The school participation council.

Every primary and secondary school has a school participation council. In this council, parents, teachers and sometimes students talk about what happens at school. This way, they have influence on education. But what does the school participation council actually do? What decisions does the council make? And how can you as a parent join in, even if you are not a member?

What does the school participation council do at schools?

The school participation council discusses topics that affect education and the school.

For example:

• The school guide and the school plan
• The school times and the holiday schedule
• Safety and the budget

According to the law, the school participation council has three rights: the right to information, approval right and advisory right. The school must inform the council in time and fully about important plans, like a merger or introducing new teaching methods (right to information).

On some topics, like the holiday schedule or changes in school times, the council must approve before the school can change anything (approval right).

In other cases, the school can decide itself, but must first ask the council for advice, for example when appointing a new school leader (advisory right).

Central participation council

Some schools belong to the same school governing body, for example a school governing body with multiple primary or secondary schools. In that case, there is besides the school participation council also a central participation council.

The central participation council discusses matters that are important for all those schools together, like the board’s policy or a joint budget. Think of rules for example for student transport or digital learning tools that apply to all schools under the same school governing body. The central participation council works at a higher level than the school participation council.

If you want to quickly and easily find out how the school participation council works? Download the infographic below.

Raising topics at the school participation council

Do you have questions or concerns about what is happening at school? Then you can go to the members of the school participation council. They can bring up your point during a meeting. Think about topics like the holiday schedule, class division or social safety.

Also, the school participation council can involve parents actively through a parent consultation. This happens for example in the form of a parent evening, a survey or a focus group. For some topics, such a consultation is even required, for example with big changes in school policy. This way you as a parent can think along and give your opinion, even if you are not a member of the school participation council.

The school participation council should in principle make agendas and minutes of meetings public, but does not have to actively share them with parents. You can always read back what was discussed. The council members are parents and teachers from school and usually easy to reach at the school yard or via email.