The European Parliament, wishing to give young people aged 16-18 all over Europe the chance to meet, exchange views on experiences, problems they face and express expectations and plans for the European structure, has been organizing the ‘EUROSCOLA’ assemblies at Strasbourg France since 1992.
These sessions take place in the Plenary Chamber in the building of the European parliament and take the form of a European Youth Parliament. They are organized several times a year with the participation of about 500 Lyceum (higher secondary school) students from the 27 member States of the Union. Occasionally students from candidate states take part as well.
The programme allows students from different countries to meet. Upon entering the European Parliament they stop representing their school and get into multilingual groups of about 100 students each. This way, participants are invited to use their knowledge of foreign languages to the fullest extend in order to communicate with their peers from other countries.
The aim of the programme is:
To familiarize young people with the way European institutions function
To sensitise them with the role they will be invited to adopt in the future organisation of Europe
To help student become aware of the need to defend democracy and fundamental rights
To help them understand that learning and using foreign languages helps solving problems understanding views and expectations of the other
To familiarize them with ways of expressing their personal views and promote their wish to offer.
How to participate in Euroscola Competitions
The European Parliament Office in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture selects the students who will take part in the programme through competitions. Competitions are announced in advance and all students can apply and take part. On several occasions, the European Parliament Office in Cyprus offers the winners of competitions which are organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture participation in EUROSCOLA.
How are students selected: The competition will take place at the same time and day in the schools that have applied. Students will be invited to answer a number of multiple choice questions on the European Union. Twenty students who will succeed will be invited to participate in the ‘EUROSCOLA’ programme with a grant covering travel and accommodation expenses for each student. If more than 20 students score an equal amount of points then a draw will help form the final group. The trip to Strasbourg lasts for 2-3 days and the students will be accompanied by their teachers or officers from the Ministry of Education and Culture.
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