Students' right to be 'listened to'

A National Youth Council representative has called for a students' charter of rights and responsibilities, which he said would boost the idea of self-discipline among students instead of having discipline imposed on them.

Speaking at a recent seminar on democracy and schools, the chairman of the NYC's working group on education, Jean-Paul De Lucca, said the council believed that the recognition of rights and duties was an essential element of healthy democratic development.

The two-day seminar was organised jointly by the Department of Student Services and International Relations, the Education Division and the Focus Group on Democracy in Schools, with the support of the Council of Europe. The theme was Education for Democratic Citizenship: Stocktaking and Dissemination.

Mr De Lucca said the proposed charter would be in addition to the three recommendations made in a report on implementing the national minimum curriculum's objective of turning schools into democratic environments.

The recommendations, which NYC fully agreed with, were the setting up of a students' councils co-ordinating team at secondary level, the creation of class councils and the establishment of a national students' committee.

"The council would undoubtedly welcome wholeheartedly representatives of this very important sector of young people, which has hitherto been completely underrepresented, if not forgotten altogether," said Mr De Lucca.

He warned, however, that once such structures were set up, they should be given the responsibilities and importance they deserved.

"If these councils are set up to give lip-service to the NMC and are not met with the goodwill of all concerned, this would amount to a bad practice of democracy, with very serious repercussions on the very aim of having such structures. The system would completely backfire," he insisted.

"When students' councils are set up, these ought to have a say in the running of the school and of the system. They should not be relegated, as unfortunately happens in some schools, to the role, for instance, of being merely fundraisers or activity organisers.

"If young people experience the malfunction of democracy at an early age and within educational institutions themselves, this would not bode well for healthy democratic citizenship in the future."

Students, he said, have to be accorded and guaranteed the right to be listened to at various levels of decision-making, a right stemming from the fact that they are key shareholders in the educational system.

"It is true that we are still in the process of implementing the NMC, but one would hope that by the time it is revised there would be a greater input from the students themselves."

Without detracting from the merits of the curriculum, which he described as "an excellent achievement", Mr De Lucca said one of the things it lacked was sufficient consultation of the students themselves.

"In a real democratic milieu, students should always be listened to and consulted, at whichever level in the system."

The need for students to be listened to, he said, was increasingly being met in classrooms, as teachers were being specifically trained in this area. Children and young people also needed to be taught how to articulate and communicate their thoughts and opinions, and these two elements were the best guarantee the educational system could give for true democratic citizenship.

"One of the biggest duties of administrators and educators, and civil society at large, is that of listening to young students and making sure that students are with us and not simply the subjects of our discussions."

Meanwhile, the council plans for its working group on education to start its work early in summer, to study and react to various aspects and issues, with the curriculum as a background.

The council said it had also proposed amendments to the National Youth Policy aimed, among other things, at making education a means towards the better development of a participatory and democratic society.

The policy is currently being drafted by the ministry responsible for youth.

The council proposed that the state should follow a policy which strives to involve as much as possible young people and students in the process of setting up, evaluating and reviewing curricula and other components of the country's educational system.