Student Council

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The student council ( SV for short ), partly also student co-responsibility (SMV) , historically student self-administration ( SSV ) or student co-administration ( SMV ), is an organ in which students can help shape their schools and the school system. They primarily represent the interests of their classmates.

Whether and to what extent student councils exist in different countries varies greatly. In some countries they are anchored in law, in others they are organized independently from schools. Their rights are also very different. While they have strong participation rights in school life in Germany or Austria, for example , they are not even recognized in many other countries.

Student council in Germany

The pupils were already involved in the educational field in the 19th century, for example in boarding schools such as the Pforta state school . In the Weimar Republic , reform pedagogues and the Bund resolved school reformers even called for student self-administration. This demand was taken up again in the school policy draft of the Buchenwald Popular Front Committee in 1944/45 for the construction of a democratic, anti-fascist school system in Germany. It was not until the Federal Republic of Germany that student councils were set up at all public schools.

Due to the federal school system in Germany, the rights and obligations of the student councils in the federal states differ greatly. The student council is usually an elected body made up of students in a school. It manages and organizes itself autonomously and is subject to the laws of the respective federal state. Most offices are awarded for one school year.

Often the classes or levels choose their class representatives or school level representatives , who then take part in the student assembly, also called the student council, and elect the SV board (e.g. student representative , treasurer and secretary ). Alternatively, the student representative is elected directly by all students. Student representatives have special rights. For example, in some federal states, students who belong to the student council must be exempted from teaching if they work for the SV and may not be disadvantaged because of their work.

The student council represents the interests of the students vis-à-vis other school institutions (such as the school management ) and is represented in the school or general conference and on the school board , depending on the federal state .

Municipal student council

In some cities and districts there is a district student council, a city student council or a district student council (the name varies depending on the federal state). In these municipal student councils, student representatives, in some cases also elected liaison teachers and / or elected students from the individual schools, meet , for example to plan city-wide or district-wide, i.e. cross-school, activities. In some cities, these student councils also have an advisory seat on the relevant council committee . The municipal student councils also have a board of directors, which is usually composed of the district, district or city student representatives, their representatives and elected students. The board of directors forms the highest decision-making body of the student body at the district or city level. A municipal student council elects delegates for the supraregional student council.

Supraregional student council

In all federal states there is a legally required student representative body at state level. Bavaria was the last federal state to introduce this with the founding of the state student council in 2008.

Above the state level, the Federal Schoolchildren Conference (BSK) emerged in 2004 from the Federal Schoolchildren’s Representation (BSV) founded in 1984 due to internal conflicts. Currently (January 2020) 13 of the 16 regional student councils are organized in the BSK.

Student council in Austria

Austria is the only country in the world in which the student council is guaranteed and anchored by federal law. It is also one of the strongest in the world. There are different types of student representation at school, state and state level. At each of these levels, an organ of the school administration is assigned to the student council (at school level the school community committee , at state level the state school board and at federal level the Ministry of Education ).

School level

In every middle, higher or vocational school in Austria, student representatives must be elected within the first five school weeks at the beginning of a year (exceptions are vocational schools on the basis of courses). Every student at the school is entitled to vote, both actively and passively. Elections are made with election points, the candidate with the most first votes is the school speaker, and up to five other representatives are ranked according to election points. All members of the student council are elected for one year.

The student council is represented in the school community committee. Here, the first three student representatives, along with three teacher representatives and three parent representatives, are entitled to vote. The school community committee is an important body of school life. Many questions of school life, such as house rules or autonomous school regulations, are resolved in it. The head boy also has the right to vote in the election for the regional student council or to be represented by one of his two deputies. The rights of the student council beyond that are broad, ranging from the convening of class representative meetings to the right to attend teacher and disciplinary conferences, hearings and speeches. If there are no student representatives in the classroom due to activities for the student council, this must be excused / approved.

