UNCRC Articles 12, 28, 29
What is the action area?
7 Participation of children and young people in schools
What specific action will we take?
- We will hold a pupil-led Eco-Schools conference in the Scottish Parliament on 5 October 2009 in which over 100 secondary schools have expressed an interest in participating. All activities are directed and carried out by the pupils as part of the Eco-Schools programme. To take part in the Eco-Schools programme a school must have an eco committee in place which is led by pupils.
- Continue to promote pupil leadership and engagement through a variety of means, including disseminating lessons from pupil leadership aspects of Schools of Ambition programme, Eco-Schools programme etc.
- Review our encouragement of pupil participation when considering the recommendations from the Children in Scotland/University of Edinburgh research into Pupil Councils in Scotland entitled 'Having a Say At school', due in autumn 2009.
Why are we doing this?
The UN Committee stated:
The Committee recommends that the State party, in accordance with article 12 of the Convention … promote, facilitate and implement, in legislation as well as in practice, within the family, schools, and the community as well as in institutions and in administrative and judicial proceedings, the principle of respect for the views of the child.
The Committee recommends that the State party … strengthen children's participation in all matters of school, classroom and learning which affect them.
The Convention's fundamental principle of respect for the views of the child is well integrated in Scottish legislation and policy. However, we recognise that more can be done to close the gap between policy and practice. Schools are a central part of the lives of children and young people and improving the quality of their participation in school makes a significant contribution to them becoming successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens - national outcome 4.
What was said in the consultation?
There was a discussion in the consultation events on the need for participation of children and young people to be 'meaningful'. Children and young people described some of the problems with current participation models in schools. These included participation being 'tokenistic', e.g. involving head boys and girls in discussion but not a wider, more representative sample of pupils; not providing feedback on what difference their participation has made; not having the opportunity to comment on issues that really matter to them.
The Children's Parliament local investigation team described the characteristics of good participation in a school:
Everyone has their say: 1. The school has a pupil booklet about rights and responsibilities to give to every child in the school; 2. The school has a suggestion box for ideas to improve the school; 3. At least once a year everyone gets together to have a discussion about the school community - everyone takes part including parents, the janitor, the cook, the teachers and the pupils; 4. The school makes opportunities for adults to see the pupils' work; 5. Pupils have their voice heard on topics like spending money and picking books and games; 6. Teachers respect pupils and pupils respect teachers.
Written responses were positive about recent developments, e.g. Curriculum for Excellence in their potential for improving participation in schools. However, a key theme that emerged was the need for all children to be supported to participate. The difficulties experienced by children with disabilities and other children with additional needs were highlighted as being often marginalised in current participation models.