Warszawskie Centrum Innowacji Edukacyjno-Społecznych i Szkoleń (WCIES), Warszawa, Poland
This project addresses the problem of discrimination and violence towards transgender children and young people in Polish schools. Poland is the most homophobic country in the EU, and young LGBT+ people face particular hardship – more than 70% consider suicide, half display signs of depression, and ¼ encounter violence at school. Meanwhile, teachers do not react to homophobia and transphobia, and lack the tools and competences to raise the subject in lessons. There are however countries such as Iceland, which have introduced systems to provide support for transgender schoolchildren.
The Project Promoter will issue two reports in the project – one on the lessons learned in Iceland when opening a trans-inclusive school, and the other on the situation of transgender people in Polish schools. A school handbook will also be produced, inspired by practices in Iceland and adapted to Polish conditions. It will include recommendations for school governing bodies on measures to make school safe, open, and trans-inclusive. The Project Promoter will also hold a webinar on how to use the handbook.
The project is intended to help transgender children and young people. The project will increase knowledge and skills of school personnel in devising and implementing trans-inclusive school standards, and preventing violence and suicide attempts among LGBT+ school children. This will make school safer and a place of support for transgender children and young people.
The Office of the Ombudsman for Children in Iceland will participate in the project, and share know-how on the Icelandic system, as will the Warsaw Centre for Socio-Educational Innovation and Training, which will support the Project Promoter in consultations with headteachers and teaching and psychology staff, and in distributing the publication in state schools in Warsaw.
