Student councils can have institutional power, as in Spain and Germany, where they serve as a political force that mediates between students and educational institutions, or they can be elected or non-elected clubs dedicated to organising fund-raisers and events. Student councils can join larger associations, like in the
United States, the
National Association of Student Councils. In
Canada, the Canadian Student Leadership Association coordinates the national scene, and in the
United Kingdom an organization called Involver provides training, support, and coordination for the nation's student councils A functional equivalent of student body president in some systems, such as the UK, Australia, and India, is the school captain. A school captain is a student appointed or elected to lead the student body of a school, usually in their final year. The role is similar to a
student body president in the United States and represents students in interactions with faculty and the wider community. School captains are mainly found in
British Empire legacy school systems:
Australia,
Canada,
New Zealand,
South Africa,
India, etc. In some schools, the captain may also hold the position of
head prefect. The role is less common in the
United Kingdom, where Head Boy and Head Girl positions are more typical. Captains are often recognized by a badge or other symbol of office. They are usually responsible for representing the school at events and will make public speeches.
Argentina Bulgaria In
Bulgaria, most of the universities have a student council, regulated by law and the regulations of each university.
Canada In Canada, the student council is used for helping the school with special events and planning other events. Student councils in Canada also act as a body to advocate for student issues like tuition.
Chile In
Chile, the centros de alumnos (), also known as centros de estudiantes, are
student organisations present in all the country's
high schools and most of the
primary schools. Their creation was contemplated since the enactment of the
Ministry of Education of Chile's Supreme Decree #524 of 19 April 1990, although they have existed long before. Students' centers' goals are described by the ministry, in their
Ayuda Mineduc website, as "serving their members, based on the purposes of the school and subscribed to the rules of student organization, as a way to develop their reflective thinking, critical judgment, and their will of action; to educate [the students] for the democratic life, and to prepare them to participate in the social and cultural changes." The
centros de alumnos have the right to participate in the school council, and to actively participate, convoke a general assembly, in which all the students of their schools have to participate, and convoke meetings with the directors of the different classes of their high schools or schools.
China In China, the head of a class is commonly known as the “class representative” (班代表) or “class leader” (班長). Additionally, there are often designated student officers for each academic subject.
Finland Secondary high schools,
lukio, and vocational schools in Finland have student councils. They incorporate all the students of the institution, but their status is marginal, both locally and nationally. Legislation demands that they should be heard in all matters related to education in the institution, but this is often not done.
Germany Student representation is very important in the German school system. Each state in the Federal Republic of Germany has its own peculiarities in the system, but they are, by and large, similar. Although education in Germany is a matter for the federal states, there is a Federal Student Conference where all state student councils can elect delegates to participate and exchange views on nationwide problems that arise in education. Every school in Germany has a student council. In the case of major changes that affect school life, the student council must agree. According to the student council, every district or larger city has a District student council/City student council. At the municipal level, these councils deal with the school authorities and with the individual institutions, such as school offices, etc. Above this, there is a state student representation in each state, where delegates from each district/city of the respective state come to exchange ideas. This body is granted extensive rights, such as a budget of between €40,000 and €70,000 for material costs, but is also obliged to consult with the Ministry of Education when important decisions are made. Schools in parts of
Europe such as in
Germany and
Austria, secondary schools use the term "student speaker" ("Schülersprecher" in Germany, "Schulsprecher" in Austria) for schoolwide student representatives and "class representative" ("Klassensprecher") for classroom representatives.
Greece In
Greece, student representation is considered the cornerstone of democracy. All public secondary schools have a student council which consists of 15 members: a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and 12 equal voting members. Additionally, all classes have a separate student council which consists of 5 members: a president, a secretary, a treasurer, and 2 equal voting members. By law, every school should elect these councils around a month after the start of the school year. The 5-member councils for each class are elected first, and about a week later, the 15-member school council is elected. As of 2024, these councils don't play a role in school life. Their role is mostly to give suggestions to the school staff about the school and excursions, with no guarantee of them accepting their suggestions. In recent years, the votes of the 15-member councils have been used by students to close a school for a few days because of a dispute the students have with the staff (κατάληψη). These councils, and especially the 5-member class councils, have mostly educational value in teaching students how to vote, and actual power is none or very limited. On average, a 15-member school council will convene less than five times in a school year, and a 5-member class council less than three.
