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Description
The project''s aim is to strengthen STEM skills and to create new STEM content in 5 schools of VSC. Planned activities, in addition to modernization and equipment provision, include teacher''s and student''s education, including students with disabilities, as well as acquired skills implementation in the daily educational process. The project will bring the STEM field closer to students through an innovative, interdisciplinary way, by equipping biology, chemistry, technical culture and informatics cabinets, establishing outdoor classrooms and gardens, cooperation with the educational institutions, Norwegian partners, civil society and local businesses, making STEM field more interesting and directing students to the future needs of the labor market.
Summary of project results
STEM knowledge and skills have become an essential part of everyday life for individuals, especially for young people entering the job market. They are particularly important because they enable a shift from traditional learning methods, which often involved rote memorization without understanding, to learning with comprehension through the integration and connection of knowledge across various disciplines. Given the long-standing negative trend of declining enrollment of children of all age groups in schools, Vukovar-Srijem County (VSŽ) needed to find the best solution by ensuring better opportunities and access to educational services at all levels. In VSŽ, 49.7% of the population has completed secondary education, compared to the national average of 52.6%. As for higher education, VSŽ lags significantly behind the national average, with 9.5% of its population having completed higher education, compared to 16.4% at the national level. It is important to continuously connect elementary and secondary schools and adapt the system to the needs of the labor market as well as the living and working conditions of the local population. Curricula need to be aligned with the needs of the economy to avoid the accumulation of unnecessary labor that remains unemployed or leaves VSŽ in search of work. To improve conditions for the advancement of STEM skills among students, teachers, and other educational workers in primary schools, Antun and Stjepan Radić Primary School in Gunja launched a project called "STEMajmo."
Through the implementation of the project, a STEM approach to education was established in five partner educational institutions, improving the knowledge and skills of educational staff through nine different training sessions, workshops, and a study trip to Norway as an example of best practice. Additionally, infrastructure and equipment were upgraded to develop functional STEM classrooms, leading to an improvement in STEM skills for both students and teachers. Five training sessions/workshops were held for students, where new skills were acquired to encourage the development of STEM abilities in children at various stages of education, helping them recognize changes, growth, and development and apply them in a scientific manner. The project initiated the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants on the grounds of the partner schools by establishing additional school infrastructure (school gardens and outdoor classrooms), contributing to the application of STEM, developing students'' STEM skills through the introduction of extracurricular activities, and modernizing biology, chemistry, technical education, physics, and computer science classrooms with STEM equipment. Activities were integrated into the curricula of regular subjects (science, mathematics, computer science), as well as subject-specific teaching (biology, chemistry, technical education, computer science) and school cooperatives. The project involved a total of 416 primary school children and 58 educational staff from five partner schools in Croatia, as well as at least 10 teachers and other educational staff from Norway. Additionally, 17 students with developmental disabilities were directly and actively involved in project activities, with the aim of providing equal opportunities, improving the quality of primary education, and enhancing their quality of life and future employability. The project developed students with critical thinking skills through the strengthened abilities of teachers to conduct classes based on STEM principles and methodology. Special importance was placed on inclusive growth and sustainable development, increasing students'' scientific literacy, and promoting proactive actions in daily life with the aim of environmental protection. With the introduction of extracurricular activities ("Little Naturalists" and "STEM Household"), students went through all the processes from planning, preparation, sowing, transplanting, caring for the growth and development of the plan.
The purpose of the project was to strengthen the capacities of primary schools in rural areas of Vukovar-Srijem County (VSŽ), with the ultimate goal of improving STEM skills for teachers, other educational staff, and students. The project created the prerequisites for investing in human resources, developing teacher skills, and introducing new extracurricular STEM activities for students, all based on the enhanced capacities. To ensure quality STEM education in primary schools, the project provided the necessary infrastructure and equipment to establish seven modern STEM classrooms within schools, as well as additional school infrastructure—outdoor classrooms and school STEM gardens. All infrastructure work and the equipping of seven classrooms and five outdoor gardens contributed to the development of functional STEM classrooms. These equipped classrooms are used for both standard classes and new extracurricular STEM activities, strengthening students'' capacities in STEM fields and helping them develop the necessary skills and knowledge for further secondary and higher education. Through activities focused on building the capacity of teachers and other educational staff in STEM teaching, including training for inclusive STEM education for students with developmental disabilities, the knowledge and skills of those working with children were enhanced. This was crucial for achieving the project''s purpose and ensuring the quality and success of other project activities. All nine planned training sessions, workshops, and the study trip to Norway were strategically chosen to cover various areas necessary for ensuring the highest quality, most diverse, and innovative work with children, while also strengthening teachers'' STEM skills. Mentorship with partner institutions in STEM teaching and the exchange of experiences between teachers and other educational staff from primary schools in both VSŽ and Norway further contributed to improving STEM skills for teachers and educational workers. The training of teachers and educational staff, student education (including for students with developmental disabilities), the equipping and modernization of learning spaces for conducting STEM activities, and bilateral cooperation with Norwegian partners have all contributed to the improvement of STEM skills among students, teachers, and other educational staff.
Summary of bilateral results
Bilateral cooperation with partners from the donor country, Åpenhet AS (Oslo) and Mæla ungdomsskole (Skien), in the form of the exchange of experiences, knowledge, best practices, skills, and competencies has, in addition to its bilateral component, further contributed to the development of the capacities of institutions involved in primary education. Regarding the continuation of collaboration, an agreement has been reached to maintain and potentially expand this cooperation in the event of new public calls that support this type of collaboration.