Centro de alumnos

Students' centres are democratically elected yearly.

In Chile, the centros de alumnos (English: students' centres), 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."^[1][a]

Regulation

Students' centers often co-organise activities and celebrations with their schools' administrations.

The regulation of the centros de alumnos is performed by the Ministry of Education, with the Decree number 524, which states:

• The educational institution cannot interfere in the election of a centro de alumnos, [and] at the same time, it is mandatory for every single high school (establecimiento de Enseñanza Media) to have a centro de alumnos.
• The centro de alumnos is elected democratically, through an election in which all the students of the educational institution have to participate.
• The centros de alumnos should have a president, a vice-president, a clerk, a financial secretary, and an executive secretary, they can also create delegations, according to the needs of the educational institution.
• The centros de alumnos are advised by two teachers of the educational institution, elected by the directive of the centro de alumnos of their respective schools, from a proposal of the council of delegates of class (Consejo de Delegados de Curso).

Rights

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
• Convoke meetings with the directives of the different classes of their high schools or schools

Notes and references

Notes

1. Original Spanish quote: "Su finalidad es servir a sus miembros, en función de los propósitos del establecimiento y dentro de las normas de organización escolar, como medio de desarrollar en ellos el pensamiento reflexivo, el juicio crítico y la voluntad de acción; de formarlos para la vida democrática, y de prepararlos para participar en los cambios culturales y sociales."

References

1. "Centro de Alumnos". Ayuda Mineduc (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Ministry of Education of Chile. 2011. Archived from the original on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.

External links

• DS 524 sobre Centros de Estudiantes de Enseñanza Media (Supreme decree 524 on Students Centres of High Schools) (in Spanish)