OSCE Mission to Moldova-supported public debates for youth kicked off in Chisinau

The OSCE Mission to Moldova organized the first in a series of public debates for young people on 12 October 2017, aiming to develop their public speaking and reasoning skills. About 50 high school students and teachers gathered at Vasil Levski Lyceum in Chisinau to participate in the debate and observe new ways of learning through interaction.

Two debate teams from Bender and Ceadîr-Lunga discussed the role of social media and its possible effects on people’s personalities. Event organizers not only demonstrated unique ways to develop critical thinking among young people but also sought to encourage the establishment of voluntary debate clubs in Chisinau schools. Both the students and the teachers present acknowledged the merits of debate as an interactive way to learn and process new information.

Agafia Nikifortseva, a pupil at Vasil Levski Lyceum in Chisinau, said: “Debates make me think, look at an issue from different perspectives, and come up with my own opinion. This event helped me realize that young people can debate about current affairs in an interesting way.”

The Mission organizes these exercises as part of a project implemented jointly with the Comrat-based NGO Piligrim-Demo. The project aims to actively engage young people, including those representing national minorities, in civic processes at the local and national levels by developing their debating skills. One more public debate will be organized this year, in Congaz, southern Moldova.