Hong Kong Student Council 2011 In
Hong Kong, some secondary schools have student councils, while some have
Students' Unions. Student councils are directly elected by the student population and are formed by the winning cabinet. A hierarchical structure is maintained, with positions like Secretaries/Coordinators for internal and external affairs, Treasurer, Vice-chairpersons, and chairperson. Student councils represent the student body, organise events, and provide welfare for students.
India In
India, student councils are rare in elementary and middle schools. They are established in many secondary and higher secondary schools and are most commonly instituted in universities. Student councils in India may be elected, nominated, or selected after an interview (or written examination or both). In universities, they are elected by ballot.
Indonesia The student councils in
Indonesia are officially formed by the government and are called
OSIS (abbreviation of , Intraschool Organization of Students). OSIS, introduced in 1970, is legally mandated to exist in all junior high schools and senior high schools. OSIS organizes the school's extracurricular activities such as music shows and art gallery (
pentas seni/pensi). Every year, the committee, which usually consists of teachers and former student council members hold a selection process to admit students who meet qualifications to join OSIS, while the president is voted by students of the school. In some practices, the teachers can also vote depending on their own regulations.
Iran In
Iran, each November since 1997, elementary, secondary, and high school students at each school in the nation elect between 5-14 Student Council members, who act as the main medium of communication and debate between the student body and school officials. The size of the Council at each school depends largely on the class size and school policies. Student councils in Iran mainly promote interpersonal and leadership skills, constructive debates between school officials and the students, and the organization of school activities and field trips. The student council bodies of the schools, cities, regions, and the national parliament are the same and include a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and some main members. There is also a "Student council of the
Provinces " from among the presidents of the City Student Councils, and the presidents of these councils, who are 9th-grade or high school students, are several boys and girls who are representatives of their Provinces students in the "
National Student Parliament". Each province has between 2 and 4 girl and boy representatives and these representatives are officially and legally responsible for leading and addressing the problems of students in their Provinces and improving the education system; The members of the "Student Parliament" (also called Student Council) in Iran are elected for a period of 2 years and during this period they have at least 2 official sessions in the
main parliament of the country, with the presence of the
Minister of Education and can express their demands and suggestions directly with the
Minister of Education. Students and officials in Iran attach great importance to choosing a smart person and a very strong leader to represent their school, city, province, and country.
Ireland Since 1998 in
Ireland, there has been sustained development of student councils in post-primary schools. In 2008, the Irish Second Level Students' Union was founded as the National Umbrella body to organise and coordinate the national campaign efforts of the student councils. The Union is also a member of
OBESSU. Schools and staff are advised to assist the creation of a student council under section 27 of The Education Act 1998 This role was introduced by the 1974 delegated education laws. These representatives attend council meetings, voice student concerns, and may organize assemblies or activities. They also coordinate the
Comitato studentesco (student committee), made up of class representatives. Elections are held annually, typically in October or November. Students vote using the
D'Hondt method, and three or four representatives are elected, depending on school size. Terms last one year.
Japan The class system was introduced in
Empire of Japan in 1885 (
Meiji 18). It began to be implemented in large schools in the early 1880s. After the 1989
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, discussions on student participation and opinion rights increased, involving lawyers, educators, and forming tripartite councils among schools, guardians, and students. Student councils' roles expanded, although some declined. Based on alumni associations which were existed as high-level organizations of extracurricular activities, student councils were added to Japanese schools after
World War II. In Japanese schools, students in a class stay together as a cohesive set in the same homeroom for most of the day. Each class has one or more elected representatives who report to the student council. The student council consists of members who are elected by the student body. The council is often responsible for organizing events such as the
culture festival,
sports day, and class field trips.
