Rajeeb Dey
Age: 20
Occupation: Student / Founder of ESSA
www.studentvoice.co.uk
Rajeeb Dey is the Founder and National Co-ordinator of the English Secondary Students’ Association (ESSA), Co-Founder of Enternships™ and is an undergraduate reading reading Economics & Management at Jesus College, Oxford.
Profile of ESSA:
- ESSA is working to become the representative body for secondary students aged 11-19 in England.
- It provides training, guidance and advice to empower students and equip them with vital skills needed in becoming actively involved in the decision-making processes in their school communities.
- ESSA works in partnership with other organisations to bring the views of schools students to the attention of local and national policy-makers in relation to educational issues.
- ESSA undertakes consultations and projects for organisations such as the General Teaching Council (GTC), Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA).
- ESSA is developing a school membership package to be launched in September 2006.
Personal profile
Rajeeb (Raj) began work on developing ESSA in November 2003 alongside doing his A-levels. He first came up with the idea after hearing about secondary student unions in other European countries and thought to himself – “if they have one, why don’t we?” and since then Raj has been able to generate widespread support for ESSA. ESSA now employs two full time members of staff and has offices in London Bridge.
Raj is not new to youth politics and young people’s participation issues; he was the figurehead of Chelmsford Borough Council’s “No Vote…No Voice” Campaign – to promote young people to vote in the local elections and Vice-Chair Finance of the Chelmsford Youth Council. His work with the Youth Council led to him winning the DfES Exceptional Community Champion 2005 Award and being a Finalist in the Windrush Achievement Awards in 2004. Raj is currently a Co-optee on the Trustees Board of the Carnegie UK Trust, as well as a Trustee of the Phoenix Education Trust. Raj was also awarded a Young Leaders Award from the Royal Society of Arts and a Wavemakers Award by Sir John Major.
Problems he’s had and how he’s overcome them
Establishing ESSA whilst doing A-levels. It was his final year of A-levels when things really started to get going, but he didn’t let it get in the way of developing ESSA. It meant that Raj had to plan his time very effectively to ensure that he did enough work to secure good grades (to get into Oxford), whilst also doing the ground work to set up ESSA.
Major successes
- Launching at a the Trades Union Congress Centre on 4th February 2005 with the support of major education union leaders and the Minister for School Standards’ support (Stephen Twigg MP), who said that: “ESSA is good news, not only for pupils but for teachers and all those who work in education – including Government. Through ESSA, I look forward to seeing more pupils taking part in decision making in their schools and also bringing their views to all those who are making policy locally and nationally. I’m sure they will make a huge and valuable contribution.”
- Securing a government funded contract to produce a national training programme for students called Confidence in Communication
- Receiving an award from UnLTD – the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs
- Winning Channel 4 and NESTA’s “Bedroom Britain Campaign” (an award recognising the young entrepreneurial talent in Britain), which involved national television exposure for ESSA
- Employing two members of staff and moving into plush new offices in London Bridge!
What I love about (social) entrepreneurship
The ability to make a positive impact on society is what Raj enjoys in being a social entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship gives you flexibility, and the freedom to do your own thing; and social enterprise in particular gives you the added satisfaction of knowing that you are influencing change for the better.
Other projects Raj is working on
Raj is Co-Founder of Enternships™ which connects the most ambitious and talented students with the best entrepreneurial internships being offered worldwide. All placements are in fast-growing companies and start-ups, and with successful entrepreneurs. Enternships won a national award from the Royal Society of Arts this year. If you or your company qualify and can offer an Enternship, or you would like to apply for an enternship, get in touch or visit www.enternships.com.
Consultancy services
Raj has acted as a freelance consultant on various issues such as Youth Engagement/Participation, Marketing, Enterprise and Graduate Recruitment and has advised clients including the Department for Education and Skills, Royal Society of Arts/T-Mobile, Lehman Brothers, Britvic and Enterprise Insight.
