Secondary education programmes

We offer five key secondary education programmes for students to gain a deeper understanding of challenges that people are facing in communities all over the world and support them to take action to make the world a better place for everyone.

TY Academy is a week-long work experience programme for young people who are interested in global issues and careers in development.

Participants learn about various teams in Concern from a wide range of staff - both overseas and in Ireland - and what their work entails. Staff on the ground in Ireland and overseas call in to detail the work they do to combat Climate Change, Gender Inequality, Conflict, Poverty, Hunger and how Concern responds to emergencies.

Participants also engage in project work over the week linked to the work of Concern, which they present to judges for feedback on the last day.

We will be running TY Academy in person in our Dublin office on the following weeks:

• 14th November – 18th November 2022
• 30th January – 3rd February 2023
• 27th February – 3rd March 2023
• 24th April – 28th April 2023

We are also hoping to offer two mini online academies which will take place over two days via Zoom*:

• 7th – 8th November 2023
• 16th – 17th January 2023

*These are subject to demand. If we have a high demand we may offer more or less two day sessions

TY Academy applications for academic year 2022/2023 are now open! Please complete the application form below and email back to schools@concern.net 

Learning out about what is happening in the world is important - taking action is the next step!

Speak Act Do is a semi-structured programme to support students and teachers to run an action project on local and global issues in a way that suits you and your schools context. Students choose their topic, research and then put their learning into action! Next year (2022-2023), we are also offering schools the chance to record a Podcast about their project if they complete all elements of Speak Act Do!

Schools who sign up receive a dedicated resource pack, support from the Concern schools team over the course of the programme, as well as school visits and the chance to attend events throughout the year.

The programme runs from October to May and consists of four main parts:

1. Research

2. Action Planning

3. Taking Action

4. Evaluating   

At the end of the project, students will present their projects at our annual student event, Agents of Change, and have a chance to win a prize! Agents of change will take place on Friday 12th May 2023. 

To find out more and check out the resources, visit our Speak Act Do page 

Concern Debates is an All Island year long competition for senior cycle students. Each year, over 140 schools across the island of Ireland debate topics from climate change to corporate responsibility.

The programme gives students the opportunity to learn skills in research, critical thinking, and public speaking. It also helps students to reflect on, and try to tackle, some of the most important issues facing the world today. This year the programme is going online!

Interested in the Concern Debates?

We offer free workshops and talks for secondary schools on the following:

• Conflict
• Climate Change
• Gender Equality
• Poverty/Work of Concern
• Emergencies
• Hunger

Students will consider why these problems exist in the world today, how they affects people’s lives, how Concern support communities who are experiencing the issue and reflect on how they themselves can take action.

In 2022-2023, our workshops will be a mixture of in person and online. We will work with individual schools and the context that you are working in to provide workshops in a way that works best for your students.

We run full day workshops (10am-2.30pm) to celebrate World Food Day and International Women’s Day where students will have a chance to learn about why we mark these dates and take part in an action!

In 2022-2023, we will be offering workshops to schools to celebrate World Food day and celebrate International Women’s Day.

• World Food Day Workshop  13th March*
• International Women’s Day Workshop 8th March

*As part of the World Food Day workshop we will invite students to collect signatures for an open letter to the UN about conflict driven hunger as part of Concern’s campaign, Nothing Kills Like Hunger. For more information or to take part in this campaign in your school, email schools@concern.net