA Project “Promoting Gender Equality in Cahul and Ungheni Districts”. The previous workshops centered on child protection policies and on bullying at school.
