According to the study prepared by the Centre for Education Development, 52 per cent of secondary schools students were not able to say whether their teachers had provided information on what kind of skills are necessary for proper functioning in a democratic society. Supporting civic activities and participating in community targeted initiatives are rare among the students (c.15 per cent). It is easy for young people to give up their democratic rights, which can be illustrated by the fact that almost half of the surveyed students do not participate in electing a mentor of the student government, leaving the initiative to the school principal. The opinion polls of the Public Opinion Research Centre show that only 36 per cent of Polish schools prepare young people for active participation in social and political life of the country. This is also true for the region of the Upper Silesia Metropolitan Union, where only 2 per cent of secondary schools students believe that they can influence the community life and only 6.5 per cent of them are willing to work as volunteers.
The aim of the project was to inspire civic and community engagement and tolerance among the students of secondary schools in the Upper Silesia Metropolitan Union area. Thanks to the project implementation, groups of youth leaders were established in 6 schools. Cooperating with the student governments, they developed and will continue developing community projects, which involve their peers. The project implementation included a cycle of educational meetings on volunteering work, hate speech and human rights and almost 2 thousand young people participated in them. The project website, edited also by the participants, was launched, Volunteer journalists were invited to publish several dozens of articles on youth activities. The participants were awarded with Passports of Planet A Citizens, which documented their activities. An off-site training workshop for youth leaders of school governments was conducted. An on-line Manual of Good Practices was developed and launched, an education game “Planet A Conquerors” was designed. The project beneficiaries were young people of secondary schools from the Upper Silesia Metropolitan Union area.