From the Olympiad to the expert platform: the “School of the Young Voter” started in Belarus

At the Academy of Management under the President of the Republic of Belarus, the republican educational project “School of the Young Voter” was solemnly launched. About this correspondent sb.by reported in the press service of the Academy of management under the President.

The opening was attended by Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus Igor Karpenko and Rector of the Academy of Management Denis Duk. The participants of the project were 36 young people from all regions of the country: finalists of the Republican Olympiad on the theory and practice of the electoral process, members of the Youth Council under the CEC and leaders of public associations.

During the week, young people will deepen their knowledge of the electoral process, participate in discussions, business games and trainings, as well as learn the tools of outreach. One of the key principles of the school is “equal educates equals”: participants will be able to transfer the acquired knowledge to their peers using language and their own experience.

Opening the project, Rector of the Academy of Management Denis Duk noted that the platform unites active and promising young people who will be able not only to gain new knowledge, but also to involve others in educational work. He expressed hope that the participants will develop their own initiatives and apply the experience gained in educational institutions, labor collectives and regions.

Chairman of the CEC of Belarus Igor Karpenko noted that young people have significant potential, which is important to direct to creative activities and development of the country. He also drew attention to the need to expand the accumulated experience of working with young people in the regions, so that young people, regardless of their place of residence, have opportunities to participate in public life and gain knowledge about the electoral system.

The first event of the program was the foresight discussion “Electoral security: from the ideological immunity of youth to the stability of the political system”. In the format of an open dialogue, the participants discussed the possible expansion of the powers of the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, the prospects for the use of digital electoral technologies, the influence of the political model of the state on electoral security and new challenges associated with the development of generative artificial intelligence and deepfake technologies. A fourth-year student of the Academy of Management, Violetta Mushroom, believes that interest in the electoral process is associated with an understanding of personal responsibility for the future. According to Violetta, the very fact of such a project and the participation of 36 young people in it show that the initiative has an interested audience. She hopes that the training will help participants to better understand the topic and prepare for a dialogue with peers.