FECIM
"Step by Step" in partnership
with OSI-Macedonia and
four Local Roma NGOs implement the project Roma
Education Initiatives Macedonia(REIMK).
Its
purpose is to contribute to the improvement of the educational
system in Macedonia enabling it to be better prepared to meet
the educational needs of Roma children ages 0-18.
The
main goal of REIMK is to enable necessary
conditions, which will help Roma children to be equally successful pupils
as their peers through positive interventions.
The program
will be targeted and based in 4 Roma settlements:
"Dame
Gruev" - Skopje
"Bavci"
-Kumanovo
“Sredorek” - Kumanovo
"Trizla-2"
- Prilep
In this settlements
educational initiatives are already ongoing. Active and interested Roma
NGOs, from these areas, are willing to advocate and advance the future
projects in the community. In addition to educational services, they will
also provide services for the members of the community.
The
objectives of the initiative are the
following:
To improve knowledge and skills of Roma children
To increase capacities of the primary schools to meet
the needs of Roma children
To contribute to the design of "The National Strategy
for addressing Roma issues in the Republic of Macedonia"
(where Roma education will be integral part)
To strengthen capacities of Roma educational centers
in order to provide high quality assistance for Roma children
(pre-school, primary school and high school students)
Extensive
teachers and organizational development capacity building support
will be provided to four primary schools in order to enable better
integration of the Roma children. Besides increasing the skills
and teachers’ knowledge for using child-centered methodologies,
also, Anti Bias training will be delivered, to each of the schools.
In addition, teachers will be trained and provided with technical
assistance for designing and implementing the School Improvement
Plan (SIP).
In order
to empower the educators from the partnership NGOs :
“Dendo Vas”-Skopje
“Drom”- Kumanovo
“KHAM”-Kumanovo
“Aid for
Poor and Handicapped People”- Prilep
The
educators will be trained in Child centered methodologies and Anti-
Bias. Additionally, the training on Mobilizing Local Resources and
Project Cycle Management will be also delivered.
The
main purpose of the program
is to improve knowledge and skills of the Roma children ages 0-18
covered in the schools.
It is estimated
that approximately 200 preschool, 930 primary school and 100 secondary
school students, together with their parents would be the target
groups of the project. The schools involved will be:
Primary school "Straso
Pindzur" - Skopje
Primary school "11 Oktomvri" -
Kumanovo
Primary school "Karpus" - Kumanovo
Primary school "Dobre Jovanovski” -
Prilep
This project
will combine the successful experiences in Macedonia of the Step
by Step Program, Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking Program
(RWCT, a methodology that challenges students of all ages to think
critically), and the experience from the Roma Education Centers
(non formal environment that gives support to children in order
to improve their school performance).
The last
component of this project intends to contribute to the preparation
of the “national strategy for Addressing Roma issues in the Republic
of Macedonia”, by providing opportunities to all-important stakeholders
to participate in nation-wide discussions about the needs and
priorities of Roma children as well as the concrete actions that
should be taken in that respect.
Foundation
for educational and cultural initiatives "Step by Step"-Macedonia
will be responsible for the overall management of the project including
training for education staff in each REC and school teams, monitoring
and evaluation.
Timeline
of the initiative will be
in September 2005.
The project
activities within the centers will last until end of June 2005.
The finalization
on evaluation and reporting on the project will be in September
2005.
