‘Pull up a Chair: Imagining Education Solutions Together’ Workshop is organised with young people from ANAKA Women’s Collective’s 16+ Education Equality Campaign and Queen’s University Belfast to be held on Monday, 5 August 2024, 3-6pm in the Canada Room in the Lanyon Building.

This workshop is as a solution-oriented follow-up to the ‘Education Opportunities Needed’ event, which unveiled initial recommendations from QUB research in collaboration with the Young People's (YP) Research Group and ANAKA Women's Collective. The event also launched a survey to gather more information directly from young people (16-24) from refugee and asylum seeker (RAS) backgrounds. You can read the research briefing here. With the results from the survey in, we hope to bring together experts from across the education sector to engage directly with young people on solutions in key areas.

In the survey we asked all participants, “If you could create an education opportunity in NI, what would it be like? (Use your imagination and describe in detail)”. This inclusive workshop will gather young people, those ideas and change-makers capable of making those ideas reality around the same table.

We need your expertise to engage directly with results from the survey and young people from RAS backgrounds on imaginative solutions to the education needs of the 16+ RAS community.

At the event we will:

Share recommendations from young people gathered through the public survey
Invite all guests to imagine solutions to education needs: what could these opportunities look like
Divide into groups to further imagine solutions in policy, schools, further education, higher education, and life-long education
Consider the impact of those creative solutions, and what those might feel like to young people
Discuss the practical elements of those creative solutions
As a group, discuss the type of actions different sectors, institutions, organisations and individuals can take to help young people from refugee and asylum seeker (RAS) backgrounds access equitable education in Northern Ireland

We hope this workshop will lead to needed progress on this topic. We believe we can all come together to work on the vital topic of right to education for all. It is important to note that all participants at the workshop will be asked to consent to note-taking, to be included in the facilitator’s research (MSCA Research Fellow, Morgan Mattingly) and so that the ideas from the event can be shared with all attendees to take action on. You can read more about the research here. An edited version of the notes (without identifying information) will be available upon request after the event.

Since 2023, ANAKA Women's Collective has supported a campaign for 16+ Education Equality led by young people from refugee and asylum seeker (RAS) backgrounds. Unlike the rest of the UK, with guarantees of equitable access until 18, in NI equitable access to education beyond age 16 has not been experienced by many young people from RAS backgrounds. Through participatory action research in collaboration with Mattingly, we seek to research and take action on this inequality. NI can and should work to address this, with direct input of the young people affected. Progress is needed and we believe the evidence of the YP Research Group’s Survey can be used to take immediate steps to enable young people’s bright futures.

To attend, please sign up via Humanitix to attend ‘Pull up a Chair: Imagining Education Solutions Together’ on Monday, 5 August 3-6pm at Queen’s University Belfast, Lanyon Building Canada Room (accessible via the Quad or Black & White Hall). We hope to see you there.