The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Designate has published a new e-learning course for front-line staff in the public sector.
“Delivering Equality in Public Services: An Introduction for Front Line Staff” provides public sector staff with the essentials they need to know about Irish equality law in their work. The course was developed by the Equality Authority, which is being merged with the Irish Human Rights Commission to form the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
Head of Research and Development at the Equality Authority, Laurence Bond said: “In addition to the core parts of the equality legislation, the course provides explanations of diversity, stereotyping and positive action as well as why these matter for front-line public sector staff. The course uses case studies that show these principles in practice.”
The case studies are drawn from across the Irish public sector, including government departments, local authorities, the health sector and semi-state companies.
The course is available free and takes about 40 minutes.
“We are keen to make access to the e-learning course as easy as possible”, Mr Bond said. “It does not require access to sound or video, which are blocked on computers in many public sector offices. At the same time, the course uses the case studies to provide interactvity and enable learners to apply the theory and ideas in realistic situations.”
The e-learning course is being made available in a number of ways.
Individual officers in public sector bodies can access Delivering Equality in Public Services on the IHREC Designate’s website from 1 September 2014. A limited number of copies are available on CD and USB key. The course will run on an ordinary computer with Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.
“Versions are also available for human resource managers and training managers in public sector bodies who want to provide the course through a staff intranet or an e-learning system such as Moodle or Blackboard,” Mr Bond said.
The development of the e-learning course was supported by the European Union’s Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity – PROGRESS. The information contained in the course does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission.
The legislation to merge the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission was passed by the Oireachtas in July and is expected to commence in the last quarter of 2014.