Secondary education programmes

We offer five key secondary education programmes, as well as workshops and talks, for students to gain a deeper understanding of challenges that people are facing in communities all over the world.

TY Academy brings together like-minded young people who are interested in learning more about careers in development. In 2022, TY Academy will be online for the second year in a row.

Participants learn about various teams in Concern - 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 have the chance to get to know each other through getting-to-know you games and discussions surrounding topics of mutual interest.

Participants also develop a project during the academy, which they present to judges for feedback on the last day. They then have the option of doing a further action project, which they present at a final TY Academy reunion event a few weeks after the academy. The reunion event also focuses on careers and brings in external speakers to elaborate on an array of professions.

The deadline for applications for TY Academy 2022 has now passed.

In 2022, the programme will take place online on the following dates:

31st January to 4th February 2022 (NOW FULL - WAIT LIST IN OPERATION)

7th February to 11th February 2022  (NOW FULL - WAIT LIST IN OPERATION)

Applicants choose to attend one week only.

Some things to keep in mind:

• The student should undertake the application process.
• Please note that places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and on the basis of a completed application form.
• Places are limited to five students per school.
• As places are allocated on a first come, first served basis, the application process will be closed when places are filled or on the deadline of the 8 October 2021.

If you would like more information, please email: schools@concern.net

Concern Debates is an all-Ireland 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?

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

Speak Act Do is our programme to support students and teachers to take action on local and global issues in a simple way that suits you and your schools context.

This year we have expanded the offering for Speak Act Do and along with the resources available on our Speak Act Do page , we are offering a series of webinars, the “Let’s Tackle…” series. These webinars will feature overseas staff calling in to talk about the work they do overseas on: Gender Equality, Conflict, Poverty, Hunger and Climate Change. The intention is twofold: to highlight Concern’s work in the global south to students, and to allow them to connect more deeply with the global component of their projects.

Key dates for Speak Act Do Events are:

1 October 2021 10am-10:50am: Speak Act Do Launch

8 October 2021 10am-10:50am: Let's Tackle Climate Change Webinar

5th November 2021 10am-10:50am: Let's Tackle Gender Inequality Webinar

9th November 2021 11am-12:30pm: Let's Tackle Hunger FAST National Youth 

19th November 2021 10am-10:50am: Let's Tackle Conflict

3rd December 2021 10am-10:50am: Let's Tackle Poverty

4th March 2022: Meet the Expert Online Event

6th May 2022: Agents of Change Event

Interested in learning more and/or registering?

As part of the Let’s Tackle Series, and to celebrate 30 years of FAST, the last FAST, Concern is running a special event on November 9th 2021 from 10am to 11:30am. The event will feature Zine making, Concern overseas programme staff and campaigners, and Irish Seed Savers and raise awareness about the UN Food Summit. The event will educate young people about the Food Summit, hunger & conflict, the work of Concern abroad, and ways to tackle hunger, provide opportunities for them to consider global hunger as a pressing issue, consider their values, understand the causes of hunger and understand the connections between Ireland and the Global South.

Test your knowledge of the Sustainable Development goals and learn about Concerns work in the fight against extreme poverty with our new app!

How much do you know about the Sustainable Development Goals? Our new Concern Active app will test your knowledge and will help bring the SDGs to life by exploring them through the lens of Concern's work with the world's poorest people.

We offer free development education workshops and talks for secondary schools on a range of challenges facing the communities which Concern work in around the world. The themes that we cover include poverty, hunger, gender equality, climate change and conflict. In fifty-minute workshops, students will consider why these problems exist in the world today, how they affects people’s lives and reflect on how they can take action on this issue.

In 2022, our workshops will remain online. We will work with individual schools and the context that you are working in to provide workshops on a platform of your choice and in a way that works best for your students

We also offer workshops to celebrate World Food Day and International Women’s Day. In 2021-22, we will be offering workshops to schools to celebrate World Food day from the 11th to the 15th October 2021 and to celebrate International Women’s Day from the 7th to the 11th March 2022.

Interested in hosting a school talk or workshop? 

Project Us is Concern’s movement for change in Ireland. It is a space (online and off) for communities to gather together to discuss the global and local issues that matter most to us.

For teachers, we are organising World Café’s online to explore how issues at the local level connect to the Sustainable Development Goals. These are beneficial to teachers of any subject and of any age group to reflect on issues which may come up in Global Citizenship Education, how to tackle inequalities both locally and globally, as well as a chance to boost your knowledge and understanding of issues such as hunger, gender equality and climate change.