Accessibility Tools

LGBTQ-friendly Schools 2.0

Project Promoter: Fundacja GrowSpace
Proposal: 2nd thematic call
Co-financed from the program: 28 934,53 EUR
Partners:
Fundacja na rzecz Praw Ucznia (Poland)
Terram Pacis (Norway)
Duration time: 01.10.2022-31.07.2023

The project aims to improve the situation of LGBTQ+ young people. As part of the project, we are undertaking a survey, the results of which will be used to develop recommendations for LGBTQ+ friendly schools. Getting schools to conduct the survey proved difficult, despite the many contacts made during the LGBTQ+ Friendly Schools Ranking project. In 90% of the schools we contacted, we were met with an open refusal to join the project or a withdrawal during the interviews. School principals and teachers fear the reaction of provincial boards of education and the Ministry of Education and Science, which is opposed to dealing with LGBTQ+ topics in schools. School students were usually interested in carrying out the survey, but more often than not they did not get permission from the school management. However, thanks to the commitment of our Foundation’s team, we were able to get the right number of schools. We are carrying out surveys on the sense of security in over a dozen schools. The results will form the basis of a diagnosis and recommendations for individual schools, which will then host events with young people aged 16-19. We also conducted an expert webinar on the issue of psychological safety of school students. In collaboration with our partner Foundation for Students Rights, we carried out a legal consultation to update the Inclusive School Statute, on the basis of which minimum/maximum versions of the statute are being finalised for adoption by schools. The second project partner is the Norwegian organisation Terram Pacis, which is carrying out training on indicators of school inclusiveness in Poland and Norway. Thanks to the collected indicators, good practices will be created, which will serve as examples when implementing events in schools. The project will be summarised with a good practice charter.