"Student leaders have a unique and important role in shaping the future of education in the Commonwealth"
The Commonwealth Students’ Association (CSA) has launched its new website and membership recruitment drive.
The CSA is now accepting applications from student organisations around The Commonwealth to join the association, which will unite students and help them to positively impact the global education agenda. The CSA are also accepting applications from individual students to become Commonwealth Student Organisers, to champion the cause of students in their country or place of study.
Stanley Njoroge, Chair of the CSA Steering Committee said: “The CSA will be working hard to see a world where students across The Commonwealth are empowered to effect change and contribute to the development of their societies – we should be treated as partners and not just consumers of education. We want to hear from students on the issues affecting them and how they believe the education sector should develop, and to provide them with tools to make a difference.”
The association will represent, advocate for and build the capacity of student associations and organisations and their leaders. It will also conduct research and provide reports on students’ concerns.
Each region of The Commonwealth: Africa and Europe; Asia; Caribbean and the Americas; and the Pacific, has a CSA regional working group which will ensure that students’ interests are represented at regional and Commonwealth levels.
The launch of the CSA’s website and call for membership was held at The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) third annual Commonwealth Residential School in Windsor, UK, on International Youth Day, 12 August. The School brings Commonwealth students together to discuss issues of global importance.
As this year marks the ACU's centenary, delegates considered what the world might be like in another 100 years, and what measures society needs to put in place to anticipate this.
Participants heard how student leaders can shape The Commonwealth from the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Education Adviser Nasir Kazmi and Youth Affairs Programme Officer Layne Robinson, and Daniel Wilson, CSA Caribbean region representative.
Mr Robinson said: “Student leaders have a unique and important role in shaping the future of education in The Commonwealth. The CSA is a direct result of recommendations put forward by student leaders for greater involvement in the decision-making processes in The Commonwealth. The Commonwealth already invests a lot in students through its scholarship and fellowship programmes. The CSA is another way to harness the potential inherent in student leaders in the Commonwealth and allow them to contribute to development and democracy."
The CSA was launched last year at the 18th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Mauritius.
The CSA Steering Committee - an elected team of nine student leaders from across The Commonwealth - developed the CSA work plan and the communication strategy with guidance from the Secretariat’s Youth Affairs Division.
