SYDNEY: Last week, the Armenian National Committee of Australia's (ANC-AU) Executive Director Haig Kayserian
and Admin Assistant Olivia Dilanchian
began a series of workshops with years 7, 8 and 9 at Hamazkaine Arsakh & Sophie Galstaun College (Galstaun College)
.The workshops – called "GALSTAUN GOVERNMENT" – are designed to use practical measures to display how much of an impact government has on our everyday lives. The program will include mock parliamentary debates on current issues, mock elections, advocacy role play, media role play and more.
In the first workshop, each class formed two political parties, named them and elected their leaders.
Each party started researching their side of two issues, which they will debate in a parliamentary format during the next workshop. The topics, split among the classes, included:
?? Big Australia Vs Small Australia;
?? Ban Mobile Phones in Schools Vs Allow Mobile Phones in Schools;
?? The Great Barrier Reef Preservation Vs Mining Companies;
?? Ban Single Use Plastic Bags Vs Keep Single Use Plastic Bags;
?? Ban Junk Food in Schools Vs Allow Junk Food in Schools; and
?? Keep a 5-day school week Vs Make school 4 days per week.
The classes were also given an introduction on how decisions made in government had so far impacted their day, from the moment they woke up to when they arrived at school.
ANC-AU Executive Director Haig Kayserian said: "The students were highly engaged and very energetic in today's sessions, and we saw good early signs of their ability to think critically on issues of varying importance in public affairs."
He added: "We look forward to the next workshop later this term, as we hope our #ANCAUoutreach programs will cultivate the next generation of Joe Hockeys, Gladys Berejiklians and Tim Wilsons from our community."
