Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions

The Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU) is the European platform for cooperation between the national school student unions in Europe, active in general secondary and secondary vocational education. All member organisations are independent, national, representative and democratic school student unions. The platform currently unites 31 national school student unions from 24 European countries.

OBESSU
Full nameOrganising Bureau of European School Student Unions
FoundedApril 1975
AffiliationEuropean Youth Forum
Key peopleGiuseppina Tucci, Secretary General,
Edvardas Vaboulas, Board Member,
Adrian Barbaros, Board Member,
Lucija Karnelutti, Board Member,
Bicca Olin, Board Member,
Giuseppe Lipari, Board Member,
,[1]
Office locationBrussels, Belgium
Websitewww.obessu.org

OBESSU is a stakeholder formally recognized by the Council of Europe and the European Union and a regular interlocutor with the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe and UNESCO. OBESSU aims to establish partnership and cooperation between all educational stakeholders. It is a full member of the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP) and the European Youth Forum (YFJ), and an associate member of the European Students' Union.

History

OBESSU was founded in Dublin, Ireland in April 1975 by the national school student unions from the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark), United Kingdom and Ireland. The initial aim of the organisation was to create a pan-European school student organisation that could be a platform for cooperation between the national school student unions. By 1980 the platform added members from Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and West Germany and throughout the next decade expanded its membership in Southern Europe. The organisation was in many ways a result of the will to unite east and west but it took almost 20 years until OBESSU got its first member organisation from the former eastern bloc.[2]

In 1985 OBESSU and its member organisations declared their support for COSAS (the Congress of the South African Students) in their struggle against the apartheid regime. A study visit to South Africa is planned but cancelled after the regime banned COSAS, forcing all the leaders in the organisation to flee the country or go underground.[3]

In 1987, it was clear that the international initiative was strong in the former eastern bloc countries. The organisation IUS (International Union of Students), which had their secretariat in Prague, started to work more with secondary students and in 1987 the first international school student meeting was organised in La Havana where representatives of the OBESSU board and many of OBESSU’s Member Organisations participated. The same year, representatives the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and DDR joined an OBESSU conference in Strasbourg with the aim to establish a more stable contact between the national school student unions in Eastern and Western Europe.

In 1995 OBESSU launched a major project to support the growth of school student unions in central and Eastern Europe. Since the early nineties national organisations have been established in Slovenia, Slovakia, Macedonia, and Hungary. Most of these organisations were unstable, in need of support but then, organisations from Slovenia and Slovakia became members of OBESSU. In 1999 OBESSU launched the UNBASCO project which focused on supporting the stabilisation of school student unions in the Baltic countries, leading to the membership of organisations from Estonia and Lithuania.

In April 2005, the 30th Anniversaire Celebrations of the foundation of OBESSU were celebrated in Dublin, Ireland and hosted by the Union of Secondary Students. On 7 December 2011, OBESSU was awarded the 3rd Civil Society Prize[4] during the plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee for the ‘Light on the Rights’ Bus Tour project. The Civil Society Prize highlights outstanding initiatives and flagship projects by civil society organisations that have a positive impact on Europeans’ lives.

Objectives

OBESSU works in order to:

  • represent the school students as stakeholders of their educational systems, and in issues concerning their lives;
  • provide the national school student unions with assistance and support and to co-operate for the development of school student representative structures;
  • encourage and enable exchange of experience and good practice among the national school students unions;
  • promote equal access to education and to strive for the end of all discrimination and injustice within the educational systems;
  • contribute to the development of democratic educational systems in Europe, that promote active citizenship in all forms;
  • promote solidarity and understanding between young people.

Structure

The OBESSU is structured with a General Assembly (GA) as the highest decision making body. The General Assembly meets annually and have authority over the statutes, the political platform and the workplan, as well as electing the Board of OBESSU, the highest decision making body between the GA and Council of Members. The Board is elected annually with overlapping mandates. In this way not all Board members are elected in the same year. The Board consists of 5 members and is responsible for leading and representing the organisation between the General Assemblies.

