| Speaking at the start of a pupil council conference intended to improve communications between children, teachers, education staff and the council, Councillor Keenan said it was increasingly important to have input from pupils.
“I would like to see them as participating members of the committee. It would be good to have pupils involved at that level.”
There are currently pupil councils in every secondary in Dundee, with an increasing number of pupil councils in the city primaries.
Director of education, Anne Wilson, said she gave a lot of weight to the opinions of pupils because it was important to listen to them.
“As adults we sometimes do not see the same things as they do. I meet them once a year and they have lists of questions,” she said.
“I explain to them why the education department does the things it does and the reasoning behind some of the decisions.
“They have been at the education committee to hear the political debate and they now do have the opportunity to influence things.”
She said one of the items that was raised earlier was the condition of school toilets and how they could be improved — a subject that was taken on board by the department.
Paul Kane, chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, which represents young peoples’ views across the country and passes them on to the Scottish Parliament, said it was important and helpful for local authorities to hear the voices of children.
“Decisions made for young people are normally made without their opinions, so it is important they can now have the responsibility to make their views known.” |
