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Smithy for Leaders: Young Activists Learning Professional Skills of Management

It’s the third year already the School for Young Leaders of Armenia (SYL) hosts under its roof young activists who come here to strengthen features of a leader and to establish personal contacts with famous political and public figures. Author of this project and the school director Artak Shakaryan says SYL aims to consolidate young people of Armenia sharing the same ideas and to provide them an opportunity to produce better results. Education in SYL is free. The project is funded by the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs. Young people from both Armenia and Diaspora can study at school. Trainings are conducted in two streams, which are divided by age: 20-25 and 25-35. “The school has already quite a high reputation. At least 10 people apply per place in our school,” says Shakaryan. The classes are held twice per week in the evening. Students here study Principles of Leadership, Rhetoric, Alternative Development Sectors of Armenia, etc., which according to the organizers are delivered by specially qualified experts. Also famous public and political figures, as well as statesmen represent their reports at school and discuss different issues on the country with the students under unofficial climate. The school trainings last a year and are divided into four semesters. The first and second stages of education consist of lectures and meetings, while during the third and fourth ones – the students begin working on the "Big Project" - a stage when they pass from words to deeds. Gohar Iskandaryan, a graduate of the School for Leaders, says they have had a wide response to their “Big Project”. “We published a book entitled as “Main Facts on Karabagh Conflict” and distributed it among the students free of charge. We had prepared also a brochure “Ten Questions, Ten Answers” for “lazy” students, which answers to the most frequently asked questions addressed to the students,” says Gohar. 2400 young people have already studied at SYL since 2006. However the director says not all the students succeed in getting a certificate. “To enter SYL doesn’t yet mean to graduate from it, and this is what we differ from the other educational institutions,” confesses Shakaryan. He adds that during the first two semesters the student himself/herself is responsible for his/her educational progress. And at the last two phases the students are grouped in teams and the assignments are done by teams. If the team is unable to overcome the task in a dignified manner, then the whole team defeats and is left out of school. For already two years SYL has been organizing classes also in the regions of Armenia. Next year summer school is intended to be held in Nagorno Karabagh. This summer the SYL students participated in Young Leaders Conference from CIS countries organized in Moscow. In 2010 the Conference will be held in Armenia.

Source: JNews.am, Student's Eye Column

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