Student Council Guidelines

The guidelines mentioned in this manual are intended to provide practical guidance to student council members in
the establishment and operation of the student council.

The role of the Student Council:-

A Student Council will set its own objectives. Some general objectives could include:

• To enhance communication between students, management and staff.

• To promote an environment conducive to educational and personal development .

• To promote friendship and respect among pupils.

• To support the management and staff in the development of the school.

• To represent the views of the students on matters of general concern to them.

 Key functions of Student Council:

o Representing the views of the student body to the school management:-
This should be one of the fundamental aims of every Council. It involves talking and listening to the
student body, considering their views and concerns, and discussing these with the management on behalf of
the students.

o Promoting good communications within the school:-

Improving communication within the school community is a shared responsibility and a Student Council
can contribute to this process. Making presentations at staff meetings to keep staff informed of
activities, keeping a Student Council notice-board or organising a regular newsletter are just some ways
the Council can communicate with the students and staff.

o Contributing to the development of school policy:-

The Student Council can actively contribute to the development of school policy in a wide range of areas
such as bullying, uniform requirements, behaviour code and extra-curricular activities. The Council could
form sub-committees to consider individual policy issues.

o Assisting in college sporting and cultural activities:-

Student Councils can assist in organising and developing sports and cultural activities within the school,
including, for example, sports days and exhibitions etc.

 Guidelines for establishment and dissolution of Student Councils:-

The college after consultation with teachers draw up rules for the establishment of a Student Council, having
regard to the following basic principles:
• The Student Council shall promote the interests of the school and the involvement of students in the affairs of
the school, in co-operation with the school and teachers.
• The Council should, as far as is practicable, be representative of the student community.
• The school shall at all times retain the right to dissolve a Council or remove a Council member, in accordance
with these guidelines.

o Dissolution of a Student Council:-

Normally a Student Council shall stand dissolved when the term of office of the members expires.
Management may dissolve the Student Council before the expiry of its term in accordance with the rules
and procedures governing dissolution. This will only happen in exceptional circumstances after
consultation with all concerned. Where Management intends dissolving the Council, it will give the
Council adequate notice of the proposal, and the reasons therefore. The Council will be allowed to
appeal the dissolution to the Management or Principal of the school.
Circumstances that may require the early dissolution of a Student Council include:
• Where a significant number of members of the Council have been involved in a serious breach of the
school’s code of behaviour.
• Where serious irregularities have occurred in the functioning of the Council.
• Where the activities of the Council have endangered the welfare of staff or students of the school.

It will not be appropriate to dissolve a Council where only a few of its members have been involved in a
breach of the school. In those circumstances, the school should only consider removal of those students
concerned.

o Removing a member or members of the Council:-

Sometimes it may be more appropriate to remove an individual member (or members) of the Council
rather than dissolve the Council as a whole.
This may happen in two ways:

1. The Student Council may remove any member or officer of the Council for a continuing failure to
attend meetings of the Council, or for a lack of commitment to the purposes of the Council, or
for stated misconduct (including significant breaches of the college’s code of behaviour). Such a
decision should be taken on a majority vote of the Council, and the member should be given
adequate notice of the proposal, the reasons therefor, and the opportunity to present his/her
case.

2. The Management, on the advice of the Principal or on its own initiative, may remove a member
of the Council in accordance with the rules and procedures in this regard. Both the member
concerned and the Council should be given adequate notice of the proposal, the reasons
therefor and the opportunity to appeal the removal to the Management or Principal of the
school.
o Filling a vacancy on the Council:-

When a member is removed or resigns from council, the resulting vacancy should be filled in accordance
with the procedures.
 The composition of a Student Council includes:-

 Head Boy
 Head Girl
 School Captain(Boy)
 School Captain(Girl)
 Sports Captain
 Sports Vice Captain
 Literary Captain
 Cultural Captain
 House Captains
 House Vice Captains
 Discipline Incharges
 Deputy Discipline Incharges

 The role of the Officers:-

 Head Boy & Head Girl:

They are responsible for presiding over meetings of the Council. Both of them along with the sports captain
and school captains prepares the agenda for each meeting and, where necessary, signs the minutes once
they have been agreed by the Council. They may also be designated to represent the Council at meetings
with management.

 School Captains :

They are responsible for assisting the head boy and head girl, and when they both are absent from a
meeting s/he assumes the role of them for that meeting.

