Welcome to ISSU.ie

School is the place where young people spend the majority of their time. It is perhaps the most important community, other than home, in which we participate. For many it is a positive experience, but for others it is something to be endured rather than enjoyed. The ISSU has a dual role: we promote the benefits of young people becoming part of the decision-making process that affects their school lives, and we provide students with support for voicing their views and opinions.

Every young person has the right to have their views taken seriously whenever decisions are being made about them. The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union is a platform and indeed a catalyst for change in the way we look at the participation of young people in schools and the involvement of young people in society, as a whole. Founded in 2008, the ISSU aims to give students a voice in their education and in issues that affect them.

Meaningful student participation occurs when young people actively engage with adults as partners through learning, teaching, social activism and leadership. The ISSU firmly believes that young people are not merely citizens in waiting and can contribute positively to society. To achieve this, we believe that we must challenge, empower, engage and listen to what young people have to say. Student Voice should never be a one-way process or a passive process; it should be active and engaging. Student participation inherently requires simply being listened to and those views being respected. There is hope for schools, embodied in the growing buzz of classrooms brought to life by the growing assertion of students’ ideas, opinions and knowledge.There is hope for students, made real when students are engaged as education planners, researchers, evaluators, contributors, decision-makers and advocates. To achieve meaningful student voice requires strong partnership, patience and courage.

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says that children and young people have the “right to express views freely in all matters affecting them”. This includes views and opinions on schooling. Second-Level Students’ are at the heart of ISSU and their interests’ is the ground beneath which the ISSU stands.

So what exactly is the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union?

The main object for which the ISSU is established is to contribute to the advancement of second-level education of all second-level students in order to improve and enrich the education of each student and to support the involvement of students at all stages of their education, so that they achieve their full potential and as responsible citizens, to improve society. The ISSU is a not-for-profit, student rights’ organisation here to represent you, the second-level students of Ireland!

We are the national umbrella body for school Student Councils, aiming to represent and connect Irish second-level students the length and breadth of the country, ensuring that the voice of the Irish second-level student is heard and striving for innovation and democracy within the education system. Students should not be feared as “revolutionaries” wanting to undermine the system; students want to become actively involved in the decision making process at a local and national level and hence to become stakeholders in their own future.

Our main aims include:

• To develop policies on issues affecting Irish second-level students and represent and rights of Students.
• To provide a transparent, democratic and reliable organisation.
• To support, and provide training for the development of second-level school Student Councils.
• To work closely with educational curriculum policy makers and Education Partners to continually develop a transparent, fair and modern education system.
• To work in collaboration with other educational and youth institutions and bodies both in Ireland, and Europe.
• And most importantly, to give Students a structured platform through which the voice of the Irish Second-level Students will be heard.

Remember we are here to represent and connect students across the country and so we would love to hear any feedback, which you may have. Feel free to drop us an email at any stage.

The ISSU works with the Department of Education and Skills and the various Second-Level partners and advisory agencies advocating for and ensuring students have a voice on key issues affecting them. We are also affiliated to; the ESRI, the WHEEL, the NYCI, Anna Lindh Foundation, Stand up for Education Alliance, Children’s Mental Health Coalition, and the Children’s Rights Alliance. On a European level ISSU works with OBESSU and the European Commission.