Activities
Voice of Children Initiative
Back row: Jean Gordon, Director, European Institute of Education and Social Policy; Tony Chapman, Vice Chancellor, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. Front row: Daniel Kropf, Executive Vice Chair, Universal Education Foundation; Jane Hutt, Minister for Education, Children and Young People; John Wyn Owen, Chairman of the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff.
Listening to the Voice of Children in Wales – 10th and 11th December 2007
Following the launch of ‘Education by All for the Well-Being of Children Wales’ in September 2007, children across Wales will have the opportunity to make their voices heard thanks to the unique partnership between the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) and Universal Education Foundation (UEF). Wales will be the first European country to run the Education by All for the Well-Being of Children programme. Read a UWIC article about VOC in Wales.
The programme is supported by the Welsh government, which is actively engaged in listening to children and young people and involving them in decision-making that affects their lives. On 10th December, UEF and UWIC met with Jane Hutt, the Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills in order to update her on the Elham programme in Palestine and on the plans to roll out the Voice of Children in Wales. Jane Hutt welcomed the collaboration between Wales and Palestine and was eager to learn more about the pilot programme in Palestine with its strong involvement of government and non-government organisations. The meeting was also attended by the CEO of Funky Dragon, the children’s and young people’s parliament in Wales, which has recently carried out an extensive survey of over 12,000 children and young people, “Our rights, Our Story”, as part of Welsh reporting to the United Nations Convention on the rights of children (http://www.funkydragon.org.uk/index.asp). They are looking forward to finding out more about Elham in Palestine and to working with young Palestinians.
This meeting took place during a two-day workshop between UWIC and UEF to plan the Voice of Children survey in Wales. UWIC students will be involved, will be trained as field workers and will go into schools across the country to carry out the survey with 15 and 16 year-olds. The revised questionnaire has been tested by pupils from Willows High School in Cardiff.
Secondary students from Willows High School, Tremorfa, Wales, take the VOC 2 Pilot Survey and later contribute their suggestions to the designers of the survey. |
Marwan Awartani, Secretary-General of UEF, looks on as a student takes the Voice of Children 2 survey. |
Staff from Funky Dragon, a peer-led youth organisation that provides opportunities for young people to have their voices heard, help administer the survey. |
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Welsh Government Highly Focused on Giving a Voice to Children
Since Wales signed the UN Declaration of Children’s Rights a few years ago, the government has been developing policies to ensure that children’s rights are a reality and that all aspects of government pay attention to what they have to say. Furthermore, policy in Wales is moving from taking account of children’s rights and welfare, towards putting a focus on their well-being.
UEF has signed an agreement with the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC), who will lead the establishment of Education By All for the Well-Being of Children – Wales. UWIC is a major education and healthcare staff training university in Wales and has set up a cross-department working group within the university to take forward the program. The Voice of Children qualitative surveys will be carried out by the First Campus team at UWIC. First Campus is an innovative government funded project, to promote higher education in Wales by establishing a system of support for pupils who have the potential to progress to higher education but may not have the aspirations or information.
During summer 2007, UWIC established a board of partners including the Welsh Youth Parliament, ‘Funky Dragon’, as well as representatives from local businesses, NGOs and philanthropies. Funky Dragon is the main vehicle for listening to children and young people in Wales. It was established as the youth parliament from 2000 and is funded by government but provides an independent voice. Read more about Education by All in Wales.