Literary & Cultural Captain:

They along with Heads of the Council, prepares the agenda for each meeting and then circulates it to all the
members of the Council either in advance of the meeting or at the start of the meeting. This will involve
consulting with the other Council members in order to decide what will be included on the agenda. All
agendas should include a provision for ‘Any other business’; this allows Council members to raise a matter
for discussion in the event that it has not been included on the agenda. The Secretary also keeps a record of
Council meetings and any decisions taken by the Council (the minutes). If necessary these minutes can be
circulated to all members of the Council either with the agenda for the next meeting or at the start of the
next meeting. The Council can be given the opportunity to make any changes to the minutes before they are
signed by the Heads of the Council.
The Cultural Captain will be responsible for planning and conducting cultural events. The Sports Captain and
Vice Sports Captain will be responsible for all sports activities. The literary Captain will be responsible for
organising literary events.
 Communication:

Regular, effective communication is the key to success for any Student Council. This doesn’t happen by itself
and it is a good idea to develop ways of keeping the school community informed of and involved in the
various activities planned by the Student Council.

Some examples include:

• Producing a student newsletter.
• Providing updates to the Management, Principal and staff on activities and plans.
• Keeping a student notice-board in the school where information on the Council’s activities is posted.
• Announcing upcoming events.

The Council may also appoint a Public Relations Officer to take on these responsibilities.

 A guide to organising better Student Council Meetings:-

o Be prepared!

Read any information sent out before the meeting, such as the Agenda or the Minutes of the last meeting.
Prepare any points you want to raise.

o Listen!

Listen carefully to what others have to say, and be open to other people’s opinions. One of the purposes of
meetings is to exchange ideas and information and to learn from each other.

o Participate!

It is much more constructive to raise matters of concern to you at the meeting, rather than afterwards.

o Act!

If you undertake to follow up on a task, then do so, and be ready to report back at the next meeting.

 Tips for the Secretary

• Bring any correspondence received to the attention to the Heads of the Council before the agenda is drawn up.
Perhaps some element of correspondence needs inclusion on the agenda for discussion/response.

• If necessary read the minutes of the previous meeting at the beginning of each meeting and make any
necessary corrections before the minutes are signed by the President.

• Record as accurately and as fairly as possible the minutes of each meeting.

• Remember to record attendance, excuses, apologies and the time, date and venue of each meeting.
 • Remember also to give a brief account of correspondence received/sent since the last meeting.

• Remember that you also have a right to participate in discussions….don’t allow your role to stop you from
contributing to the discussion of the various matters on the agenda.

• Remember to record decisions made, who is to implement them and when.

• Use the same book at each meeting for the taking of the minutes.

• Write up the minutes as soon as possible after each meeting.

 Sample Format for writing Minutes of the meeting:

The following is a sample format when creating minutes of a meeting. The minutes are usually completed by the
Literary or Cultural Captain, but can be assigned to someone else by the Heads of the Council.

Sl. PARTICULARS DETAILS

No.
1. Purpose of the meeting (list the purpose)
2. Date
3. Time
4. Venue
5. Members present (list all members that attended meeting)
6. Members Apologies (list members that did not attend the meeting)
7. Guests (list any guests that attended such as speakers, or any
potential new members)
8. Agenda Item #1 Discussion : (summarize the discussion at the meeting)
Action: (list any action to be taken by whom and by when)
9. Agenda Item #2 Discussion: (summarize the discussion at the meeting)
Advisor’s Report Action: (list any action to be taken by whom and by when)
10. Agenda Item #3 Discussion: (summarize the discussion at the meeting)
Committee Reports Action: (list any action to be taken by whom and by when)
(create separate agenda
items for each committee
report)
11. Agenda Item #3 Discussion: (summarize the discussion at the meeting)
Committee Reports Action: (list any action to be taken by whom and by when)
(create separate agenda
items for each committee
report)
12. Agenda Item #3 Discussion: (summarize the discussion at the meeting)
Committee Reports Action: (list any action to be taken by whom and by when)
(create separate agenda
items for each committee
report)
13. Announcements: (list any announcements made)
14. Future Agenda Items: (list any suggested agenda items that are to be tabled for
the next meeting)
15. Next Meeting: (list Date/Time/Location of the next meeting)
16. Minutes prepared by
• Minutes of meetings should be written up and sent to all members for review within 2 days of the meeting.

• Copies must be preserved and handed over to the Heads of the Council of the next student council at the end
of the term.