Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions
The Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions 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 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 and the European Youth Forum, 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, 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.In 1985 OBESSU and its member organisations declared their support for COSAS 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.
In 1987, it was clear that the international initiative was strong in the former eastern bloc countries. The organisation IUS, 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 during the plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee for the 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 current members of the Board are Edvardas Vabuolas, Adrian Barbaros, Giuseppe Lipari, Lucija Karnelutti and Bicca Olin.
Between every General Assembly there is a Council of Members, 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 educationOBESSU organises approximately 5 conferences per year 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:| Country | Acronym | Full Name | Status |
| AKS | Aktion Kritischer Schüler_innen | Member | |
| CEF | Comité des Élèves francophones | Member | |
| ASuBiH | Asocijacija Srednjoškolaca u Bosni i Hercegovini | Member | |
| ČSU | Česká středoškolská unie | Member | |
| DGS | Danske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning | Member | |
| EEO | Erhversskolernes Elev-Organisation | Member | |
| LH | Landssammenslutningen af Handelskoleelever | Member | |
| ESCU | Estonian School Student Councils’ Union / Eesti Õpilasomavalitsuste Liit | Member | |
| FSS | Finlands Svenska Skolungdomsförbund | Member | |
| SLL | Suomen Lukiolaisten Liitto | Member | |
| SAKKI | Suomen Ammattiin Opiskelevat | Member | |
| OSKU | Suomen Opiskelija-Allianssi | Candidate | |
| UNL | Union Nationale Lycéenne | Member | |
| SVB | SV-Bildungswerk e.V. | Affiliate | |
| SÍF | Samband Íslenskra Framhaldsskólanema | Member | |
| ISSU | Irish Second-Level Students’ Union | Member | |
| UdS | Unione degli Studenti | Member | |
| RSM | Rete degli Studenti Medi | Member | |
| KYC | Kosovar Youth Council | Affiliate | |
| LMS | Lithuanian School Student Union / Lietuvos Moksleivių Sąjunga | Member | |
| UNEL | Union Nationale des Étudiant-e-s du Luxembourg | Member | |
| UEM | Uniunea Elevilor din Moldova | Candidate | |
| MAKOSZ | Romániai Magyar Középiskolások szövetsége | Member | |
| CNE | Consiliul Național al Elevilor | Member | |
| UNSS | Union of secondary school students of Serbia / Unija srednjoskolaca Srbije | Member | |
| SUS | Stredoškolská študentská únia Slovenska | Member | |
| DOS | Dijaška organizacija Slovenije | Member | |
| CANAE | Confederación Estatal de Asociaciones de Estudiantes | Member | |
| USO / UCE / UCS | Union der Schülerorganisationen | Member | |
| TÖS | Türkiye Öğrenci Senatosu / Turkish School Student Senate | Affiliate | |
| NSoA | National Society of Apprentices | Member | |
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