3rd School of Conference EYP Moscow
ISSUE 1
nd 2
of May 2015
Editorial ЭduchÉ … This made-up word that is our title is a combination of many things. I will sort out this puzzle for you. First of all, э this cyrillic letter is an obvious wink to Russia. It reminds me of the time arrived to Russia in September 2014. One morning I decided to write on google.com : EYP RUSSIA. You should have seen my face when I found out that there is an EYP Russia and that you were really active! Second of all, « duch » stands for education. In case your have not read the booklet or lost your mind during the teambuilding this is the central issue of this conference. É well… It is because I am French. Also we — the journos team — thought it would look fancy. By the way I want to clarify something. You might have this clichÉ that all French people, especially girls, dress fancy but it stays a cliché. Actually I studied in Grenoble near the Alpes and the girls were wearing sneakers when not hikingboots. I praise the Russian girls. In Saint-Petersburg they wear high-heels no matter what : the rain, the snow, the poor condition of the sidewalk. Morgane Stephan
THE TEAM Sandra Elpers (BE) Her energy-drinks is happiness and not coffee (it is healthier). She is a huge Harry Potter fan and you might see her in a couple of years playing for the Belgian national quidditch team.
Uliana Belonogova (FI/RU) She is a really dynamic person and right now she studies International Baccalaureate in Finland. She is a sushioholic. If you want to please her you know what to buy !
Olga Sitinska (LV) You can guess she is a Sherlock fan when you are a witness of her watchfullness. quickly she notices small information. She is A detective. She is preparing a surprise for you for the end of the session.
Evelyn Usmanova (RU) Economics expert from Moscow she is looking forward to discover the world. Be careful she cannot live without her camera : she will be here to capture every moment.
Do Hanh (RU) You can call her Toma. She is from Vietnam and studies Advertising and Public Relations at the Russian University of Economics. However she is an artist and she thinks studying design and acting fits more her personnality. 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS COMMITEES ARTICLES Let’s keep the iron curtain in its ruins! p.4 Access and Equality p.5
CRUCIAL DETAILS The other side of the session p.4 Teambuilding : a story-board p.7-8
Global issue in answers and questions p.6 Professional workers WANTED p.9 To be or not to be? p.10 Encouraging for Lifelong Learning p.11 There are many different ways to improve education p.12
OPINION ARTICLES What can you learn from a book? p.12
FOCUS ON : THE DELEGATES Tell us who you are p.13 The look from the outside p. 14-15
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The other side of the session
You are not alone on this session. You have probably already seen this weird creatures, because next to you there are three groups of officials: organisers, chairs and journalists. But what do they bring to this session? Sandra Elpers will try to sort it out for you.
Chairs
“Chairing is doing the best you can so that your delegates can work as efficient as possible. And loving your delegates.” -Vlada Closest to you, delegates, are the chairs. They serve as the primary facilitators and guides of the different committees in a session. The president is the head of the chairs' team, ensuring the quality of the preparation kit and she 100% here to support the chairs. Basically, the main goal of a chair is to start with a bunch of diverse people and transform into a committee. It will be consisted by individuals who are inspiring and enriching each other as one group of friends.
Organisers
“ We are responsible for the details” - Pauline The people without whom the session cannot exist are the Organisers. The skeleton of the session. They work behind the scenes, and most of their work takes places right before the session. Do not underestimate the work of the organisers. They start preparing the session many months on before and are responsible for putting the session together, from food over finding officials to venues and logistics. It is their duty to ensure a smooth ongoing of the session. The organising team plays a fundamental role in the success of the event.
Journalists
“Rigth now I feeli like I am the ghost of the session.” -Morgane Other people you see running around with camera's and entering your committee rooms, are the journalists. They are here to make the session unforgettable, providing a wealth of materials. This includes written issues, pictures, videos and challenges. The outcome of the media team can be found online on the different networks. 3
Let’s keep the iron curtain in its ruins!
Everybody knows that Russia is the largest country in the world but not everybody remembers that it is a hosting land to more than 180 different nationalities. The ability to interact and live peacefully with all these cultures by no means should be prevented from developing. The experience gained in this field has to be used as a template for future growth in terms of mutual tolerance. This is the knowledge which has to be spread, especially among the young generation in order to raise the open-minded and internationally aware population. An overview by Uliana Belonogova.
