Active month for Bulgarian School Student Union
The period from the end of April to mid-May was very dynamic and full of activities for the Union of school students in Bulgaria. Bulgarian school students had the opportunity to participate in various interactive events to develop their responsibility and leadership qualities.
On 22nd April the Bulgarian School Student Union (BSSU) participated in a press conference for the opening of the Festival of Education at the National Palace of Culture. On the third day of the festival a students’ discussion entitled “This social reality – why?” was organized by BSSU, tackling the alarming socio-political situation for Bulgarian students. The event also had the positive effect of new school students learning about BSSU and its work.
On 28th April the action “Paint the System” took place: BSSU activists were dressed as “musketeers of change” and walked around the Festival inviting other school students to write down their wishes and proposals for their education system on the white canvas on the backs of the musketeers. The action was successful and also brought many smiles and good spirit during the sunny Sunday.
On 29th April, instead, the first national training on electoral observation for students tool place. Students from 10 districts were trained to monitor the electoral irregularities by the Institute for Public Environment Development. This initiative gather a lot of media attention from some national television channels. Observer-students successfully put in practice their newly acquired competences on the Election Day.
On 9th May 9 BSSU organised its first major press conference to publicly address violations towards school students’ councils in some schools. The press conference also offered the opportunity to present two upcoming initiatives: the translation into Bulgarian of the OBESSU “Manual for school students” supporting the training to set up school councils where those don’t exist yet; and the first Bulgarian school student platform, where school students can have online conversations with national and local decision-makers find information about school student councils across the country. The press conference was covered by the biggest Bulgarian newspapers, national radio and the Bulgarian teachers’ newsletter.
BSSU also had their first official conversation with the Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Science Mariana Bancheva on 13th May. Ms. Bancheva listened with interest to the proposals of BSSU related to school development, learning environments and democracy. She supported our request to link to the Ministry’s website the school students’ online platform when fully completed and ready to use.
On 19th May the BSSU activists participated to the show “Sunday X 3” on the Bulgarian National Television promoting our ideas and work. Our participation in the program was positively perceived and helped identifying the present problematic areas in school democracy and student participation in support of our future initiatives.
