Description
In Sliven Municipality there is a trend of increasing ethnic and minority groups, which would lead to the closure of isolated communities, dropping out, criminalization, poor health, unemployment, etc. The main objective of the project is to improve the social integration and the preparation for school of children, aged 3 to 6 years old from different ethnic groups and economically disadvantaged children (main target group). The project aims to achieve improvement of the social skills of the children, support and facilitate the access to school, development of the individual skills in the field of art, history and literature, care for each child as a unique personality. The project will address these challenges by raising the general level of awareness of the target groups and creation of mutually supporting community and proactive involvement of parents (second target group) in school life. The partnership will build good bilateral relations, which will support the exchange of best practices and knowledge.
Summary of project results
The main goal of the project was to improve the social integration and preparation for school of the children from different ethnic groups and economically disadvantaged children. The project assured education of children /age 3-6/ from the preparatory groups in kindergartens. 400 children /age 3-6/ from the following kindergartens had been included: “Zvezditsa”, “Zdravetz” in the neighbourhood of Rechitsa, “Temenuga”, the kindergartens in the villages of Samuilovo and Zhelyo Voyvoda. Kindergarten teachers provided in approachable for the children way the history and culture of different ethnic groups. The unique celebrations and traditions of each community had been presented with the help of the Roma mediators. Programme "Creative space" - The project included organization of various art activities /theater, dances, painting, exploring the history of different ethnic groups, etc/. The dance teacher and the art teacher worked with the children in the 5 kindergartens. The children were grouped according to their interests. For the realization of the classes and to attain the purposes of the project textbooks, books, school materials and supplies, educational materials, games and didactic materials, CDs were supplied: costumes /2 of each ethnic groups - male and female/ Roma, Bulgarian, Karakachan and Turkish for the children had been delivered to the 5 kindergartens. 40 puppet shows had been performed in the kindergartens for the period of the project. Over 400 children from the five kindergartens had been examined by a doctor /pediatrician/. Equipment had been delivered to the five kindergartens. It included computers, TV sets, multimedia projectors, interactive boards and audio sets. This equipment contributed as to a better organization of the educational process with the newest and actual interactive methods of education, as to the creation of more pleasant and more attractive for regular visits atmosphere in the kindergartens. 2 speech therapists had been hired to work with the children. The centre "Creative space" had been equipped and officially opened. Playground equipment had been delivered and mounted in the four kindergartens.
Summary of bilateral results
Fourteen teachers who successfully completed the two rounds of training and implemented in their work elements from the training and four mediators trained in the framework of the Capacity-building project have visited Strasbourg. It was a concept proposal study visit to the Council of Europe. The results of the visit were: the teachers have got to know directly Council of Europe structures and their work; the teachers have understood how to work by the standards of Council of Europe; they have obtained public international recognition for their work and efforts in the framework for their project; they have situated their work in an international framework and have increased European awareness; they have facilitated the exchanges between all the stakeholders, contributed to the team building and networking exercises.