How is the nationalism in Russia demonstrated? It’s generally known that historically formed nationalism frequently takes place in Russia, especially among oldfashioned conservatives. Due to the different international or political conflicts Russia has been sometimes alienated from the rest of the world, therefore unfortunately it’s not the rare case that foreigners are met with surprise or even hostility. Russian nationalism may appear looking dangerously close to racism, as it requires the ethnically “purer” Russia and the deportation of all the unwanted groups not related to the Slavic nation. It’s worth to note that Ru s s i a n g o v e r n m e n t n o t o n l y recognizes this issue as a major problem, but also takes measures for finding the way to tackle it.
H o w e v e r, w i t h t h e c u r r e n t international situation the nationalism in Russia was given a new go to rise as the conflict between East and West starts to deepen. The present political disagreements between Russia and Europe along with the US provoke not only the Russian patriotism but also nationalistic incentives. You should not mix up these definitions, as Vladimir Putin said during the annual Q&A marathon:
Why should it be avoided?
Despite some people claiming that nationalists’ urge to clear Russia of all the “polluting” people is somehow apprehensible, it is ethically wrong and unacceptable in the modern time. Having immigrants does not imply the worsened quality of the nation or the loss of traditional culture.
In the modern globalized and open society it is necessary to keep up with the pace of the rest of the world, and that’s what we have to aim at. But unfortunately quite often the nationalistic groups in Russia try to urge the government or encourage the people to lift the iron curtain back up in order to shield Russia from the external influence of the foreign nationalities. These forces cannot be let loose, otherwise the country will be lagging behind the rest of the world.
What does the educational system have to offer? As was mentioned above, the nationalism and the increasing prejudiced opinion about the cultures in Russia have started to spread. The main unit that is going to influence the future is always the young `generation; hence they should be a target group for starting the reforms. Introducing the changes through school and education is the most effective way to impact young minds that represent a good ground for “investments”. Raising a generation of culturally open-minded and friendly students has to be a huge investment in a country’s future reputation and status. Therefore, tackling the cultural unawareness through education is essential for securing a peaceful future. In a global sense, the proper education will unite people for achieving the common goal – fighting the nationalism and becoming the citizens of the world.
“Patriotism means love for a homeland, while xenophobia is the hatred towards other nationalities and people”.
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Access and Equality Evelyn Usmanova thinks that ensuring equal access to educational resources for all regions should be a number one priority for the government
In addition to the admitted problem of insufficient funding level of general education there is another one. How to overcome the contradiction between the inequality of financial capacities of the regions on the one hand, and equality of educational level on the whole territory of the Russian Federation on the other hand. A number of public services such as free general secondary education and others are guaranteed by the Constitution. This means that regardless of the regions the amount of money spent on
« Отмечено неравенство в доступе к качественным образовательным услугам в различных регионах, а также в городской и сельской местности. Это не позволило достигнуть целевых значений ряда показателей, предусмотренных государственной программой "Развитие образования" на 2013-2020 годы « Согласно Плановым проверкам Счетной Палаты
That distinction of regions by the financial provision of education services does not provide equal access to a good quality education. It threatens the unity of educational space of the c o u n t r y. T h e r i g h t t o education is due to the region in which the child lives. Minimization of expenses on education occurring throughout the country leads to the situation when the lowquality education preserves economic backwardness of depressed regions. M e a n w h i l e , i n Ru s s i a , according to PISA -2012 (Programme for International Student Assessment), 27% of students did not reach base (second) level of reading literacy, and only 41% of the students showed results above this level. Russia is one of the countries with the largest number of children who do not have the basic skills, providing the reader literacy assessment
Compared to the previous series of assessment the average results of Russian students increased in 2012: -Mathematical literacy by 14 points -Reader literacy by 16 points -Scientific literacy by 8 points
Therefore, we can say that current Russian education system does not implement its advantages of high equality in access to education and lose potentially successful students from disadvantaged regions, by not giving them a chance to fulfil their potential.
So, the genuine concern for the preservation of the unity of the educational space of the country is to establish minimum standards of public finance of education and to introduce the mechanisms for aligning the budget provision of the regions for this purpose. Namely this will be the guarantee of state obligations in education system, these actions will ensure an equal access to a good quality education and allow the public to believe that the State is uneasy about education.
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Global issue in answers and questions Olga Sitinska explains to you the machinery of brain drain.
What is brain drain? Highest rate of the brain drain Brain drain is a process of a mass immigration, when qualified and skilled workers leave the country due to the political, economical, religious, or other reasons. “Left” countries often receive economical, cultural and political damage. British community, to describe migration processes among engineers and scientists during and after World War II, invented term “brain drain”. Nowadays it is common for the developing countries and post-soviet countries in the Eastern Europe.
