Student Voice : ESSA
In The News Saturday, December 4th, 2010
Anything that looks to include younger people more in the democratic process is a good thing:
“What is ESSA?
ESSA is the English Secondary Students’ Association.
We are run by students, for students aged 11 to 19 years old. We support young people’s voice on issues which affect their lives at school or college. We are student voice!
We are working to become the representative organisation for students in key stages 3-5 (year groups 7 to 13) throughout England. We provide support, training and advice to help students to get involved in decision making. We also work closely with students in other European countries through a student-led organisation called OBESSU http://www.obessu.org/ (Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions).
Why do we need ESSA?
We know that many young people have a difficult time at school or college and don’t feel that anyone listens to their voice. ESSA wants to change this by supporting students to have a voice.
We promote the involvement of young people in decision-making processes at a local, national and international level. We also offer help to individual students to support them in voicing their views and opinions.
Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says that children and young people have the “right to express views freely in all matters affecting” them. This includes views on their education and schooling.
So if you’ve got something to say and are fed up with no one listening, Join Us. We are student voice.
What does ESSA do?
ESSA provides training, guidance and advice to support students and allow them to get actively involved in the decision-making processes. We also work in partnership with other organisations to bring the views of students to the attention of local, national and international policy-makers, as well as the media, in relation to educational issues. You can find out more about our student campaigns, consultations and training by looking in the Get Involved section of the site.
How is ESSA run?
ESSA is a student-led organisation run by students, for students. This means that the ESSA Council makes the decisions about how ESSA is run.
ESSA’s Council is made up of 18 students who are elected by members of ESSA. There are two elected Council members from each of the 9 regions in England. The Council aims to ensure that the actions taken by ESSA are representative of the views of ESSA’s student members.”