Slovak students took over a Fictive Country
The 28th of February 2013 became an important date in the history of Čakukysnibrapodsko. The local rebels have finally shaken off the colonial shackles of the Madaslavian monarchy to embark on the path towards national sovereignty. Brave leaders have emerged from the political turmoil… Wait, what? Čakukysnibrapodsko? Madaslavia? What is all this?
I apologise for the confusion, I got a little carried away. What I was talking about is the biggest project in the calendar of SUS (Slovak Secondary School Student Union), which took place from the 28th of February until the 3rd of March. The project was called Fictive Country and it is one of the most traditional projects organised by SUS.
Fictive Country gives students the opportunity to witness how the decision-making processes of a real country look like. Participants get the opportunity to become politicians in a fictive country with its unique landscape, people, culture, economics, foreign relations and other characteristics. They are divided into various political parties, covering the whole breadth of the political spectrum, from communists to liberals. As party members, they take part in the parliamentary elections of the fictional country and try to persuade voters that their political programme is the best.
To achieve this goal, they have to tackle various problems affecting the fictive country. These are based upon real problems, which many nations and societies around the world have to deal with. Tuition fees, homophobia, and the protection of environment are only examples of issues covered by the participants.
However, the project does not simply throw the participants into the deep-end: participants attend theoretical workshops on the skills necessary for successful negotiation, as well as lectures on topics of economy and political theory. This year, these were led by prominent experts in their respective fields: SDA (Slovak Debate Association) on topics of argumentation and discussion, and Doc. Ing. Miloš Tumpach Phd. from the University of Economics of Bratislava, to mention a few. This combination of theoretical and practical knowledge set in the context of real world issues, and provided by means of non-formal education is very successful with the participants.
But the event is not only sweat and work – participants enjoyed themselves with many funny and exciting games and energisers. The whole event was concluded by an awesome theme party.
Written by Tomas Morochovic – SUS representative
