Konrad Adenauer School for Young Politicians KASYP Batch 16 (2025-2026)

Programme Background

The Konrad Adenauer School for Young Politicians (KASYP) is a capacity-development programme implemented by the Regional Programme Dialogue Asia of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KASPDA) since March 2010. Throughout its eleven years of existence, KASYP’s overarching objective has been to contribute to KASPDA’s goal of fostering representative and accountable democratic parties in the region through strengthening young members’ capacities. 

KASYP is a modular training programme which consists of four modules phased over the course of two years, in which participants can acquire theoretical and conceptual knowledge as well as practical skills. Diagram 01 summarizes the module structure where each module takes place in a different location, depending on the KASPDA team’s priorities and the presence of local partners. Germany has been established as a fixed location for Module 4. Module contents range from theoretical foundations on democratic systems and parties to policy-focused contents on local governance, practical skills in communication, election campaigning, program innovation and design, diplomatic protocols as well as exposure to the global politics such as the German and European political systems. Modules entail a mixture of lectures, group discussion, debates, individual and group presentations, practical workshops, simulations, site visits and dialogue sessions with national and local political leaders.

Additionally, KASYP features compulsory leadership training and modular assignments throughout the programme, the Bridging Democratic Leadership (BDL). Successful applicants will undergo the BDL throughout the first three modules under different themes of Ownership, Co-ownership, and Co-creation. Apart from the BDL, participants are required to deliver outputs pertaining to their communication skills, leadership journey, election campaign plan, project design, and a final class project documenting their learning journey.

Per its design, KASYP provides its participants with the possibility of exchange with peers from other Asian countries, from competing parties of their home countries, and from European countries. This exchange is fostered beyond KASYP through annual alumni events and social networking platforms.

Programme Objectives

This project has its fundamentals in the realisation that parties require as much nurturing and attention as any other political institution in a democratic process. Wellrun political parties anchored on sound development-platforms contribute to mature democratic ideals and principles. Therefore, the main goal of this two-year programme is to develop a cadre of young political leaders who will take lead in the advancement of responsiveness and accountabilityof political parties in Asia.

The two-year programme aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. Strengthen participants’ democratic knowledge through a better understanding and appreciation of the role and functioning of political parties in democratic societies, the importance of intra-party democracy, principles of good governance, advantages and disadvantages of different political systems, free and fair elections, press freedom, disinformation, the market economy, sustainable development goals, multilateralism, andother aspectsof democratic governance.
2. Enhance participants’ political skills through training and mastery in communication and presentation (pitching, framing, storytelling, debate, public speaking), election campaign strategy (campaign planning), governance and development (negotiation, systems and design thinking), and engagement and networking (diplomacy protocols).
3. Nurture participants’ democratic values and principles through the practice and embodiment of accountability, transparency, human rights, freedom of speech, justice, equality, diversity, rule of law, truth, tolerance, popular sovereignty, and other liberal democratic values and principles.
4. Expand participants’ network through offline and online peer-to-peer exchange and dialogue with local and national leaders from Asia and Europe.
5. Contribute to the improvement of their respective political parties’ internal capacity in terms of organization, administration, outreach, membership.

Eligibility Criteria

1. Must be a citizen of an Asian country
2. Living and working in your home country at the time of the application
3. Between the ages of 25 - 35 at the time of application
4. Fluent in oral and written English
5. At least two years of substantial experience particularly in work relevant to a political and/or party organizations.
6. Demonstrated commitment to public service
7. Leadership potential in politics, government, and/or civil societz

Participant's Responsibilities

1. To fill out all the necessary forms correctly and completely, and to follow the conditions deemed as a participant of the programme.
2. To submit all the requirements and comply with all the expected outputs before, during and after the programme.
3. To fully participate in all the activities and events deemed necessary for the success of the programme.
4. To contribute to the development of their communities with the acquired knowledge, skills and experiences upon return to their respective country.

Application Process

All applicants must complete the application form and pass the selection procedure. Only short listed candidates will be contacted to undergo further screening and interview.

Maximum of 20 participants will be selected to take part in the programme.

24 June 2024: Application opens

31 August 2024: Application closes

September 2024: Review of applications

October 2024: Interview of short-listed candidates & confirmation process

November 2024: Finalists are notified of acceptance

February 2025 – September 2026: Programme dates

Application Documents

1. Application Form – should be honestly and completely filled out and signed
2. Picture (passport size with white background) – should be taken from June 2024 – August 2024, submit raw file or ecopy not scanned copy
3. Official Nomination Letter – Issued and written by a higher official in the applicant’s political party/organization using official letter head and signed
4. Evidence of Party Membership – This should be an official letter stating the type of membership and years of membership issued by the party administration using official letter head and signed

Please note: All documents must be written in English or accompanied by an English translation.

Submission Details

Application form and other required documents should be emailed to:

Mr. Rey Uzhmar C. Padit 
Programme Manager for Political Co-operation
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
Singapore 209000
Email: rey.padit@kas.de; kasyp.singapore@gmail.com Telephone #: +65 6603 6161
WhatsApp: +65 97330544
Fax #: +65 6227 8343

Submission of application should not be later than 31st August 2024. Late submissions and incomplete application documents will not be accepted and reviewed. Application documents will not be returned for any reason. Due to the large number of applications, we cannot provide detailed explanations for those who will not be accepted to the programme.

To access the application form and full programme information, please click on the PDF links on this homepage.