Annual Report 2004.pdf - Equality Authority

of 2004, work began on implementingthese elements of the project wereinitiated.School Development PlanningStrategic planning in schools isunderpinned by the requirement in theEducation Act for schools to prepareschool plans. In recent years theDepartment of Education and Science hasestablished two support services – oneeach at primary and post primary levels –on school development planning. Bothsupport services have developed materialsfor schools informing them of their dutiesunder the equality legislation andsuggesting ways in which equalityconsiderations can be included in theschool planning process.School development planning is still arelatively new process and the experienceis that while a number of initiatives havebeen developed (typically based on singlegrounds where an identified need hasarisen), few schools have dealt withequality in a comprehensive way in theirschool planning.The Equality Authority, the SchoolDevelopment Planning Initiative (thesupport service at second level) and theASTI began a project to develop practicalsupports for the effective embedding ofequality in school development planningin a systematic way. The initialpartnership team began meeting anddeveloped a project outline to beimplemented in 2005. The initial focus willbe the development of practical guidancefor schools on including an equalitydimension within school developmentplans.Information bookletFollowing the amendment of the EqualStatus Act with the enactment of theEquality Act 2004, the Equality Authorityand the Department of Education andScience prepared a second edition of theinformation booklet ‘Schools and theEqual Status Act’. The text and designwork was completed in November andDecember 2004, and the informationbooklet is to be printed and distributed toall schools in January and February 2005.Research on equality in education‘Diversity at School’, edited by Dr AnneLodge, Education Department, NUIMaynooth and Professor Kathleen Lynch,Equality Studies Centre, UCD waspublished and launched by the EqualityAuthority.This book had been commissioned by theEquality Authority and was completedduring 2004. Existing data and informationon inequality across the nine grounds ineducation was only to be found in a rangeof studies, theses, journal papers andEquality Authority Annual Report 2004 • 83