It is common, that emigrating brains learn English and move to the United Kingdom, the US or some other English-speaking country. The other choice is Nordic countries with high-income rate. China and India have recently been discovered to be at the top of the list of countries with skilled students leaving the country.
Why is it happening? There are several reasons of a brain drain in Russia. Firstly, low income level and poor providence of materials for scientists. Apart from that, it is much more easier to become scientifically successful abroad, than in Russia. Gifted youngsters see the better opportunities for the studies abroad. Also, people always search for the better conditions for their families. Nordic countries are fulfilled with the experts, who are “not needed” in their homelands. The holes in different employment sectors are being enlarged, but at the same time it is very hard to find a job based on your educational qualification. Moreover, if you were lucky to find it, it does not mean that you will be successful and well paid. When simultaneously there is an ocean of possibilities to find profitable jobs in Norway, Sweden, or any other Nordic country.
What is impact on the economy? The brain drain itself involves the loss of human capital, because skilled labor force, which is vital to the development of society and the country as a whole, flows away to the other countries. The truth is that the young folks are the future of the every country. But they are leaving with the speed of light, causing problems in different employment sectors. The right thing would be to encourage people to stay and develop their home country. I personally don’t know how, because my homeland, Latvia, is facing the same problem. I love my country but I’m forced to leave. I would like to know that there is a chance for me to succeed without doing it, but there is not.
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First akward moments
affect the whole session ?
Time to stand your ground
How does your participation
Photogenic skill at its highest !
Getting physical !
The teambuilding is the essential part of the session, which lays the foundation for future effective teamwork and the friendship bonds formed between the delegates. During this process delegates not only get to know each other and the officials they are going to be working with, but also embrace the spirit of the EYP. Therefore the results achieved in the teambuilding reflect greatly in the success of the committee. And your participation is what matters for the effectiveness of your committee and hence the whole quality of the session!
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Uliana Belonogova
preparation?
Many newcomers when first playing the teambuilding games think that they have outgrown these kind of activities and don’t take seriously the tasks. However, you should keep in mind that every single activity has a physical or psychological layout working on teaming people up, so they shouldn’t be underestimated. And the games that are seemingly appropriate for a 10-year-old kid is what will keep you together! Remember that saving a young soul through the years is a very valuable and rare ability.
Children games or academic
You are disgusting !
Шаманство в парламенте
Intense thinking in progress
Wow, look at the view!
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? e b o t t o n r o e b To The modern educational system in Russia is in jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science, which means that general education is free and available for everyone. Taking into account the fact that education is one of the effective tools to integrate migrants there are some barriers on the way of integration process.
Do Hanh believes education is the key answer to this question.
However, financial support is not the main aspect of successful integration of immigrants. They are feeling the need of moral support, especially after relocation. The process of globalization is not only a full list of possibilities, which has its pros and cons, but also might result in losing the sense of identity. The ministry of Education in Russia should develop compulsory and higher education with qualified teachers in mother tongue of immigrants, which can also, attracts other citizens to develop other cultures and languages. The point is to create opportunities and right conditions in purpose of effective social integration. In conclusion, taking into account that Russia has world's second largest number of immigrants our country should develop the idea of international events as “Euro village”, “World Foreign Language Contest for students” and holidays in order to create a unified society in which each member can find a common language with each other. Such events can also arise the worldwide and transnational corporations interests.
Regarding Russia’s endless possibilites and means with its education system, a stronger effort should be allowed to take advantage of the potential of the young migrants. It is no secret t h a t Ru s s i a ’ s e d u c a t i o n s y s t e m n e e d s improvements. The main question of my article is how Russian educational system should integrate immigrants.
First step in this problem should be dedicated to the access to school services and financial assistance. Using public resources to maintain Russian language and cultural heritage is controversial, especially in education. Lowincome families are faced with difficulty with providing their children with "School services", which encompasses school equipment, extracurricular activities, health services and etc. “Creating possibilities for migrants to get full value life means not only informing them about such public services, for example, as medical insurance, but also guiding them in the future.
How can we boost immigrants’ social status and increase their integration ?
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Professional workers
How many of you have a dream job that you’ve been determined to get since you were a kid? How many of you want to spend 2-‐3 years for your quali@ication instead of @ive? Not a long time ago professional schools started offering a much wider range of jobs for graduates. Still, this reform is not perfect according to Uliana Belonogova. What is there that the companies fail to realize? The new reform has been recently implemented in Moscow regarding the increase of job possibilities offered by vocational schools. Students have been given a chance to decide and specialize in their future profession right after secondary school. This positive change opens new horizons full of opportunities for many struggling students: those who want to get to their dream job as fast as possible and those who cannot afford the university may now settle down in their decision to choose the professional school.
