The meeting and communication with young people is extremely beneficial and interesting in many ways, said the President, Nikos Christodoulidis, on Friday, in his greeting at the "Day of Consultation with the Cyprus Children's Parliament", organized by the Office of the Citizen's Commissioner at the Presidential Palace .
"As a State, we primarily have an obligation to create the appropriate conditions and opportunities for all citizens, regardless of age and status, so that they can be chosen by the executive power, express an opinion and propose solutions that we in the many and various, possibly we can't detect," he said.
In his greeting, President Christodoulidis said that his Government attaches particular importance to the consultation "with all of you". The Cypriot Children's Parliament, he said, "is a very successful institution of our student community and is a very serious and essential step for expressing opinions and, much more, communication of the student youth, through its representatives, with the Executive Power".
Over time, the work of the Committees, and in general of the Children's Parliament, touches on key issues of student life and the daily reality of the youth of Cyprus, he added. "I have to note, with great pride, I want to say it, that the work being done is characterized by seriousness, responsibility and with a correct approach and understanding of the issues you are called to be assigned to," he said.
"On our part, as the Government, our constant concern and basic priority in general is contact and communication with the whole of Cypriot society. We really want to listen to the citizens of our state, we want them to participate, to govern maturely and responsibly," he added. And in order to achieve this, he continued, "which is our main goal, we take specific initiatives and actions to effectively promote participatory democracy, so that citizens have a real say and a role in the decision-making process and in the governance of the country."
The President of the Republic noted that, precisely for these reasons, the Government proceeded with the creation of the Voice of the Citizen and EkfraCY platforms, "which exclusively concerns young people, showing in practice the importance we attach to this sector".
In fact, he said, through EkfraCY "very interesting and apt observations and suggestions emerged, which I inform you, have already been adopted by the Government".
"Our intention is to lower the participation limit in EkfraCY from the age of 15, giving the opportunity to the student community to participate and express their own opinion and experience," he said. In the same context, he added, the website diakivernisi.gov.cy was created, which is the central website of the Government, where anyone can find out about the government's work, political news and the decisions of the Government.
President Christodoulidis even referred to the recent organization at the Presidential Palace of the second Democracy Day organized by the Office of the Citizen Commissioner and the CARDET organization entitled "Opening the Dialogue in Democracy", but also to the Youth Organization's day entitled "Act with Plan". "In general, all the meetings, which are organized at the Presidential Palace, aim to provide the opportunity for direct dialogue, direct democracy, direct communication between citizens and the Government," he said. "Opinions are recorded, answers are given, we are concerned about everything that concerns society and frankly a very constructive dialogue is taking place, which will continue and be strengthened", he added.
"Personally, the contact and conversation with the young people of Cyprus honestly fascinates me, fills me with optimism for the future of our country and constantly reminds me of the responsibilities we have as a Government, as a State, as an executive power, but also as adult citizens towards you ", he said addressing the members of the Children's Parliament. "Honestly, meeting and communicating with young people is extremely beneficial and interesting in many ways," he added.
He also mentioned that, in relation to the student community, the Government, through the Office of the Citizen's Commissioner and in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, is promoting, with an implementation horizon of 2025, the implementation of the "Structured Democratic Dialogue" model at all levels of of public education under the laboratory type. "This specific and specialized model, which has a strict structure and process, will contribute the most to the cultivation of the necessary democratic culture in the students and tomorrow's citizens of our country", he said, noting that the students will have the opportunity to practice and to be trained in responsible democratic dialogue away from ideological barriers, prejudices, aphorisms and dogmatism.
According to President Christodoulidis, this initiative "is part of the same rationale as our proposal to extend the age limit for the right to vote to 17". "It is also our intention that there should be automatic registration in the electoral rolls, that this whole process would not be needed or that someone should intervene in order to carry out this process," he added. "We want you as partners and allies in this effort because this will help in the conscious and responsible politicization of students," he told the Children's MPs.
Referring to the memorandum submitted by the Children's Parliament with questions to the Government regarding various issues, he said that he is "impressed by the detailed, documented and thorough analysis of the proposals and the issues to be discussed". "We are here to discuss everything that worries you and not only", he said, noting that it is the practical proof "that our young people today, and especially our students, have an opinion, knowledge, have a qualitative criterion and decide with the right and sometimes, I can say, caustic judgment, with specific proposals, always for the well-intentioned interest of their classmates and in general of the life and everyday life of the young people of Cyprus".
"In one sentence, we are very proud of you," he said.
In relation to Education, he said, "we have taken bold steps".
“We changed 43 syllabuses. We want our education to move away from a focus on covering as much material as possible and change the syllabus to promote critical thinking, hone your skills and provide everything our young people need today." he added.
He noted that the Government proceeded to create 30 full-day schools, 15 in the countryside, 15 in the cities "and we will move forward, so that it becomes Catholic throughout Cyprus".
"However, in order to do it and it is not just a slogan, the relevant preparatory work must also be done", he said, adding that children should not stay in schools just to have somewhere to stay and that the time should be productive, to be a continuation of the training program. He mentioned that what was also discussed at the Intergovernmental Summit with Greece, is the digital tutorial. "A successful application in Greece, let's implement it in Cyprus as well, so that the children who will stay at school really deserve to stay and not just stay, to be somewhere", he added.
He also noted that the budget of the Office of the Commissioner for Children was increased.
Referring to the request to increase the budget of the Children's Parliament, he said that they will look into it.
Source: KYPE