Section Representatives are a vital part of the APEEE, governed by article 7 of the APEEE statutes. Their main roles are, in relation to pedagogical issues:
- To coordinate work and/or discussions within a linguistic section;
- To take initiatives either within the APEEE or towards the school management;
- To diffuse information, either from parents to APEEE bodies (mainly the APEEE Pedagogical Working Group) or the other way round.
Section Representatives sit on the Education Councils (either Nursery/Primary or Secondary), representing the parents in discussion with teachers, students, and the school administration. They handle problems which affect the whole section or school and which relate to the quality of education or other aspects of school life.
As a group, Section Representatives:
- gather and communicate the views of the section on a variety of pedagogic and school life issues (= communicating “up”);
- coordinate communication on recent developments to all parents in the section via class representatives (= communicating “down”);
- represent the section’s interests and concerns to teachers, the school administration, and the inspectorate (i.e. national or subject inspectors);
- consult with and advise class representatives and escalate issues to the level of the direction and/or APEEE Presidency and/or APEEE VP Pedagogy as needed;
- participate in monthly APEEE Pedagogical Working Group meetings;
- work closely with the VP Pedagogy and other Section Reps to ensure issues are adressed as quickly as possible.
In addition, it is strongly encouraged that Section Reps play a strong role as community builders for their section. This could involve:
- setting up and monitoring Facebook or other community groups within the section ;
- reaching out to new parents with advise and support.