Having graduated from the vocational school, the potential worker is very young, ambitious and full of innovative ideas. With a proper introduction to work/training, why not a valuable employee? Moreover, the fact that this person pursued the chance to major in the field that the company is offering enhances his/her credibility in the eyes of the employer. It implies that the applicant is very persistent, determined to work and what’s more important, really interested in what he/she will be doing.
What could be done? But what’s the key issue?
Work place established, future set – what else could a freshman seek for? But the situation gets complicated when the student starts applying for the job. It turns out that the employers are not interested in hiring the people they would need to train. And even though students have been majoring in subjects that they hope the employer will like, the latter is not too excited about engaging the applicant without previous operational experience.
The reform worked well in terms of attracting more students to the professional schools, but did it really fulfill its purpose? Or does it require a change in companies’ policy in order to give them the external push in employing the graduates? Or perhaps it is the applicant’s own job to make him/ herself suitable and qualified enough for the workplace? Delegates of the Third School Conference on Moscow will clarify this issue and come up with the possible solutions. We need to remember that youth unemployment is one of the key factors to be paid attention to when assessing the country’s economy, therefore the problem discussed above should not be left unnoticed. 9
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO IMPROVE EDUCATION Education is like teambuilding, everyone has something to win. Only if your education is not adapted to the needs of the world of today and tomorrow, you can lose. One hint for evolving to one of the best? Sandra Elpers finds that cooperation and teamwork
The education system should and can be improved. Life is a path you follow, on which you keep on learning. Analogically to that, our methods of learning can always be improved, striving to perfection.
If you would ask me how to improve education, I would say: make it more personal. Adapt the method of teaching to the student(s). Every person has his or her own qualities and all of those should be developed thanks to a motivating educational approach. For example in Nicaragua, where they harvest cacao beans. But only the older generations are doing their jobs with their skills and know-how. The younger people are not likely to work on the countryside, so they go into the cities looking for jobs. As in the cities they don’t find jobs, they return to the villages where they left their parents and start working in the cacao-industry. But they are totally demotivated and don’t have any knowhow therefore lots of faults are made. Here education can help because not everyone is made to become a farmer working in the fields. Some people are more likely to develop their engineering skills and others their selling skills, which are also needed in the industry over there. Thus, with a little imagination and a lot of creativity, adapted education is possible. And this is a very simple example, because it's only about one specific industry. But the system can be implemented in Russia as well, so that people can have studies and a job that fits them more perfectly. This will raise the happiness rate increasingly.
We should all and help refining education adapting it to new needs and expectations in this world at these times. Because the only way it seems globally possible, is to help others. By doing so, you get the chance to reflect on yourself in a manner that when you take the lead, others will have expectations of your level of knowledge and you are to prove you're worth coaching them. And you have the perfect guinea pigs to try new forms of education, so that if they work, you can implement those in your own educational system.
So please people, make it a game and play it well. Don’t just team up with only the best. Also help others achieving the goals set up by everyone and to be fulfilled by everyone. Because the six key education goals composed at the World Education Forum Dakar in 2000, haven’t been accomplished by all countries yet. The goals aimed to meet the learning needs of all by 2015. 2015 started a few months ago, is still today, but soon enough the deadline has expired. How can we move on with new goals if the previous ones didn't make any change?
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ENCOURAGING FOR LIFELONG LEARNING Evelyn Usmanova believes that developing motivation for people of all ages to continue their education throughout their lives is one of the most valuable gifts one can offer. In the context of the rapid changes occurring in the economy and the labor market, the value and the necessity of human learning throughout active life is increasing. In this case, the requirements for the educational process itself are also undergoing significant changes related to demographics, globalization, the introduction of new information technologies, economic structures, the reorganization of the public sector and social services. Under these conditions, the Russian system of education aimed high expectations. We need a new culture of learning, based on interactivity,
The maintenance and improvement of professional skills tend to happen at work or in connection with the occuption. Attending trainings in the workplace, in the immediate work environment that are provided by the employer- an essential element of skills training, mastering and improving them. Interestingly, that besides financil motivational factors non-financial factors like recognition of collegues and community and personal development are also recognised as initiatives to lifelong learning.Therefore, in order to
identifying excellence, learning at home and in the workplace. Primary and secondary schools are designed to provide a good foundation for the principle of life learning. Kids who possess a strong motivation to learn have a future blessed with discovery, opportunity, and contribution. They have a natural bent to do those things that will lead to the professional success in the 21st century and to the positive evolution of society.
try to give employees knowledge by further education, companies should create a properly functioning motivational system consisting of motivational factors of a financial and non-financial nature. So, lifelong learning is another way companies can both reward employees and benefit from them by giving to workers more personal satisfaction from jobs and staying a competetive organisation for the same time. As the saying goes “how many people, so many flavours”, so we could say “how many people, so many motives”. One cannot find a single universal model for
motivating the factors that attract interest in people to education, different needs and adheres to different values which contribute to their overall decision. All in all, the challenge is to find a model for companies, this that would be most effective if the model was regularly monitored and updated.
