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Salient. The Newspaper of Victoria University College. Vol. 20, No. 7. August 9, 1956

Sixth world student conference to be held in Ceylon next month

Sixth world student conference to be held in Ceylon next month

The sixth International Student Conference is to be held in Peradeniya, Ceylon, September 11 to 21. New Zealand students will be represented by Mr. Peter Boag, president of the Auckland University College Students' Association, Mr. Peter Gordon, a Maori member of the AUCSA Executive, and Mr. Neville Beach, CUC representative on the Resident Executive of NZUSA.

Announcing the venue and dates of the conference, the Coordinating Secretariat of National Unions of Studens (COSEC) says world student co-operation will be the keynote of the conference, as more than 55 national unions of students from all continents are expected to send representatives.

The conference, jointly organized by the Students' Councils at the University of Ceylon and COSEC, will be the most representative student gathering ever held. Peradeniya is the new site of the University of Ceylon, situated in the mountains of the island's interior. This will be the first time the conference has met in Asia.

Heading the tentative Conference agenda is a review of existing projects for practical student co-operation in such fields as student travel and exchange, international student publications, specialists' conferences and seminars, and a consideration of proposed new undertakings.

There will also be a thorough airing of complaints concerning the University situations in South Africa, East Germany, Paraguay and Venezuela.

The Ceylon Conference is the sixth in the series of annual International Student Conferences, inaugurated in 1950 when 21 National Unions of Students came together in Stockholm at the invitation of the Scandinavian National Unions.

Succeeding Conferences were held in Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Istanbul; the most recent International Student Conference took place last July in Birmingham, England.

Participation in the Conference grew from 21 at Stockholm to 52 at Birmingham; this year, it is expected that national student organisations from Liberia, Morocco, possibly national delegations from Pakistan, Cuba, and perhaps other countries will take their places at the Conference tables for the first time.

It is interesting to note that, although the original 21 National Unions were mostly from Western Europe or North America, the large majority of participants at Ceylon will be from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Full voting participation in the Conference is limited to genuinely representative National Unions of Students. Credentials are vigorously debated at the Conference, which is determined to maintain its representativeness.

It was resolved at the Birmingham Conference last July that the Sixth International Student Conference would be the Conference of world student co-operation. While most National Unions of Students took part at Birmingham, and invitation was open to all, the Conference noted that some had not yet attended, particularly the national student organisation in Eastern Europe, Soviet Union and China.

The decision was made to make a special effort to bring all national student organisations within the framework of co-operation provided by the Conference. All those who had not yet attended were given special invitations cither to attend or explain the reasons why they felt unable to participate, so that the Conference may take into consideration their views.

Mr. John Thompson, Administrative Secretary of COSEC, has Just returned from a ten-day visit to several of the East European countries, where he had an opportunity to discuss with the officers of the national student organisations the possibilities of their attendance at the Ceylon Conference and answer their questions regarding it.

COSECS beginning

COSEC was established at the Second International Student Conference as the administrates agency of the Conference, to implement with the co-operation of the National Unions the programme of activities planned by the Conference, which establishes all policy. The Secretariat offices are in Leiden, Netherlands.

The primary achievements of the Conference have been in promoting practical co-operation among students all over the world. Particularly fruitful results have come about in such fields as student travel, where many thousands of students each year are able to travel abroad at greatly reduced costs; publications, with a new international student magazine, "The Student," just launched, and other publications for student leaders and the student press; specialist conferences annually held on student travel and the student press and seminars, where students from many different countries meet in smaller groups to exchange ideas and viewpoints.