Students across the region have stepped into the shoes of country ambassadors to explore the world of international politics.
St Joseph’s College Geelong hosted its third Model United Nations (UN) General Assembly, with students from 14 Catholic and independent schools across Geelong, Ballarat and Melbourne visiting the Geelong secondary boys’ school on August 29.
Teacher Jackson Langhorne said the day was a success with the students debating and unanimously agreeing to pass the draft resolution of the ‘Pathways to Peace: Addressing War, Conflict and International Security’.
“Our young people are inheriting a world that has not been created by them, so it is about ensuring that they are equipped to make judgements about that in the future,” he said.
“All the students that were involved rose to the challenge… it was great to see them empowering themselves because we handed them the tools, but they did all the work.”
Year 10 students and Model UN participants Abhi Bajwa, who represented the USA, and Angus Quinlan, who represented the Kingdom of Jordan, said they felt the day went really smoothly.
“There was a bit of arguing as expected, which was probably the best part for me, but it was good to see everyone participating,” Abhi said.
“The day was very learning based, so in between each session it we were explaining what happened and going through the process, which really cemented what we learnt,” Angus said.
Following St Joseph’s third assembly, the school has been invited by the Governor of Victoria, the Honourable Margaret Gardner, to attend a Model UN at Government House in December, with four students to be selected to go with Mr Langhorne.