State level

The state student councils in Austria are made up of three types of school, the general secondary schools (AHS), vocational middle and higher schools (BHS) and the vocational schools (BS). For each type of school, four to eight members (depending on the size of the federal state) and an equal number of substitute members are elected once a year. The school representatives are actively entitled to vote for their respective type of school, the school representatives and their first two deputies are passively entitled to vote. Similar to the school level, voting is done with election points, the candidate with the most election points in the respective school type is elected as the state school spokesman.

The state student councils therefore consist of three state school representatives, nine to 21 additional members and twelve to 24 substitute members. The state student council is responsible for representing the students as a state level to the state parliament and the state school board. In most cases, teams from the two nationally represented Austrian student organizations, the Aktion Kritischer Schülerinnen und Schüler (AKS) and the Schülerunion (SU), run for competition.

The three state school spokespersons are entitled to participate in the election for the federal student council. In addition, they have an advisory vote on school issues (with the exception of Tyrol) in the regional school council. All are elected for one year.

Federal level

The Federal Student Council continues with stand 2018 from the three provincial school speakers of all nine Austrian provinces as well as two representatives of the Central Educational Institutions (ZLA), for a total of 29 members. These elect a federal school spokesperson as well as area spokespersons in the areas of AHS, BMHS and BS. The federal school spokesman is elected for one year and is entitled to be heard and consulted by the Federal Minister for Education in negotiations on school topics.

Other student council bodies

  • School community committee , together with representatives of the teaching staff and parents, a statutory body for middle and higher schools
  • There are also autonomous representatives in the context of student participation, such as the student parliament concept .
  • In alternative schools, more democratic approaches to student representation are common.

Student council in Switzerland

In Switzerland , due to the federal school system and extensive school autonomy, the student representatives at each school are different. There is no law that legally anchors the student council. In 1991 the Union of Student Organizations CH / FL (USO) was founded, which represents local student representatives as an umbrella organization. There are currently around 90 student councils in the USO.

Networking of student organizations at European level

National student organizations across Europe have organized themselves in the Organizing Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU). Every member of the OBESSU sends delegates. For Austria, the Aktion Kritischer Schülerinnen und Schule is a member of the OBESSU, for Switzerland the Union of Student Organizations CH / FL. Germany currently does not have a voting member, but the Association for Student Representation and Participation from Germany is an associated member.

An organization that was created around 2014 and also unites student organizations across Europe is EUPAS. The student union represents Austria.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Structures of the student council. DGB-Jugend , accessed on November 24, 2008 (German).
  2. § 123 (District and City Student Council) Hessian School Act (HSchG) . In: the laws and ordinances of the state of Hesse Part I . Quote: "The district and city student councils are each formed by two representatives of the student council of the schools, including the substitute schools, a district, a district-free city or a district belonging to a municipality that is responsible for schools of several types of school."
  3. § 83 SchulG_MV_2006 - District or City Student Council
  4. § 31 School Act for Rhineland-Palatinate - Representations for schoolchildren
  5. § 50 SchulG_ST_2005 ff. - Community and district student councils
  6. § 28 SchulG_TH_2003 - participation of the students
  7. for example in NRW, anchored in § 74 SchulG NRW, circular of the KultM NRW from Nov. 1976. The type and scope are regulated by the respective statutes of the city school student representatives
  8. A nationwide student council for all types of schools, now also in Bavaria. Landesschülervertretung Bayern eV, January 16, 2008, accessed on November 24, 2008 (German).
  9. BSK members. In: website. Federal Schoolchildren Conference, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  10. School Education Act (SchUG, § 45, 58, 59, 64), last amended by Federal Law Gazette I No. 117/2008.
  11. Student Representation Act (SchVG) § 6-20, last amended by Federal Law Gazette No. 284/1990.
  12. What is the FSIO? In: bsv.at. Archived from the original on September 5, 2018 ; Retrieved on November 30, 2019 (The content of the linked page is probably not persistent. The information in the article is based on the archived version.).
  13. Student Representation Act (SchVG) § 21-24, last amended by Federal Law Gazette No. 284/1990.