The current members of the Board are Edvardas Vabuolas (LMS, Lithuania), Adrian Barbaros (CNE, Romania), Giuseppe Lipari (RSM, Italy), Lucija Karnelutti (DOS, Slovenia) and Bicca Olin (FSS, Finland).

Between every General Assembly there is a Council of Members (COMEM), which is the second highest decision-making body within OBESSU. The Board and the Secretary General coordinate the daily work of the organisation. OBESSU has a European secretariat based in Brussels, in an office it shares with the European Students' Union and other NGOs. Besides the Secretary General, the secretariat consists of a Project Officer and a Communications and Membership Officer.

Activities

OBESSU fights for the interests of all school students in Europe, represents its Member Organisations towards the relevant bodies and institutions, acts as a coordinating body for national and regional school student organisations, unions and structures in Europe, organises activities for its member organisations and initiates a dialogue with and between stakeholders in education

OBESSU organises approximately 5 conferences per year[5][6] all dealing with education-related topics. OBESSU also works with its ESU counterparts to promote and coordinate the 17th of November as International Students' Day.

Members

The Member Organisations and Candidate Organisations of OBESSU are:[7]

Country AcronymFull Name Status
 Austria AKSAktion Kritischer Schüler_innen Member
 Belgium CEFComité des Élèves francophones Member
 Bosnia and Herzegovina ASuBiHAsocijacija Srednjoškolaca u Bosni i Hercegovini Member
 Czech Republic ČSUČeská středoškolská unie Member
 Denmark DGSDanske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning Member
 Denmark EEOErhversskolernes Elev-Organisation Member
 Denmark LHLandssammenslutningen af Handelskoleelever Member
 Estonia ESCUEstonian School Student Councils’ Union / Eesti Õpilasesinduste Liit Member
 Finland FSSFinlands Svenska Skolungdomsförbund Member
 Finland SLLSuomen Lukiolaisten Liitto Member
 Finland SAKKISuomen Ammattiin Opiskelevat Member
 Finland OSKU Suomen Opiskelija-Allianssi Candidate
 France UNLUnion Nationale Lycéenne Member
 Germany SVBSV-Bildungswerk e.V. Affiliate
 Iceland SÍFSamband Íslenskra Framhaldsskólanema Member
 Ireland ISSUIrish Second-Level Students’ Union Member
 Italy UdSUnione degli Studenti Member
 Italy RSM Rete degli Studenti Medi Member
 Kosovo KYCKosovar Youth Council Affiliate
 Lithuania LMSLithuanian School Student Union / Lietuvos Moksleivių Sąjunga Member
 Luxembourg UNELUnion Nationale des Étudiant-e-s du Luxembourg Member
 Moldova UEM Uniunea Elevilor din Moldova Candidate
 Romania MAKOSZRomániai Magyar Középiskolások szövetsége Member
 Romania CNEConsiliul Național al Elevilor Member
 Serbia UNSSUnion of secondary school students of Serbia / Unija srednjoskolaca Srbije Member
 Slovakia SUSStredoškolská študentská únia Slovenska Member
 Slovenia DOSDijaška organizacija Slovenije Member
 Spain CANAEConfederación Estatal de Asociaciones de Estudiantes Member
  Switzerland USO / UCE / UCSUnion der Schülerorganisationen Member
 Turkey TÖSTürkiye Öğrenci Senatosu / Turkish School Student Senate Affiliate
 United Kingdom NSoA National Society of Apprentices Member

See also

References
  1. "Board - Obessu". Obessu.org. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  2. "The history of OBESSU - Obessu". Obessu.org. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. Beccia G; 2010; ORGANISATIONS ET MOUVEMENTS EUROPÉENS DES ÉTUDIANTS APRÈS 1968: Les cas de l’Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions et de l’European Students’ Union; UNIVERSITÉ LIBRE DE BRUXELLESFaculté de Philosophie et Lettres
  4. "4th edition of the EESC Civil Society Prize". Eesc.europa.eu. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. "OBESSU 38th General Assembly and 4th Summer School "Learn to Change" - LLLP". lllplatform.eu. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  6. "OBESSU Study Session - "Special Needs": education, participation and social inclusion" (PDF). Coe.int. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  7. "Members". Obessu.org. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
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