Youth initiatives support program

Program Coordinator: Parviz Bagirov, pbagirov@osi-az.org

1. Background

   It is well known that corruption, bad governance, and nepotism affect Azerbaijani society enormously. Especially detrimental it is for the youth, as they face the growing negative impact of these evils already from their first public performance culminated in higher education institutions. As a result the society loses its potential for reformation and has little prospects for democratization and good governance practices. Higher education institutions appear today as places where the students pass through the whole range of societal deceases and pressure of bad practices. Going through such a crucible they respond in different manner and can be roughly divided into several groups:

   • Those who are subjugated by the bad practices and adopt it, they became a part of corrupted system and work for its reproduction;
   • Those who are "hunting" for opportunities to go abroad to study and work in countries with a stronger rule of law and a more engaging educational process;
   • And those who are unhappy with the choices offered to the public by development and occupy a passive position with no interest in public life, or switch their interests into religious life instead.

   Many observers consider such conditions of youth as a national catastrophe. The students of today, the leaders of the future, are presented very little opportunity to exercise their potential to study, to work, to be active participants in their communities, or merely active participants in the educational process. Students are unaware of their actual rights and privileges. Furthermore the youth and student community in particular often fell victims of political parties ambitions and contest and has got frustrated of any public engagements.

2. Goals and objectives of the program:
   • create community of active youth in higher education institutions
   • encourage students motivation in education reforms and societal challenges
   • make student community reachable for civic activation efforts
   • create youth network to work for the solution of youth problems: education improvement, unemployment, leadership opportunities, gender equality, public policy impact.

3. Activities

   OSI-AF considers that solicitation of student activity and consolidation are crucial for raising effectiveness of all youth related efforts. It is important to consider university students as an important link in the web of civil society.

   Since the collapse of Soviet Union, the value of education in Azerbaijan and its role in developing socially-conscious and democratically-responsible citizens has dramatically decreased. In almost every case, the objective of acquiring knowledge and skills is replaced with the aim of obtaining a university degree, which serves as a "key" to the future. No matter how absurd this may sound, students go to classes for several years only to "hook" a degree, a piece of paper with little value as it rarely corresponds to a relevant and practical knowledge of the subject. This is a difficulty not only with students, but also with teachers as well. The lack of interest in playing the role of a traditional mentor is also part of the problem.

   As a part of Azerbaijani youth the student community faces the following challenges:

   • Students believe that there is a lack of opportunities for them in the future;
   • Students experience falling self-confidence and growing pessimism, which limits their potential as leaders and active members of society;
   • Many young people adopt an anti-social attitude that leaves them vulnerable to delinquent behavior such as drug abuse and crime;
   • The "brain drain" problem: out of frustration and hope for better prospects abroad, many young people decide to leave temporarily or permanently, robbing Azerbaijan of talent and initiative which could have been channeled toward solutions to pressing social and economic problems

   Considering all of the above OSI-AF has developed a "Support for Student Centers" project - to support and strengthen Student Centers and facilitate their direct involvement in solutions to educational problems.

   Student Center Support project (SCS)
   Project Goals and Objectives

   The overall goal is to empower university students with the knowledge and capacity to maximize their participation in the educational process and to create a favorable environment for the promotion of active social involvement through the Student Centers.

   Empowerment entails identifying potential leaders within university communities, and providing them with sufficient knowledge, skills and support to play a key role on an organizational level.

   Project description

   OSI-AF will provide guidance and training to university student centers that are currently lacking in organization and support. An effort will be made to enhance the social life of students as it relates to the educational process, making it more challenging but at the same time more interesting. At the outset, we will begin the project with two state-based universities and one private university:

   • Economic State University
   • Baku State University
   • Khazar University

   The duration of the project is one academic year. It has a small geographical coverage, including only universities that are based in Baku. However, depending on the results of the initial stage of the project, expansion into the regions of Azerbaijan is possible.

   A contribution from the above-mentioned universities is greatly anticipated. The administrations of the universities will provide a space on campus for initial information sessions and trainings as well as the future activities of the student centers.

   Implementation Plan

   The approach adopted by this project to meet its objectives is based on an interactive learning process and empowerment of Student Center initiatives. The project seeks to achieve its goal by directing the project into three phases.

   Phase 1: Four information sessions to the students giving them insight into university life in North America. The themes of the sessions are as follows:

   1. An introduction to McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Information will be given about the city of Montreal, a brief history of the university, the number of students, its budget, and a very brief description of how the university is governed. The majority of the session will be spent discussing faculties and programs at McGill (in other words what subjects can be studied there) and the relationship between professors and students, with an emphasis on course evaluations, office hours, and the use of teaching assistants and conferences/seminars.
   2. Student Life on Campus. This will begin with a brief description of the Students' Society of McGill University (student government) and how it functions. We will then discuss clubs and services on campus, with particular emphasis on what is available and how it is run. This will also include discussion of the campus newspapers and information about athletic activity at the university.
   3. This session will begin with a brief description of how the academic year is structured, then a discussion of the course selection process (depending on when these sessions will be perhaps I can have a course calendar sent from home), and how most Arts courses are structured. The other half of the session will be spent talking about the most popular courses in the Arts faculty at McGill.
   4. During the final session the students in attendance will be asked to list the issues relating to their education that they feel are important. These lists will be used to create a master list of topics for the research project. A detailed explanation of the research project will be given at this point, after it was briefly mentioned in the previous sessions.

   Phase 2: Submission of research project proposals by students; selection of most promising proposals; training in research methodology and academic writing for selected students.

   Phase 3: Completion of research projects by students; selection of highest-quality projects for appropriate remuneration.

   Expected Outcome and Sustainability of SCS

   We hope that the following objectives will be met upon the completion of "Support to Student Centers":

   • Increased participation of youth in their communities, with an increased potential for future civically-minded and active decision-makers;
   • Enhanced partnerships between universities and OSI-AF;
   • Students Centers empowered with the knowledge, skills and capacity to continue promoting leadership, organizing community activities and advocating for student rights.

4. Long term objectives of Youth program and its relevance to OSIAF national strategy.

   Creation of the active student groups through SCS project and its possible expansion in following years 2006-07 would enable

   • Youth education and activation efforts to reach student community and enhance youth engagement with human rights issues, monitoring of education reforms, other monitoring efforts.
   • European Youth Center based on experience of other CEE countries to be established to teach understanding of European values and assist students and other youth groups in their engagements with education reforms and monitoring in compliance with the commitments of the national government.

   Project to mitigate challenges the youth faces in the country to be developed through active youth organizations