Year 8

Global Youth Forum:

The Victorian Young Leaders: Global Youth Forum is a three-part interactive online learning programme for students in Year 9 Victorian schools to connect with peers from schools and nations throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Thailand, Japan, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines. The forums provided students with a greater understanding of identity, belonging, culture, globalisation, and what it means to be a global citizen.

Virtually we met other students from across the Asia-Pacific and learnt about their lives, culture, and the issues they face. We learned a lot about the various social injustices outside of Australia. Together we brainstormed solutions and actions we can take as individuals to make the world a better place. Some of the initiatives we took included making action plans about issues that stood out to us and making initiatives to spread awareness about some of the Sustainable Development Goals. Students at Marian College created presentations to spread awareness about gender inequality, water pollution and education inequality to present to students from countries across Asia-Pacific.

Being a part of The Victorian Young Leaders: Global Youth Forum has helped students at Marian become aware of social justice issues that are occurring globally and has allowed us to undertake leadership roles by making a stand against issues we feel passionate towards. We were able to interact with other students outside of Australia which helped us become more aware of what their lives are like and what issues they are currently facing.

By Zaina Khurram

Anna Ciccone

Learning Leader