Zelenskyy's Party Sends Its Future MPs To... School

25 July 2019 15:13

Back to school time is only about a month away for many young Ukrainians. But in only one week, about 250 future parliamentarians will be packing their backpacks and sharpening their pencils. Deputies from Servant of the People are getting ready to embark on a week long training program at the Kyiv School of Economics to prepare them for a career as lawmakers.

Back to school time is only about a month away for many young Ukrainians. But in only one week, about 250 future parliamentarians will be packing their backpacks and sharpening their pencils. Deputies from Servant of the People are getting ready to embark on a week-long training program at the Kyiv School of Economics to prepare them for a career as lawmakers.

Many of the future parliamentarians have limited experiences working at the legislative level. The deputies from the Servant of the People will have the opportunity to study in a series of crash courses and projects covering public strategies, sectoral economic policies, legislative framework, budgeting and other practically oriented exercises.

Hromadske spoke to Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv School of Economics, about what we can expect from these courses.

"It lies in who I want to become as a deputy. After five years, after three years, after a year. What do I want to be known for?” Mylovanov said.

This is the first assignment of the four stage process. It involves creating a personal strategy that guides, not only the next three stages of the program, but also will continue to be followed throughout the parliamentarian’s career.

The next three stages ask for a practically oriented approach to passing a law in the parliament. It starts with a policy proposal, then a legislative proposal, and finishes with an implementation plan. Mylovanov explains the fourth stage in detail, “this is a construction of a coalition, an analysis of the situation, so that this bill does not die, but is rather adopted.”

The cost of the course? “It’s a commercial secret,” adds Mylovanov. However, as Servant of the People is paying for the course, they will be forced to disclose finances. Eventually, this secret will come out.