Malaysia In
Malaysia, public secondary school student councils are usually run and managed by the school's prefects, also known as the Prefectorial Board. They act as the representatives between the students and the teachers. Some schools also have the prefects managed by a few groups of select teachers known as disciplinary teachers, or directly under the head teacher of discipline. Depending on each school's individual system, the Prefectorial Board either has open recruitment for any students interested but requiring them to undergo a year's worth of training and probation, direct recruitment via recommendations made by either teachers or senior prefects (usually students who show excellence in their studies and activities), or both. Some schools have the best students from each class selected to be prefects. Positions such as head prefect (the equivalent of student president), assistant head prefect, secretary, and treasurer are usually elected by students. Some schools have an internal election among prefects or have the teacher select a few possible candidates for such roles before letting the students vote. These positions form the high council or high committee. Secretaries and treasurers sometimes come with assistants, either appointed by the position holder, the committee, or they are voted just like the other members. Some schools will have additional positions, such as 'Head of Discipline' or 'Head of Statistics', who themselves have a committee of their own to manage different aspects of the school. Those not part of the high committee are then given roles and positions based on their merit and skills to form different committees to oversee different aspects of the school, such as club activities, moral enforcement, school events, or even paperwork management. While a prefect's main job is to enforce discipline and be the eyes of the school, those with roles and positions have to carry out their specific duties while managing their responsibilities as prefects. These committees are headed by the high committee members, who also have to manage the students and the school. Sometimes, class monitors (who also act as class reps) take part in discussions and meetings held by prefects to better engage with the students. They may also be included as part of the committees, but as normal students. Each classroom also has its own committee consisting of roles such as class monitor, assistant monitor, treasurer, and secretary to manage things in their own classes. While prefects enforce the school rules and assist the teachers, they also act as the voice of students when it comes to issues concerning the well-being of students. They essentially have full influence and control over school policies. However, as school laws are created by the Malaysian Ministry of Education, the prefects have no power to amend laws. Prefects in Malaysian schools can be identified by their distinctive blue uniform that makes them stand out from normal students. Primary schools also have a prefectural board on a much smaller scale.
Myanmar School Council (; abbreviated as
SC) is an auxilliary service in Basic Education Schools and Education Colleges in Myanmar. It is the system of a teacher-student joint council with
House system under the control of the government, in which all the students and teachers of a school or an education college have to participate, and the principal takes the highest position. The School Councils are formed under the order and regulation of Myanmar government's
Ministry of Education, Department of Basic Education (DBE). The School Council (SC), the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and the Board of Trustees (BOT) usually manage the educational activities of their school at the school level of management and administration of DBE. School Councils also serve as a body for special communication between teachers and students within schools. Founded in 1964, the original purpose was to organize school children for the agenda of
Burmese Way to Socialism. In June and July 2013, school councils were reorganized, with many activities and the aim to build
Democracy inside classes and schools. The
Burma Socialist Programme Party wanted to organize young people and their first emphasis was the field of education where school children had already been unified. Thus, in 1964, the Department of Students and Youth Affairs was established, which then formed school councils in every school. In the first week of a new academic year, students are allocated to five
houses (, ), either randomly, by drawing lots, or by the management of the teacher. Each of the houses is named after a king or a hero and has a colour. But there is no specific uniform for houses. The houses are often called informally by their colours. Members of each of the five houses usually have to do duties, such as sweeping, on each weekdays that their house is assigned. School council activities provide students the opportunities to take part in enhancing school quality and making collective decisions about school developments. During the three
Vassa months (ဝါတွင်း), all the Basic Education schools (both public and private) close on
Uposatha Days (ဥပုသ်နေ့); 8th Waxing Days, Full Moon Days, 8th Wanning Days and New Moon Days on
Myanmar Calendar; and open on Saturdays. In this case, the house assigned on the Uposatha Day is assigned on the following Saturday as substitution. Usually, the houses have to compete with one another in many aspects and there is an award system. The five houses of the School Council are formed in every class of every standard of the whole of a school. In each classroom, a leader is elected for each house in the class, and a class leader is elected for the whole class. Among those leaders of each house, the representative of the house for the whole school is elected, and the class houseleader'sr duty of him/her, which, is transferred to the student who got second majority vote in the election for class house leader. Student governments of different schools throughout the Philippines are often directly elected by student body members of the class or organization, which they supposedly govern with all positions (President, Vice President, Secretary, etc.) being separately elected, resulting in a wide variety of mixing and matching between different student political parties. Student governments in the Philippines are always called the "Supreme Secondary Learner Government", or "SSLG" in short, for all public educational institutions catering to Grades 7 to 12; while, elementary-based student governments catering to Grades 1 to 6 are called "Supreme Elementary Learner Government" or "SELG". Meanwhile, private schools, whether
nonsectarian or sectarian institutions, also have their respective student council; however, they vary from form to form, from their name to the function of the student government itself. The SSLG was formerly called the "Supreme Student Government" or "SSG" until the issuance of OUOPS No. 2023-03 from the education department, which revised some of the student council laws and policies, in addition to the adaptation of the current name known today - the SSLG. Aside from the school-based SSLG's, which is always present in all public schools under the
Department of Education (Philippines); there is also a division-level Federation of SSLG's (a division is typically composed of a
component or an
independent city or an entire province), a regional federation of SSLG's (composed of all division-level SSLG's that are in a particular
region of the Philippines); and a national federation - called as the "NFSSLG" or the "National Federation of Supreme Secondary Learner Governments" (composed of all regional federation SSLG's except the
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao). Those who enter as officers of a higher SSLG Federation level are typically Presidents who won in an election against their colleagues from a smaller subdivision (e.g., School-based Presidents of a Division compete with each other to enter the Division-Federation and so forth...). SSLG Federations also have their counterpart, the SELG Federations, only for elementary student governments, which follows the same process as the aforementioned.
