Adverse Weather: 6th European School Student Convention "Healthy, safe and sustainable educational environment... designing the school of tomorrow"
Your World - Your Say
JOINT PRESS RELEASE
YOUR WORLD – YOUR SAY
100 children voice their views on engagement in European and international decision-making
17 November 2010
Today (17 November 2010) up to 100 young people from all over the country, gathered in Dublin for "Your World – Your Say", a consultation event on children’s views on their engagement in European and international levels of decision-making. The event was hosted by the Children’s Rights Alliance, in collaboration with the Irish Second Level Students’ Union (ISSU).Children and young people, aged 12 to 17 years and from a diverse range of life experiences, gathered to add their voice to this important project. The consultation event is part of a Europe-wide project on children and young people’s involvement in European and international decision-making. It comprises five partner projects in Ireland, England, Austria, Estonia/Russia and Romania/Moldova who are each hosting a national consultation event. The views expressed at these events will be brought together into one report and presented to the European Commission.On opening the event, Jillian van Turnhout, Chief Executive, Children’s Rights Alliance said: “Today, is all about getting your voice heard. European and international bodies are playing an increasingly important role in our lives and we need to find ways to bridge the gap between the individual and the institutions. We need the institutions to listen and learn from what children are saying. The buzz of children and young people engaging in discussions was a fitting way to celebrate International Students’ Day which falls today, 17 November.”Today the young people gathered, learned about the opportunities for them to influence European and international decision makers that impact on children’s lives such as the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European Forum on the Rights of the Child and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. A message from Irish MEP’s was sent via a recording from Brussels. The young people explored their views on the importance of engaging with decision-making bodies and how they could get involved. They discussed any experiences they had on being involved in decision-making, and shared ideas about how they would engage differently if they had the opportunity to do so.Leanne Caulfield, President, ISSU added: “Innovative methods were used to promote creative discussions, including Storyboards, Mind Mapping and Knowledge Cafés. While officials were present to answer questions, we avoided the usual lecture-style format. The sessions were facilitated by young people from the ISSU and European Youth Parliament, so it was very much a youth-led and youth-focused event.”
With financial support from the EU’s Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme
***************************ENDS*************************CONTACT DETAILS FOR MEDIA QUERIES:Róisín Fitzgerald – Children’s Rights Alliance – 087 7702845 or communications@childrensrights.ieNotes to Editor:This consultation event is part of a Europe-wide project on children and young people’s involvement in European and international decision-making. The project, funded by the European Commission, is co-ordinated by the Children’s Rights Alliance England (CRAE) and includes five partner projects: Ireland, England, Austria, Estonia/Russia and Romania/Moldova. Each partner is hosting a national consultation event involving 100 children under 17 years. A final report incorporating the views of children and young people from the five partners will be presented to the European Commission in 2011.
Protect our Education. Protect our Future.
Irish Second-level Students’ UnionPRESS STATEMENT *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*Protect our Education. Protect our Future. 03/11/'10The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union has today urged policy makers to stand up for our future. Speaking today, an ISSU spokesperson said:“Recalling the words of Walt Disney ‘Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children’. Our country, our democracy, our society is at a crossroads. Difficult challenges face us, but what will define us as a nation is how we act and react to the decisions we must make. Investment in education should always be a priority, especially given the current unfavourable economic climate. Frontline education services, that affect the quality of the learning for our young people should be protected.Imposing any barrier to the access for education is reckless. It is unfair to further burden a generation, who ultimately will shoulder the brunt of the turbulent times that came before us. The ISSU is calling on the Department of Education and Skills to exhaust all possibilities in ensuring the learning of individual students or their access to education is not impinged.”__ENDS__Notes to Editor:ISSU is 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. ISSU is a not-for profit student rights organisation.At ISSU we believe that young people are not merely citizens in waiting - we deserve better, we deserve to be heard. We can and will contribute positively to society. It is so important that our voices, views and opinions are (i) heard (ii) listened to (iii) and most importantly respected. This is what ISSU is all about. We’re here for you.Our main aims include:-To provide training and development of second-level school Student Councils, in conjunction with relevant bodies.-To develop policies on issues affecting Irish second-level students and bring the needs and rights of students to the attention of the relevant authorities.-To provide a transparent, democratic and reliable organisation.-To work in collaboration with other educational institutions and bodies both in Ireland and Europe.-To work closely with educational curriculum policy makers and teachers’ unions to continually develop a transparent, fair and modern education system.-And most importantly, to give students a structured platform through which the voice of the Irish second-level student will be heard.ISSU represents students at a national level and is affiliated to; the WHEEL, NYCI, Anna Lindh Foundation, Stand up for Education Alliance, Children’s Mental Health Coalition and the Children’s Rights Alliance. On an international level, ISSU works closely with OBESSU. ISSU also works with curriculum development teams and various advisory bodies.Contact:www.issu.ie, email communications@issu.ie or call 01 443 4461.
