To Invest in People - Prioritise Education
YMCA Dublin
We believe everyone should have the opportunity to belong to healthy, confident, secure and connected communities.
Today is the UNESCO International Day of Education. This year’s theme is ‘To Invest in People - Prioritise Education’.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic across the world saw the implementation of protective measures such as social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and school closures. These measures have exponentially affected young people’s feelings of worry, fear, loneliness, anxiety and distress, as well as severe implications for academic learning due to dependance on remote learning. (Arslan & Burke, 2021)
Over four in ten students in Ireland reported a major or moderate negative impact on their academic performance due to Covid-19 related school closures. Additionally, more than fifty percent of students reported that they did not learn enough when studying remotely. (Social Justice Ireland, 2021)
Educational level attainment is one of the most significant factors in reducing poverty and improving living conditions and quality of life for adults. Social Justice Ireland research shows the impact of Covid-19 on our education system increases the gap between rich and poor, and inflicts long-term income loss for all students - most notably, students experiencing disadvantage experience a greater impact on learning achievements and lifetime earnings. (Social Justice Ireland, 2021)?
To alleviate the impact of the Covid-19 learning loss on our young people requires considerable targeted planning and resourcing.
At YMCA Dublin we have a long history of working with communities to tackle barriers to education. Through our youth work programmes, Alternative Suspension and Réidh, we support young people to engage with and complete school, and support their transitions into further education, training, and employment.?
The YMCA Dublin Alternative Suspension programme launched in September 2021. We partnered with both secondary and primary schools to work with students who have either been suspended or who are at risk of suspension. For some students, being at home may not be the safest place for them to be while suspended. In these cases, they can be referred to YMCA Dublin where they attend for 3 days to catch up on school work while also having space to talk about how they’re doing and why they were referred to the programme. Post-programme meetings are facilitated with the school to jointly discuss an agreed plan moving forward to better support that young person, either in school or in other youth programmes that we run in the YMCA, or in other youth organisations we work in partnership with. The hope is that we see a decrease in disruptive behaviour and suspensions.
Réidh is an education and training programme catering to 16-30 year olds who have left school early, are experiencing unemployment, or underemployment. Additionally, Réidh provides support to young people navigating the transition after secondary school. By offering mentoring, one-to-one support, school workshops, work experience placements, as well as short and long term courses, it aims to help young people to bridge and fill the gaps in their education, experience, and their CVs.
For more information about Alternative Suspension or the Réidh Programme, please visit YMCA.ie?
_____________________________________________________________________________
References:
Arslan, G. and Burke, J. (2021) ‘Positive education to promote flourishing in students returning to school after COVID-19 closure.’ Royal College of Surgeons Ireland. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10779/rcsi.16640188.v1
Social Justice Ireland (2021) “Social Justice Matters Policy Brief Education and Covid-19.” Social Justice Ireland.?
_____________________________________________________________________________
Links for your reference: