Children take responsibility for their school

Children have ideas, experiences and contributions enriching adults’ understanding and offer a positive contribution for their own development process.

The School Student Government project (SSG) is a strategy aiming to promote active participation of children at school, encouraging children to act in the community and solve problems that might occur at school.

In Paraguay, Plan introduced the project to the School of Mbocaya’i (a Guaraní word that means small coconut). Since 1997, children have voted for SSG committee members, selecting a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and members to represent recreation, health, the vegetable garden, cooking and education.

Marcus with some of his friends

Through these democratic elections, all children feel proudly responsible for the committee, what it does and what it gains and Marcus has been voted president for two consecutive years, we recently visited the school and interviewed him.

Q. What is a School Student Government? 
A. “It is a student organisation for students. We practice democracy and values through school government.”

Q. What does it mean to you? 
A. “We like it very much; we feel proud and important, and many people come to visit our school.”

Q. What are the opportunities that it gives you?
A. "We can express ourselves and it also helped us to overcome shyness. It is a sort of practice to be used after finishing school or when we are older.”

Q. Are there any obstacles of the School Government? 
A. “One of the first problems was student shyness – nobody wanted to talk, they were not used to talking. Now it is different, because we have already overcome it and participation has increased. Teachers really helped students by giving them support and confidence.”

Q. What would the school be like without a School Government? 
A. “It would be a disaster, everything would be disorganised.”

Q. What is the final goal of the School Government? 
A. “The final goal is the fulfilment of values such as respect, responsibility, kindness and mutual support. We wish more communication and participation.”

The children's committee during a group discussion

At the School of Mbocaya’I, children’s self-esteem has increased, it is an important achievement that they have been given the right to express their views freely, school regulations are now chosen with the consensus of the SSG after the children analyse their needs rather than the teachers.