The Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Rivne Oblast, jointly with the Ukrainian Volunteer Service NGO, held an info session on promoting volunteering among young people by implementing volunteering classes at schools. The event was focused on municipalities in the Rivne Oblast.
Mykhailo Shelep, Adviser on Decentralisation and Local Self-Government at the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Rivne Oblast, believes that this type of class will be an important step towards active participation of young people in municipalities. Mr Shelep also drew attention to the legal considerations of volunteering in Ukraine. He emphasised that in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Volunteering” (No. 3236-VI dated 19 April 2011), local self-government bodies must provide a favourable environment for volunteering and create prerequisites for its development.
How do these classes work? According to Yaroslav Bulyshyn, manager of the School Volunteering Class project, the Ukrainian Volunteer Service NGO, in cooperation with the Institute of Education Content Modernisation (IECM), has developed an advanced training course for educators.
The educational course “Volunteering Theory and Practice in Secondary Education Institutions” is designed for educators, heads of school volunteer groups and other actors in the educational sector. As part of this course, methodological materials have been developed that will help in conducting school volunteering lessons.
The main goal of the class, according to Mr Bulyshyn, is not only to introduce students to various types of volunteering, but also to inspire them to actively engage in addressing social problems in their municipalities and in the country. Bulyshyn underlined that volunteering classes are a unique opportunity to show schoolchildren how everyone can be a driver for changes in society: “This is a path towards igniting the passion for volunteering, which will strengthen our municipalities and make Ukraine even stronger.”
Yaroslav Bulyshyn also reported that more than 16,000 educators, coaches and volunteers had already received educational and methodological materials, and volunteering lessons had been held in every fifth school in Ukraine.
