Estonian School Student Councils’ Union – Eesti Õpilasesinduste Liit (ESCU)

School student councils.

Number of Members: around 200 individual members.

The Estonian School Student Councils’ Union is a union of school students councils that represents the Estonian pupils, stands up for their interests, and promotes the learning environment and school life. ESCU stands for the preservation of student unions and supports their development.
In order to achieve its aims, ESCU organises round tables, seminars, researches, conferences and camps, interacts with the media, allows students to attend international conferences and camps, and organises various projects (Orphanage project called “Every child has a right to smile”; “101 children to Toompea”; etc).
The team of ESCU is made up of voluntary members of board (students) and contractual employees. ESCU has also created several student working groups to deal with the issues related to public politics, public and international relations and the issues related to the student newspaper.
ESCU makes sure that all students enjoy their right to take part in the formulation of the principles of the student policy and the society.

– An opportunity to influence the development of ESCU by participating, expressing their opinion, and by voting at the general assemblies;
– An opportunity to participate in the work groups and round tables of ESCU;
– An opportunity to take part in the process of developing the Estonian educational system;
– An opportunity to ask for advice and information about the issues related to the Education Act;
– An opportunity to represent the views and opinions of school students in the media as well as at the meeting held with the public institutions;
– Constantly updated information about training sessions and other events;
– Project competitions for funding the activities of student councils;
– An opportunity to promote the events organised by their school and student councils through the website and mailing list of ESCU and its partners;
– Free national school students’ newspaper “Õ”;
– The opportunity to use the office of ESCU for holding meetings;
– The opportunity to apply for the international ISIC Scholar card;
– Free or low price courses about possible ways of developing the students councils;
– Contacts with student representatives from all over Estonia – the organisation promotes students’ cooperation and sharing of experiences;
– the opportunity to apply for positions in the board of ESCU and to take part in the management of the organisation.