Trainings of Judges for “Project Citizen”

With its interdisciplinary and participative approach, “Project Citizen” aims at helping students grow up to be conscious and responsible citizens. In the course of the project, participating students identify a problem faced by their community; they first evaluate existing measures of public policy and then develop an own appropriate solution while trying to remedy the shortcomings of previous attempts. Their research provides them with valuable analytical skills and teaches them about their rights and responsibilities as Ghanaian citizens. In the final stage of the project students get the opportunity to present their results in front of a jury and audience. These showcases are designed as a competition ranging from local to regional to national level and give students a chance to sharpen their communication and presentation skills.

Both judges training sessions were facilitated by Ms. Fanny Kumah who was the National Coordinator of Project Citizen for many years. She first introduced participants to the project’s concept, before covering the evaluation process and judges’ responsibilities. The second part of the sessions consisted of a model showcase presented by High School students participating in the project. Evaluating their presentations offered the freshly trained judges the possibility to put the skills learnt into practice and to solidify their understanding of the subject matter.

The participants of both training sessions, a number of qualified individuals representing the media, universities, public sector and Project Citizen Alumni, showed great interest in the project and their future tasks as judges. By raising all kinds of questions and making suggestions for the project’s further improvement, they got to the bottom of their responsibilities as evaluators. Thanks to these trainings “Project Citizen” is ready for the upcoming round of regional showcases, where students’ presentations will be evaluated in a fair, transparent and respectful manner.