The European secondary school students’ movement in the mid-1980’s

• The value of school students having real influence over education and life at school.
• The right and practical possibilities to organise our own democratic representation.
• Solidarity with students suffering repressive education or exclusion from education.

Winning acceptance for those basic ideas were the main tasks in my days as a school student activist. The tool to give life to these principles was to organise ourselves – also across borders – and by doing that, spreading ideas and practices. In the 1980’s, some national school systems had come quite far in terms of equal access to basic education and welcoming a student voice in school. Other Western European countries lagged behind but were catching up. Ours were the ideas of social progress and freedom. Only the most conservative said no, but nothing ever happens automatically and for free.

School student unions had built quite a base – not always very stable – in Northern Europe. German Bundesschülervertretung was our biggest member union, the student council at Liechtensteinische Gymnasium the smallest. The composition of the board was quite telling. I am Swedish and the others came from Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Germany and Norway, all of us young men. We sought recruits southwards in France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy and Malta. Secondary student movements were maybe even more important there, but usually organized along party lines and mobilized on wider political issues. For example, in France our counterpart was SOS Racisme.

The EU was the European Communities, some economic treaties with few member states and no role in education. Instead we got important recognition from the Council of Europe and crucial resources from its Youth Foundation and Youth Centre in Strasbourg. We had much fun and learnt a lot there.

Democratic representation was of course out of question in communist Eastern Europe. A school student Solidarność was crushed by the regime coup 1981, in Poland. We took part in a couple of East-West ‘dialogues’ in Moscow and Prague, uneasily but to make free voices heard. The impact might have been bigger than could be seen then, as the Soviet empire soon fell to pieces under its own contradictions. We mobilized effective solidarity with secondary students in South Africa, that stood at the frontline in ending apartheid, and for students winning back democracy in Latin America.

I believe that the basic issues remain much the same today. Yet you are facing new challenges in new ways. Youth participation and democracy are taken for granted and therefore not always taken care of. European societies have become more diversified, competitive and individualistic for both good and bad. There has been a revolution in higher education and exchange across borders, as only education can ensure individual and national survival in the globalised economy. Educational resources and opportunities are more, but competition about them is fiercer. This results in both centres of excellence and exclusion. Including all still makes sense. Students organizing themselves in solidarity remains a great response.

Roger Hällhag, Secretary General of OBESSU from 1984 to 1986