Guest piece by Michael Barron on new PILA partner, EQUATE – Introductions, and thanks to William Fry Solicitors

Michael Barron is Executive Director with EQUATE. Michael previously founded BeLonG To, Ireland's national service for LGBT young people.

EQUATE is a new children’s rights organisation working for a substantial change in how education is delivered in Ireland. We believe that education is fundamental cornerstone of our society and our schools must operate in the best interest of all our children. We believe that our education system must be fit for purpose in 21^st century Ireland, reflecting the reality of the diversity of our families, our communities and our society. 

I have spent over fifteen years working with children and young people who have been marginalised in our schools because of who they are. I have worked with young migrants and refugees, homeless young people, LGBT young people, young Travellers and their families. I have seen first-hand the terrible impact that exclusion in school can have on their lives and opportunities.

During this I have built equality coalitions amongst the education stakeholders and have worked extensively with the Department of Education and Skills, including to develop the National Anti- Bullying Action Plan.

This work for children’s rights in our eduaction system has lead to the establishment of EQUATE. We believe that without meaningful structural reform in the areas of patronage and pluralism our dreams of equality for all children will never be realised.

This October we commissioned Behaviours & Attitudes to poll public attitudes towards education reform in Ireland. The following are some of the key findings:

• 46% would not choose a Christian school for their child if they had a choice locally.
• 1 in 5 are aware of someone who has baptised their child just to get them into the local school.
• 84% think the Irish education system should be reformed so that no child is excluded because of their religion or non-religion.
• 77% do not think the school has a right to refuse admission to a child who has a different religion to that of the schools’ patron.
• 62% think reform of school patronage should be a key priority for the next government.

The outcomes of this research highlights that there is a real nationwide yearning for change in how education is delivered in Ireland. EQUATE wants to see a school system where diversity is not only welcomed but it is valued, respected and celebrated.

• We want to deliver change in a number of key areas including the following:
• Rural schools (making them accessible to all children)
• Patronage (diversifying patronage arrangements so that they reflect modern Ireland)
• School Admissions Policies (making them inclusive of all children and families)
• Adapting the classroom (to allow children to opt in to faith formation)

We will work with families, communities, politicians and education and children’s rights stakeholders to achieve the reforms we believe are necessary so that all our children get the greatest benefit from their time in school.

EQUATE will work in three distinct strands to achieve our goal of educational reform:

1.Public Awareness Campaigns

In January we will be launching a national public awareness campaign that will empower parents, young people and the general public to believe that changing our education system is possible and is the right thing to do. For updates on our campaign please email us on info@equateireland.ie

2. Creating Viable Alternatives

We will carry out rigorous research and policy development to produce viable alternatives to the present system. In doing this we will work with leading experts in the areas of education, change management, law, economics, and children’s rights to support government to make large scale changes in as efficient and viable way as possible.

3. Advocacy

We will carry out targeted advocacy work. Including to impact on political party manifestos ahead of the next general election and with the Department of Education and Skills in the long term.

Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank PILA for their support during the establishment of EQUATE.  PILA provided us with an excellect  service through their pro-bono referral scheme. They linked us with William Fry Solicitors who worked with us to incorporate the new organisation, develop arts and memos and register us with the CRO.  Bryan Sweeney and Adam Synott at William Fry, and Eithne Lynch at PILA were extremely committed and were a great pleasure to work with. Thank you!

EQUATE is a non-aligned independent NGO. For further information visit www.equateireland.ie.

To find out how your organisation can access pro bono legal support, please contact PILA Legal Officer Eithne Lynch at eithne.lynch@flac.ie or 01-887 3631.