Singapore In
Singapore, many secondary schools have a student council, which provides a medium for communication between the students and the school administration, a form of student welfare, and an important event-organising body. Some secondary schools name their student council like "Student Leader Board" or "Student Leader Committee", etc. They are usually nominated by peers and subsequently elected based on the decision of the teachers overseeing the student leader body. In Junior Colleges, student councils serve a greater purpose than their younger counterparts. They are given more autonomy in their planning and execution of school events.
Spain Most Spanish universities have student councils, which are regulated by law. Some of the basic points are the 24% of student representation on the board. Each university council is elected by universal suffrage of the students. These are organised by regional students councils such as CEUCAT in Catalonia. There is a national students council called CEUNE, which is the interlocutor between the Universities Ministry and the university students.
United Kingdom Student Councils (sometimes Student Voice, School Council, Student
Parliament, and Student Union) at the secondary school level are usually bodies nominated by teachers in state schools (and public and private schools without a house system). There are some regional networks between the representative bodies. Many UK secondary schools operate a
Student Council or similar body, typically composed of elected representatives from each
form group and supported by members of the senior leadership team. In some schools, students in
Year 12 may apply or be nominated for senior student leadership roles. These may include a
Head Boy and
Head Girl, along with their deputies, collectively referred to as the Heads of School. Other schools may appoint a
School Captain and Vice-Captain, either as alternative or additional titles''''''. The specific structure and responsibilities of these roles vary by institution. Selected students in the final year may also serve as
prefects. Prefect systems differ across schools but often include roles such as Senior Prefect, Welfare Captain, and various specialist positions covering areas like
sport,
co-curricular involvement,
public relations, or
community service. Some schools maintain a
Student Representative Council (SRC) made up of elected students. Peer support schemes are also common, where older students—often from
Year 10—are assigned to help younger students, particularly those new to the school in Year 7. Furthermore, in England, some Student Councils maintain quite a hierarchical structure: the Representatives at the bottom, followed by the Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-chairman, and Chairman. This latter position is arguably the most important as it is down to this one person to run and organise the council, ensure relevant topics are discussed and—when necessary—remove members. In
Wales, the School Councils (Wales) Regulations 2005 made the establishment of School Councils a statutory requirement for all maintained primary and secondary schools in the country. The regulations also require that Councils meet regularly, that members of the School Council are elected by fellow pupils by means of a secret ballot, and that the School Council can nominate up to two of their number to serve as associate members on the school's Board of Governors. In universities, the student council is the apex body of the students and members are elected in systematicvotings. In many universities, it also functions as an umbrella parliament for students' unions from different institutes.
United States ASB 2007-2008 Associated student body organizations in the United States are often similar to others. In most educational systems, the council is considered to be an elective/club of individuals working for unity on their campuses. The club fundraises, supports students, and hosts events such as dances. In
California, public schools that receive state or federal funding are required to establish a School Site Council (SSC), composed of
parents,
teachers,
students,
school administrators, and other staff. The SSC develops and monitors a school site plan, aligns the
budget with categorical funds, and recommends the
Single Plan for Student Achievement to the
school board. The SSC president, who may be a student, is elected by council members and can serve alongside a class president or student body president. Similar councils exist in other states, including
Texas (Site-Based Decision-Making Committees),
Kentucky (School-Based Decision-Making Councils), and
Illinois (Local School Councils), among others. == In popular culture ==