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Description
The project aims to increase the degree of social inclusion of children living in rural areas from 5 counties (Suceava, Botosani, Harghita and Tulcea) belonging to three development regions of Romania.
The main target groups are: 750 children and youth (6-17 years old), in situations of risk of dropping out of school and 80 children with special educational needs, selected from 11 schools involved in the project. Among beneficiaries are included Roma ethics from two villages (Drăgoiești/Suceava and Niculițel/Tulcea). The secondary target groups are: 268 parents / family members, 211 teachers, 150 children and youth and 50 parents of children interacting with children and young people in the main target groups.
The project activities will directly contribute to the improvement of the education process in the schools involved and to a more efficient use of existing resources, especially of human resources. Also, the project proposes an integrated and innovative approach: creation of a website that will bring “face to face” (in a virtual way) the need of teachers and parents to face the challenges in dealing with children at risk (including CES) and the solutions offered by specialists involved in the project.
The proposed activities are: "school after school" (including meals, supplies, non-formal education activities – sport, creative activities like painting, dance, theatre, photography, music, pottery etc.); services for children with SEN and / or disabilities (including physical therapy, psychotherapy, speech therapy, counselling / psychological therapy); educational activities in the field of anti-discrimination and active citizenship; parental education programs; training courses for teachers in the field of inclusive education and ESC / disability issues; actions to promote inclusive education (i.e. information campaign on the role of parents in the child''s education, actions on issues related to gender equality).
Summary of project results
The project aimed to address the problem of school drop-out and early school leaving as one of the main challenges of the educational system of Romania. The project was implemented in three development regions: the North-East Region (Suceava and Botoșani counties), the South-East Region (Tulcea County), and the Center Region (Harghita County and Bilbor commune) who are, according to the three regions'' development strategies, the areas with the highest poverty rates. Furthermore, the North-East Region has the highest proportion of poor people in Romania.
The initiative was carried out in six areas, in schools located in poor and secluded communities, with an increasingly decreasing population caused by excessive migration, which has a detrimental influence on the pupils of the partner schools. The recommended interventions were associated with the objectives stated by the Strategy concerning the reduction of early school leaving in Romania and the National Strategy for the promotion and protection of children’s rights. The statistics are particularly alarming, as children with disabilities and special educational needs (SEN) represent a large proportion of the vulnerable group at very high risk of school dropout.
Regarding the integration of children with CES, the biggest challenge was given by the lack of specialized teachers and the lack of adaptation of the current curriculum to the needs of children at risk of exclusion.
The project aimed to take an integrated and innovative approach to increasing children''s social inclusion by improving the quality of educational services in pre-university education units, training human resources in pre-university education units, and developing complementary anti-discrimination measures.
The following activities have been implemented:
- Identification, selection, and monitoring of children at risk of dropping out of school and children with possible learning and psycho-behavioral difficulties according to specific methodologies;
- Provision of "school after school" educational support services;
- Development and provision of innovative non-formal education activities (e.g. environmental activities, sport activities, creative activities, health, hygiene and nutrition education activities);
- The provision of educational psychopedagogy and inclusive education;
- Increasing the level of knowledge, skills and competences of teachers involved in the activities;
- Actions to promote inclusive education and combat various forms of segregation;
- Organizing a postgraduate course for the training of competencies in the field of inclusive education and on the SEN / disabilities issues;
- parental education programs;
- Organizing the information campaign on the role of parents / tutors in the child’s education;
- Organizing information and awareness actions on topics related to gender equality and promoting inclusive education.
As a consequence of implementing these activities, the following outputs have been obtained:
959 children and young people at risk of dropping out of school and 138 children with possible learning and psycho-behavioural difficulties have received support measures, 211 teachers have been trained in working with children and young people at risk of dropping out of school and in working with children and young people with SEN and 577 parents / tutors of children at risk of school dropout and / or SEN successfully participated to all the activities that were designed for each category which leaded to the achievement of all the indicators.
The level of inclusion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds as well as the graduation rate of secondary education and the number of children attending high school has increased, and the communities targeted by the project are better prepared to address the situations of children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.