Your World - Your Say
Up to 100 young people from all over the country, gathered in Dublin on November 17th for "Your World – Your Say", a consultation event on children’s views on their engagement in European and international levels of decision-making. The event was hosted by the Children’s Rights Alliance, in collaboration with the Irish Second Level Students’ Union.
Ceangal 2... coming soon
The 2011 issue of the ISSU magazine "Ceangal, looking at things from a student angle" will be launched in January. This issue will focus on Irish Second-Level Education in 2011 and is jam-packed with all the latest ISSU news. To read the last issue of Ceangal click here
Another year – another systems failure RE: CAO 2010
Irish Second-Level Students’ UnionPRESS STATEMENT * For immediate release*
Another year – another systems failure RE: CAO 2010
23/08/‘10
Today at 6.10am, the CAO website suffered a malicious technical failure, which left students distraught and distressed in their anticipation to finally come face-to-face with their round one offers. Although, it appears that this freak technical mishap was outside the control of the CAO itself, the fact that it occurred is much more than unfortunate and the ISSU calls for a full investigation into the incident to be carried out. It is imperative that technical difficulties of this scale cannot be allowed to happen in future as they cause unnecessary worry for students at an already stressful time and undermines confidence in the system.It is clear that the points race of years past has kicked off again and may develop into a marathon, as it is set to continue over the coming years. The ISSU calls on the Department of Education and Skills to ensure that sufficient further education places exist for all students that desire them and that students are fully informed about all of their available options in the years ahead. Media hype surrounding points increases can often over exaggerate the actual situation as small increases and decreases in points from year to year are natural and large changes have only occurred for a small number of courses. Media hype seriously adds to the anxieties of students and should be discouraged.More and more often are criticisms of the Irish third-level entry system to be heard and it forces us to wonder whether it really is the best system for our students and for our “knowledge economy” and therefore, the ISSU urges a review of our third-level entry system to be carried out at the earliest possible opportunity.__ENDS__Notes to Editor:ISSU is 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. ISSU is a not-for profit student rights organisation.At ISSU we believe that young people are not merely citizens in waiting - we deserve better, we deserve to be heard. We can and will contribute positively to society. It is so important that our voices, views and opinions are (i) heard (ii) listened to (iii) and most importantly respected. This is what ISSU is all about. We’re here for you. Our main aims include:
- To provide training and development of second-level school Student Councils, in conjunction with relevant bodies.
- To develop policies on issues affecting Irish second-level students and bring the needs and rights of students to the attention of the relevant authorities.
- To provide a transparent, democratic and reliable organisation.
- To work in collaboration with other educational institutions and bodies both in Ireland and Europe.
- To work closely with educational curriculum policy makers and teachers’ unions to continually develop a transparent, fair and modern education system.
- And most importantly, to give students a structured platform through which the voice of the Irish second-level student will be heard.
ISSU represents students at a national level and is affiliated to; Anna Lindh Foundation, Children’s Mental Health Coalition, Children’s Rights Alliance, NYCI, Stand up for Education Alliance, and the WHEEL. On an international level, ISSU works closely with OBESSU. ISSU also works with curriculum development teams and various advisory bodies. Contact:www.issu.ie, email communications@issu.ie or call 01 443 4461.