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Description
In the context of the educational gap between rural and urban area in Romania, the pandemic generated by Covid-19 began to produce long-term negative effects among schools in rural or small urban areas in Romania. The lack of adequate sanitation, of tablets or telephones for online learning, as well as the economic impact of the state of alert and emergency creates a cascading effect among students and teachers in poor villages in Romania. Students have no means of recovering the classes, teachers are demotivated, and these communities forget how and what they can do to ask for help and to unite in finding local solutions.
The project aims to bridge the formal learning gaps for 520 students from 5 middle schools in Tulcea County (Hamcearca, Peceneaga, Dorobantu, Horia and Ostrov) with the help of 20 teachers and 5 educational counselors, through training sessions and private lessons on subjects where they have gaps. At the same time, the same 520 students and 320 young high school students from 3 technological high schools from the villages of Topolog, Isaccea and Macin (small urban) will have the expertise of 10 specialists, who helped by 4 volunteers and the project team, will deliver informal and nonformal educational sessions for human rights, education for dignity and primary hygiene, advocacy and representation. Subsequently, the 8 communities of students and young people will be encouraged to join in informal representation groups, school associations or types of associations to represent and demand their rights, and to participate in public consultations. 4 of the 8 communities are provided to create such mechanisms, and to organize 4 public consultations together with the local authorities. The entire project will be implemented with the help of educational units, local town halls with which collaboration protocols will be concluded, and with the support of the Tulcea County School Inspectorate.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to reduce the educational gap between rural and urban areas in Romania (a long-term negative effect of the Covid-19 pandemic) by facilitating formal, informal and non-formal educational sessions in rural and small urban communities in Tulcea County.
The project involved over 900 students and teachers from Tulcea County in the communities of Topolog, Macin, Isaccea, Nalbant, Niculitel, Mihai Bravu, Mihail Kogalniceanu, and Hamcearca. The project activities aimed at two types of interventions: 1) addressing learning gaps in Mathematics, Romanian Language and Literature, and English Language for 524 middle school students, and 2) enhancing capacity by delivering informal and non-formal education for 852 middle and high school students. As logistical support, 524 individual school supplies packages were procured for the students involved, providing assistance for the implementation of learning gap recovery sessions. Advocacy sessions were delivered to 843 participating students from the 8 communities involved in the project.
As a result of the formal education sessions, 524 students overcame learning gaps in Mathematics, Romanian Language and Literature, and English Language. The non-formal and informal education sessions informed 852 students on human rights education, dignity education, first aid and basic hygiene, advocacy, or the importance of continuing studies. Following the advocacy sessions, 4 informal initiative groups were established in schools in Topolog, Macin, Isaccea, and Mihail Kogalniceanu, with the role of local representation, involving a total of 41 students. Successfully, 4 public consultations were conducted, one in each community, simulating Local Council meetings. The project faced numerous challenges due to the pandemic situation, and the partial and then total school closures. However, the face-to-face activities were managed to be implemented by the end of the project. The project team worked closely with the directors of the 8 educational institutions, as well as local authorities, to ensure that all indicators were achieved.