Going through my years in the Calgary Board of Education and the Alberta Education system, I have had times where the things we learned in math class seemed useless. And it stems beyond that, from choices such as school locations to curriculum content. I feel, in many ways, disconnected from those who make the decisions. That’s why when I first heard of the National Student Voice Initiative, I became very interested in this movement to empower youth with the capability to voice their opinion on education.
That being said, the Calgary Board of Education certainly has its own methods of collecting student input, ranging from the Tell Them From Me surveys to the annual student-run Student Results Symposium. Alberta Education also has the local Speak Out Forum, as well as the annual Speak Out Conference to seek student opinions. But what the Student Voice Initiative is about is to increase this student feedback even more.
In fact, Student Voice Initiative is a Canada-wide movement, ranging from British Columbia to New Brunswick. Many school districts in Canada have implemented a Student Trustee position, a student which would be able to attend official meetings of school board members as a stakeholder, sharing the student perspectives and concerns. This was first mandated in Ontario through the Education Act since 1998, and Vancouver has recently approved a Student Trustee Pilot Project. Although these Student Trustees do no have the the power to vote, they have the power to ensure a diverse range of opinions are being channel to the board.
This is what the SVI branch in Alberta, Student Voice Alberta, is trying to establish: a Student Trustee position. An entirely student-led group trying to voice their opinions, they have contacted school boards in Edmonton and Calgary to establish this initiative. They are trying to get as much support as possible to implement a province-wide policy mandating each school to have a Principal’s Advisory Council to deal with local education issues, as well as an establishment of a District Student Advisory Council. This would ultimately culminate the the establishment of the Student Trustee position in school boards across Alberta.
For more information or to support the clause, check out the Student Voice Alberta Facebook Page.