While the right to education was guaranteed under the Irish constitution (Kennedy & Smyth, 2018), educational inequality remained a continuing feature within the education system (Cahill, 2020). On average, 8% of young people starting in the first year of post-primary education faded out of the system and did not complete. For many of these, alternative education (AE) was the only option. AE developed as a response to state-provided mainstream education across the world, with its innovative curriculum and flexible programmes of study corresponding with students’ interests and needs (Sliwka, 2008). AE offerings existed along a continuum targeting subgroups such as young people who did not fit easily into mainstream, out-of-school young people, early school leavers, and children, young people, and adult learners from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Evidence showed that learners joined AE programmes for different reasons and as a result of a variety of barriers, including social, economic, behavioural, cultural, and emotional (Moffatt & Riddle, 2021). International evidence showed AE was loosely defined, as it encompassed different types of schooling and organisations, which also differed in their philosophical views of youth. As stated by Tierney (2018), the meaning and understanding of alternative education needed to be sought within the context in which these organisations had developed—their attitudes towards young people, forms and structures, and their programme focus.

Recognising the persistence of educational inequality and disadvantage in Irish society, Rethink Ireland introduced three funds—the Education Fund, Youth Funds, and Child and Youth Funds—to address these persistent social issues and explore the range of options AE provision could provide. A total of 32 projects were chosen as Fund Awardees. One of Rethink Ireland’s primary goals underpinning the establishment of these three Funds was to support the creation of a raft of social impact data that could inform the development of smart public policy and inspire public leadership in addressing educational inequality.

To this end, 24 of the 32 projects participated in a five-year academic research and evaluation study, conducted by the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the University of Galway, Ireland. This mixed methods study incorporated a social return on investment framework to assess the social value of AE provision. In particular, the webinar explored:
a) The policy context for AE provision in Ireland and the role of Rethink Ireland in supporting a socially innovative response;
b) The practices and processes used by Awardees to support their participants’ progression;
c) Mapping the social value created onto a well-being taxonomy, including the lived experience of participants using photovoice data;
d) Implications for policy and practice, and a way forward.