School Students' Europe 2019

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Vocational Education and Training

VET has often been labelled as second-hand in comparison to general academic education. In many cases it represents the limited social mobility and VET students have no access to higher education. OBESSU recognis-

OBESSU – The Organising Bureau of

es disadvantages both on in the field of formal education of VET students as well as when it comes to the hands-

European School Student Unions is the

on experience at the workplace. Often VET students in

platform for cooperation between the

apprenticeship schemes are only seen as cheap labour,

national school student unions active

are exposed to bad working conditions and have often

in general secondary and secondary

no voice in their educational environment.

vocational education in Europe. It was founded in April 1975 in Dublin, Ireland

school students’ europe 2019 European Parliament Election Platform

and brings together Member and Candidate Organisations from more than 20 European countries. All Member Organisations are independent, national, representative and democratic school student organisations.

adopted August 2013

We demand: - VET school students’ possibility to access to higher education; - Sustainable and strong representation of VET students; - Governments’ responsibility on VET to exclude private interests from shaping the education; - Recognition of the “apprentices students status” to guarantee students’ and workers’ rights and a dignified contracts at national and European level; - The duty to have a tutor that guarantees the compatibility with tasks assigned and their educational relevance during the apprenticeship period; - Major investments of governments in VET programs.

obessu.org facebook.com/OBESSU twitter.com/obessu

“School Students’ Europe 2019” Short Version of Policy Paper

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OBESSU firmly believes that schools’ aim is to educate emancipated active citizens. School students must experience the ways and means of democracy in school, not only in theory but also in practice.

Young people are often treated as inferior in society, and this trend is clearly reflected in the school reality.

School communities must reclaim their functions as a grow-ground for democracy and active citizenship.

A universal right for education and equality The right to study cannot be a law expressed only on paper. To ensure access to education to all European school students, it is essential to give all of them the opportunity and

We demand:

tools necessary to fully participate in society, independently from their socio-economic background. Governments have to guarantee an educational environment free from social inequalities and disparity. Today school student welfare is different from state to state and the percentage of early school leavers is

We demand:

still very high, also due to the - often hidden -

- Free and equal access to education for all

costs of education.

Participation and Democracy

school students across Europe regardless of their socio-economic background; - An efficient school student welfare system (scholarship, student income) to cover education fees and hidden costs; - A learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity or anything else; - A free health care system for all minors; - An education system disconnected from economical logic.

- Rights for school students to organise themselves in independent assemblies or in school student councils within every school in Europe; - Participation of school students in schools’ decisionmaking processes at any level that concerns school students and school life; - Information about school students’ rights and citizenship education in all schools within Europe; - Right for students to evaluate their teachers and an open dialogue about teaching methods and curricula.