KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is stepping up its drive to ensure that all student councils are functional and represented on the Board of Management of all public secondary schools.

According to the ministry, Regulation 32 (1) of the Education Regulations (1980) makes provision for students to participate in the governance and decision making processes of all public educational institutions, through the structure of the student council.

The data collected from secondary schools region-wide reveal that of the 166 public secondary schools, 142 have active councils, the ministry said in a release today. It noted, however, that only 118 of those are represented on the board. Additionally, 18 schools do not have active councils but ten are in the process of conducting the requisite elections to provide leadership to the council.

The ministry said it will continue to monitor the schools closely to ensure that those without will move with alacrity to ensure that students are guided into establishing their council. The Education Regulations (1980) 32 [1] require that a staff advisor be elected by the students to guide the operations of the council.

The ministry added that it is writing to the boards which, to date have not made any move to engage the student council representative on the board.

In the meantime, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green said it is expected that over the next year all secondary schools will have an active student school council.

“Students councils provide the mechanism for a voice for the student to directly influence and impact the education system.

“At the ministry, we are committed to ensure that our councils are present and active in our schools because we believe that they are essential to the on-going transformation of education. The National Secondary Schools Councils have served our nation and school system well and we will do all in our power to strengthen the organisation,” he added.