Student parliament
In Austria, the pupil parliaments (abbreviation: SiP ) are parliaments organized by the regional pupil councils in which only pupils are entitled to vote.
history
How often there were actually student parliaments is unclear, but the student parliaments from early 1990 as well as those in Vienna (2000/2001) and Upper Austria and Vienna (2001/2002) can be documented.
The federal school spokesman and member of the AKS (AKS) Martin Wolfram set up the first student parliament in history in June 1992. While workshops were held on the first day, a plenary session was held in the National Council on the second day. 183 student representatives (exactly as many as members of the National Council) from all over Austria submitted applications and discussed for one morning.
A year later, under the federal school spokesman Hollenstein, a nationwide student parliament came into being, but this was the last for seven years.
In December 2000, the LSV Vienna convened a student parliament again, this time in the plenary hall of the Vienna City Hall. All interested parties were invited, only pupils had the right to speak, one pupil representative from each Vienna AHS / BMHS / BS was entitled to vote. The student parliament met four times and was the scene of loud contentious disputes.
In Upper Austria, a student parliament was also founded that met in December 2001 in Linz. Today, student parliaments are held at regular intervals in Vienna and many other federal states.
aims
Basically, student parliaments are about bringing together representatives from several schools in a region to discuss political issues, provide information about projects and exchange experiences. The pupil parliament is intended to give pupils a stronger voice and greater media presence. The focus is mostly on educational policy or at least youth policy issues.
Models
In Austria, a distinction is made between two types of student parliaments:
- The nationwide student parliament is a project of the Federal Student Council (BSV).
- The state-wide student parliament is convened at the state level by the respective state student council (LSV).
Today there are regular student parliaments in all Austrian federal states.