Publicity – MACTT publicity will include a statement of commitment to equal opportunities and positive about disability.
Recruitment – MACTT recognises that at every stage of the recruitment and selection process, it is necessary to eliminate discrimination and to train all those involved in the process.
Access – MACTT’s training programmes will provide access to training to all individuals and will make reasonable adjustments in order to allow each individual to participate fully.
Induction – It is the policy of MACTT to promote equal opportunities in all aspects of its work. It expects all members of staff, students and trainers to perform their duties in relation to the training programme in accordance with this policy.
Guidance and Support – MACTT will ensure that adequate support is given to students who feel isolated during any training programme. MACTT will enable former students to obtain guidance and support at any time after they have completed their training programme.
Training – MACTT will develop a variety of learning programmes that will enable a wide range of students to participate at different levels of training. There will be flexibility in the timetable to acknowledge different levels of ability, motivation and circumstances. Training will take place in a physical environment that encourages flexible and open teaching and learning strategies and is, as far as possible, accessible to all.
Content – MACTT will regularly check the content of training programmes so as to eliminate discriminatory materials or stereotypes.
Delivery – A training model will be adopted which enables learners to construct their own learning experiences by recognising that the students may need to work in different ways, at different paces and with different materials.
Assessment – MACTT assessors will be appropriately trained in and aware of the possibilities of including bias in the area of race, gender or age in the assessment criteria and procedures. They will adopt models that eliminate discrimination. MACTT might revise assessment plans at any time during the year.
Resources – MACTT will ensure that those responsible for the purchase and/or maintenance of book and non-book resources, equipment, furnishings and fittings have regard to equal opportunities issues.
Evaluation – Programme evaluation will explicitly monitor all of the areas outlined above.
MACTT Staff – will always act in a non-discriminatory manner toward both other staff members, trainers and students.
Students – It is core to MACTT’s ethos that students are treated equally in all areas of their training with MACTT and given appropriate support to promote equality of opportunity.
Failure to implement the policy
MACTT has clear procedures for dealing with failure to implement the policy and general incidents which are contrary to the ethos of MACTT’s work:
- It is the responsibility of each member of MACTT’s staff in their role, where failure to implement policy is felt to have occurred, to take action to rectify the matter in a timely and confidential way.
- Where appropriate, action does not lie within the designated role of the member of staff concerned; the matter should be taken to the Director of Studies whose role involves responsibility for such a
- Where a learner, potential learner, or other client of MACTT raises an issue of failure to implement policy, this should be dealt with as in (i) and (ii)
- If such action does not bring about a satisfactory result, the matter should be referred to the Director of Studies or Head of
- If any person feels they have not been treated fairly on any matter relating to this policy, they have the right to appeal to the Director of Studies or any Company
General incidents
General incidents of a discriminatory nature would include:
- Producing insulting graffiti or other written
- Attempting to recruit learners to racist organisations, for example, bringing leaflets, badges, magazines etc. into
- Derogatory remarks directed against particular minority or disadvantaged groups, for example sexist jokes, insulting references to people with
Action to be taken
- Where the perpetrator is a student, the member of staff observing it or having it referred to them, should deal with the
- Where this procedure is felt to be insufficient or ineffective, the matter should be referred to the Head of
Harassment may be defined as all those actions and practices by a person or group of people which are directed at one or more members of the MACTT community which:
- Are repeated and unwanted;
- May be deliberate or done unconsciously cause humiliation, offence or distress;
- May interfere with work performance or create an unpleasant working environment
- Comprise of remarks or actions associated with the person’s gender, race, sexual orientation or disability over their role within
MACTT considers such harassment of staff, students, trainers or members of the public to be a serious offence and will not tolerate such behaviour from any member of its staff, trainers or students. MACTT will give support through all of the procedures which might be necessary in dealing with an incident of harassment to any member of staff, trainer or student.
Review
MACTT has a responsibility to deliver its whole curriculum within an Equal Opportunities context and through processes aimed at countering discrimination of all kinds. As social demographic patterns change, there may be additional urgency for MACTT to reconsider its training programmes in relation to groups of learners who would not have previously undertaken a further education course.
The workplace, the law, and non-statutory guidelines:
There are a number of pieces of legislation and non-statutory guidelines, which protect individuals from unfair discrimination in the workplace, namely:
- Treaty of Rome (1957) Article 119
- Equal Pay Act (1970) and Equal Pay (Amendment) Act (1983)
- Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974)
- Sex Discrimination Act (1975)
- Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations (1999)
- Race Relations Act (1976)
- Race Relations (Amendment) Act (2000)
- Disability Discrimination Act (1995)
- Disability Rights Commission Act (1999)
- The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (2001)
- Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1999)
- Code of Practice on Age Diversity (1999)
Furthermore, there are also a number of statutory organisations, which exist to ensure that Equal Opportunities legislation is complied with, for example:
- Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Services (ACAS)
- Commission for Racial Equality (CRE)
- Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC)
- Disability Rights Commission (DRC)
