CHILDREN PARLIAMENT

A decreasing number of citizens participating in the election shows that there is a need of taking special efforts to prove the importance of democratic procedures, specially, young people participation. Their knowledge of mechanisms governing the decisionmaking on administrative levels is low.

In 1999 the Initiative group, consisting of Association of Lithuanian Pupils, Union of School Children of Lithuania, Association of Organising Leisure for Children and Youth and Centre of Civic was established. The partners of the project are the Parliament of Republic of Lithuania, the Ministry of Education and Science, Chief Election Commission, Lithuanian National Group of ELSA.

The Parliament of School Children of Lithuania is an institution, which unites pupils. Universal elections to the Parliament were held in 700 primary and secondary schools on 24 March 2000.

The main functions of the Parliament of Pupils are as follows:

• to represent the interests of school children in Lithuania;
• to analyse the laws significant to school children;
• to prepare and provide draft regulations, and their amendments for the Lithuanian Parliament,
• to consider the actual pupils' problems.

Within the project 56 seminars were organised in the cities. Over 900 school representatives participated, and then organized elections in their schools. It is expected that elections to the Parliament will contribute to strengthening performance of local and social pupils' organisations that will be able to influence the decisions of Lithuanian Parliament.

The Parliament of School Children of Lithuania, especially democratic elections, has an educational significance. It promotes the civic education, develops practical skills preparing to active participation in the social life. The Parliament of Lithuanian Pupils provides an excellent opportunity for the society to hear about the actual youth problems.