policy makers? The new authority of boarding school students

At the beginning of the week, the annual national conference for boarding trainee councils of the Ministry of Welfare was held together with the Children in Chance association, on the occasion of the conclusion of the year. About 200 trainees from boarding schools across the country participated. The Boarding Councils arose out of the understanding that there is an importance for the involvement of the boarding school students in their daily decisions, which developed a program of partnership and leadership of the students that allows them to take responsibility and active participation in their lives at the boarding school, according to their abilities and the different ages.

As part of the conference, the trainees presented their social and community activities in the various boarding schools, as council representatives, and went through various workshops on leadership, communication and public speaking. The trainees met with professional officials from the Ministry of Welfare at senior levels, including district inspectors and the management of the department in the ministry, regarding the needs and challenges that the trainees wanted to raise before them.

Ahead of next year, the Ministry of Welfare announced the establishment of a regulated national board of trainees, to which a number of representatives will be elected from all the councils that will be partners in the work of the headquarters in the boarding world.

Yael Weiss, head of the Senior Division of Families, Children and Special Names at the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security, promised to hold the first meeting of the National Apprentice Council at the Ministry of Welfare in Jerusalem and said at the conference: "I want you to be the leaders, with the courage, to be the ones to see those who need you in boarding school and outside her".

Ilanit Shoshan, director of the partnership and leadership program at the Children of Chance association, added: "Participating the campers in the decision-making process allows them to promote many changes in the boarding school routine and develop leadership skills and self-confidence."