Empowering young people as future European citizens with the necessary skills for their more active participation in public life and the consolidation of democracy and peace is our obligation, Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said on Friday during the award ceremony of the senior and junior ambassadors who participated in this year’s European Parliament Ambassador School Programme, as well as the winners of the 2nd Pancyprian Contest of European Literacy for students of the 2nd High School grade organized by the European Parliament Cyprus Office.
In her speech, Michaelidou first praised the results of the close cooperation between the Ministry and the European Parliament Office in Cyprus, thanks to whose contribution, she said, actions are promoted that enhance the easy adaptation of young people to the ever-evolving European society, offering them unique opportunities, including the “Pan-European Network of Ambassador Schools” programme, in which almost 1,750 schools, 3,700 teachers and 23,000 students participate.
The aim of the programme, according to the Minister, is to help translate into action a common European vision, “the formation of an active, responsible and democratic European citizen who actively participates in the public sphere and in the construction of the European project, always with a view to consolidating democracy and the prevalence of peace”.
The Minister warmly congratulated the award winners for their commendable effort, as they had managed to distinguish themselves by competing with hundreds of students from all over Cyprus through a particularly demanding process, in the context of which they became “acquainted with European diversity and solidarity, European issues and institutions”. She also congratulated the teachers for their enthusiasm, energy and hard work and applauded their efforts through which they succeeded, as she said, in bringing Europe into their classrooms and the school community.
For his part, the Head of the European Parliament’s Office in Cyprus Andreas Kettis said in his speech that the programme is being implemented for the seventh consecutive time in all the Member States of the Union by the EP’s local offices, noting that it is a great success arousing the interest of the entire student community and adding that this school year 25 high schools and technical schools, public and private schools, from all the districts of free Cyprus participated.
Kettis also congratulated the students who “as junior ambassadors created, played and learned about the principles and values on which this unique political project for peace in the European continent, which we all know as the EU, was built”, adding that the aim of the project is to make students aware of the values of parliamentary democracy “at a time when, unfortunately, neither democracy nor peace should be taken for granted, and to learn to defend democracy, peace and human rights with constant vigour.”
In conclusion, he assured the students who participated in the programme that he looked forward to their visit to the official seat of the EP in Strasbourg, where at some point during the next school year they will be able to participate in a session of the European Youth Parliament, also known as EUROSCOLA, with all expenses covered by the European Parliament.
Source: Cyprus News Agency