‘We are the Assets of the School’
Children’s participation in decision-making is a universal right as articulated by the un Convention on the Rights of the Child. This right to participation is a central feature of Save the Children’s primary school School Health and Nutrition (shn) project in El Salvador. This article presents the results of a qualitative study that examined the nature and extent of children’s participation in the shn project in three schools. The findings indicate that while a cadre of children elected by their peers are key project leaders, assisted by designated teacher advisors, children’s participation is limited as an instrumental facet of the shn project, in large part because it lacks an explicit rights-based discourse. The paper concludes by arguing that children’s participation can be more meaningful and open to expansion when both students and teachers have a greater understanding of children’s rights.