A scheme set up last year by Sister Stanislaus Kennedy has got off to a flying start. Anne Dempsey reports
'For many years, I was conscious of the need to facilitate young people becoming involved in their local community around issues of social concern, working with teachers and local people." So said Sister Stanislaus Kennedy of Focus Point. The result is Social Innovators Ireland, which she set up last year and has been taken up by 150 Transition Year students in counties Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Meath.
The projects have been diverse. Students from St Leo's College, Carlow, looked at life for local teenage mothers, found they are better off financially if they leave school and recommended the Lone Parent Allowance be increased to encourage the young women to stay in full-time education.
Pupils from Synge Street CBS, Dublin, each spent a week working with four voluntary agencies and were amazed at the many facilities they had not known were available in the inner city, as well as realising the need for volunteers.
Other schools worked with people with disabilities, examined religious intolerance and researched sweatshops in the developing world, looking at the implications for the choices we make in buying brand-named clothes.
Social Innovators Ireland provided a resource pack for students and three in-service workshops for teachers.
Lucy Friend, a member of the Transition Year Curriculum Support Service, is an adviser to the project. "I believe the first year has been a success. This is a fantastic idea because it gives a focus for teachers who want to raise social awareness and social justice issues in TY.
"The project has been student-driven and teacher-led and allows students and teachers work together as equals."
The winning project will be announced by the Tánaiste, Mary Harney, in Dublin Castle this Friday.
Applications from Leinster schools for next year close on May 17th. Apply to Social Innovators Ireland, 42 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin 1. Tel: (01) 490 5841; e-mail: colob@esatclear.ie
