Rijad Morina a student of the „Fehmi Lladrovci” high school in Drenas, appreciates what he gained from his participation in a critical thinking project.
“…it helped me enhance my way of writing and critical thinking. I have also developed my group working skills” he said referring to the three-day workshop of the program “Ponder”, within the Innovations Lab Kosovo organization which is part of UNICEF. The workshop was implemented in cooperation with nongovernmental organization PEN.
“In this workshop I have learned new things about Wikipedia and news publication. Besides this, I have also made a new group of friends”, says Rijad.
Oliver Schuett, chief of the Democratic Department in OSCE, who supported this project emphasizes the importance of advancing and developing the level of critical thinking, especially of the youth.
“In today’s world with the great flow of information, both inside and outside the internet, it is essential for the society to be able to judge which information comes from reliable sources and which information is false”, he said for KosovaLive.
According to him more than 200 young people have participated in the seven editions of “Ponder” so far.
“Out of the 200 young participants, 46 of them have managed to secure an internship in media institutions, whereas 15 of them have been already employed in the media”, said Schuett adding that OSCE mission in Kosova plans to continue the support of other workshops of “Ponder” and other similar platforms.
Hana Ilazi, the leader of this program, says that she is surprised by the interest and engagement of the young participants.
“The aim of this program is to develop critical thinking, considering that media are the largest source of information and therefore an essential part of our program, and taking into account that we get most of information from media, critical thinking is very necessary in analyzing and clarifying that information”, says Hana, who is also a supervisor in this program.
This program, whose target were students from age 16 to 21, was launched in October 2016 and because of the large number of applications it was organized every month, usually in Prishtina. From now on it is planned to be held every three months since it will be organized on the regional level, in order to include rural areas as well. This year the program “Ponder” also included the youth from North Mitrovica.
At the end of the program participants will have the opportunity to write an article, and if they fulfill some of the professional criteria, there may get an opportunity of an internship in one of the Kosovar media.
Valbona Bytyçi is one of those who had this experience. She completed her internship in Kohavision and is now employed in the Ekonomia Online news portal, in Prishtina.
“I had an unforgettable experience in ‘Ponder’: being able to practice what we have learned during group discussions helped us think critically. The internship in Kohavision helped me see more closely how the job in television is done but it also gave me the opportunity to consult experienced journalist about different issues”, said Valbona.
Whereas Shkurta Spanca, a third year student in the Department of Journalism in the University of Prishtina, emphasizes the change that she experienced after this critical thinking workshop.
“Now I think that nothing is as it seems”, said Shkurta.
Eriona Hoti
