Manual for School Students

This Manual is a journey towards participation of school student at different stages, from a very grassroots involvement to formally established organisation on a national and international level. We will lead you through the path and the universe of school student participation with the aim of encouraging you and your peers to be active members of the school community. In each chapter you will find useful tips on different topics, from the definition of a stakeholder to suggestion on how to run a democratic organisation; from communication to how to organise small and big events; passing through how to advocate and carry out negotiations on how to have your rights protected and enlarged.

In 2006, in co-operation with the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe, the Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU) published a Manual for School Students to introduce school students to the work of a school student organisation with all its different aspects: from its birth to further developments, from economic management to planning events, from students’ leadership to media relations. This manual has been a great tool for both newly established and more experienced OBESSU Member, Candidate and Affiliate Organisations. After 10 years, OBESSU believed that to keep the manual up-to-date and alive, a revision was needed. This is how the idea of this new Manual was born.