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EYP loves books. Of course we can't force you, but this article is going to help you how to feel more comfortable reading books. Imagine time travel was possible. Imagine you could be anywhere and possible. Take out a book from a shelf hidden somewhere in your
When you start enjoying books, you
room, sit yourself down in a
will know the feeling whenyou that
comfortable spot and enjoy. Look at
books are the basic education for
the cover. Can you see the colours?
everyone. Not only because books
Can you see the graphic design, what
have the power to trigger people's
is making the book cover look
imagination, they can as well
attractive? Now, open the book. It
mention facts that are true and make
doesn’t matter on what page you
you remember them. You can learn a
open it, you don’t yet have to read it,
lot from a book. It raises you. You
only to open. Now, smell the book.
can mature with a book.
from a book ?
What can you learn
anywhen you want. Well, it is in fact
Let the atmosphere of the story enter through your nose. Then, watch the bookwith your eyes over the little things that are lying there. Feel the paper in your hands. And then, finally, turn to the very first page and start to read. Make yourself comfortable with the book. Feel yourself at home in the story. Literature isn’t all about the story. It’s about what makes the story. About why you feel the story. Literature inspires people to do
great things,
and it teaches you life lessons, worth
That is why I think we should see the books that we have to read for school as a chance. As an opportunity instead of a task. As an opportunity which can lead us to joyful moments and better understandings of life. The chance to get another point of view on life and reflect on yours. To try a new lifestyle. Spend time on learning in a different way. Enjoy. I’m pretty sure you’ll discover a real treasure to brighten up your life on this planet.
Sandra Elpers
knowing. When you feel empahy for one the characters in the book, they might eventually become part of your life. 12
TELL US WHO YOU ARE …
Survey conducted by Do Hanh
WHAT LED YOU TO EYP ?
2 %
9 % 10 %
22 % 48 % 28 % FRIENDS SCHOOL PROGRAMM SOCIAL NETWORKS OTHER
WHAT IS YOUR FACULTY ?
3 % 3 %
23 %
58 %
DANGER WARNING EAT ANTYHING AND STAY SLIM SUPER STRENGHT WATER CONTROL
EXPECTATIONS YOU HAD BEFORE THE CONFERENCE ?
7 %
14 % 24 %
WHAT SUPERPOWERS WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE ?
56 %
14 % 23 %
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS LANGUAGES ECONOMICS LAWS SCIENCES
56 %
NEW FRIENDS WORK IN A TEAM LUNCHTIME BORING... 13
THE LOOK FROM THE OUTSIDE Dress codes are written and, more often, unwritten rules. Outfits have a social significance, with different rules and expectations being valid depending
ULIANA SAVENKOVA, DELEGATE
on circumstances and occasions. At the 3rd conference of EYP Russia there is a dress code from smart casual to formal casual. But sometimes we all need to break the rules to bring closer the warmth and the sunshine of May. Here are some pictures of members from 3rd conference of EYP in Moscow ! Do Hanh
DO HANH, JOURNALIST
Today is a flower dress, tomorrow is a white dress, day after tomorrow is GA… What will she wear then? If it’s almost summer and you can’t find any flowers outside – come to EYP Russia!
It doesn’t matter how you look, it is important what goals and aims you have. Feel confident in yourself and you will make everyone else feel so. Little black dress is an irreplaceable item in every girl’s wardrobe just as a book of classic writer.
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MADINA, ORGANISER
Nice blue dress mixing with pair of same color sneakers can set the mood of your day! And as an o r g a n i z e r t h e conference requests her enthusiasm and quickness. Keep smiling, Madina, we are glad that you joined our team! SOFIA VESELOVA, DELEGATE Formal dark-blue dress with the lighter color jacket
Only the pair of high heels is missing for Sofa to be ready for the General Assembly. How ever her her rubb er boots for this rainy weather looks really special.
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FOR MORE COOL PICTURES AND INFORMATION FACEBOOK US : EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT RUSSIA VK US : EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT RUSSIA (EYP RUSSIA) INSTAGRAM US : EYP_RUSSIA
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