"Future Dream Trees Enter Local Councils"... Gyeongbuk Youth Assembly Classroom Legislative Experience

The Gyeongbuk Provincial Council (Chairman Bae Han-cheol) announced on the 24th that it will officially operate the 2023 Gyeongsangbuk-do Youth Assembly Classroom, where local youth can directly experience the local council.

On the 21st, the first Youth Assembly Classroom of the year was held with about 20 students from Hwangnam Elementary School in Gyeongju participating. Councilor Choi Byung-jun (People Power Party, Gyeongju) personally welcomed and encouraged the students. The students took on the roles of councilors and conducted the meeting following the actual plenary session procedures, including the opening ceremony, 3-minute free speeches, proposal explanations on ordinances and recommendations, debates for and against, and voting.

Students from Gyeongju Hwangnam Elementary School participating in the Gyeongbuk Youth Assembly Classroom.

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Topics for the 3-minute free speeches included "Beware of Smartphone Addiction" and "Protect Dokdo." A total of six agenda items were presented, such as the ordinance on strengthening modern and contemporary history education for elementary, middle, and high school students, the ordinance on extending elementary school start times, recommendations for free admission to cultural heritage sites and historical explorations for youth, and recommendations for preventing internet addiction.

The students proposed their opinions on issues they could empathize with from a youth perspective, engaged in heated debates, and participated in electronic voting, experiencing firsthand the role and status of the local council through the decision-making process.

The participating students said, "It was interesting to write the draft ourselves and create an ordinance, and although it was nerve-wracking, it was fun to become a councilor and freely express my thoughts."

The Gyeongsangbuk-do Youth Assembly Classroom has been held 48 times from 2014 through last year. It is an educational program for elementary, middle, and high school students in the province, where future voters become one-day councilors and independently manage the council agenda in the council plenary hall, directly experiencing council activities and democratic decision-making processes.

This year, starting from the 21st, the first half of the year’s program will be held 14 times for about 400 participants until July 18, and in the second half, demand surveys will be conducted to expand the assembly classroom to a total of 20 sessions in cooperation with the Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education.

Bae Han-cheol, Chairman of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council, said, "I hope this will be a meaningful time for future dream students to understand the functions and roles of the local council and directly learn about democracy through the Youth Assembly Classroom," adding, "We will continue to work harder in council activities so that youth can pursue big dreams and live happily."

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