Description
Because of historical and cultural reasons, Roma people do not have the motivation and the ability to pursue a long-term educational project, so the community has to support them and break the vicious circle of poverty. In this respect, the project aims at improving community support services for Roma children and their parents, raising community awareness on problems Roma people are facing and increasing community involvement (as volunteers) in supporting Roma people. The solution is to diversify, improve services and extend them to other areas by involving communities in all stages. With the purpose to ensure access to education and prevent school drop-out, 115 Roma children will benefit within after-school programs from activities to improve their social skills, develop independent life skills, support for homework, leisure time activities, material support; 90 parents of Roma children will benefit from information, counselling and parenting classes; over 90 specialists, teachers, volunteers and parents will benefit from training in socio-educative animation, with the support of the partner Terre des homes.
Summary of project results
Illiteracy and school dropout affect a large part of the Roma population, decreasing their chances to social integration and a better life. Due to historical and cultural reasons, Roma population does not have the motivation and ability to pursue a long-term educational project, needing the community support in order to break the vicious circle of poverty. The goal of this project was to support the educational and social integration of Roma children from rural and urban areas, from Bistrita-Nasaud County, through ensuring access to education and preventing school dropout with the support of afterschool programmes. The project was developed in partnership with Bistrita City Hall and Terre des Hommes Association. It supported 6 afterschool programmes (opened 4 new programmes and developed 2 programmes previously run by the promoter). For 4 of these programmes, Bistrita City Hall ensured the space and the utilities while for 3 of them provided the educators. A total of 133 Roma children benefited of afterschool activities: homework, early literature activities, developing independent life skills, leisure time activities, socio-educational activities and games, arts and crafts with recycled materials, socialising activities, material support. Children improved school attendance and performance, their knowledge and abilities and started to value education. 124 Roma parents/caregivers have received information, individual counselling and parenting classes, such as to improve the child-parent relationship and better support children’s education. The partner Terre des Hommes organised trainings in socio-educative animation method for 4 educators of the afterschool programmes (employed by the promoter and Bistrita City Hall) and for other 24 teachers working in targeted schools. 53 volunteers have been recruited, trained and actively participated in activities of the afterschool programmes. In the same time, socialisation activities were organised (picnics, friendship festival) involving 325 Roma children directly benefiting of the project and other children from the schools and 48 of their parents, as well as teaches and volunteers. These activities brought an added value, because they have an impact in reducing intolerance and discrimination at the level of the Roma children schoolmates. As regarding to the non-Roma parents, the results are encouraging, but a long-term intervention should be envisaged in order to achieve sustainable results.
Summary of bilateral results