Description
The "Coalition for Education" project aims to establish and develop a coalition of active NGOs in education, with the purpose of increasing the capacity of Romanian civil society to influence decisions in education. Communication for Community Association, together with its partners, The Institute for Evaluation in Education and The Romanian Association for Debate, Oratory and Rhetoric and other six collaborating NGOs, will create during the 12 months the contexts needed for a healthy coalition to form, through which to develop their ability to be a watchdog and advocacy entity and to facilitate the existence of a fruitful learning environment for Romanian educational NGOs, in order to raise the credibility of the civil society and its impact. The successful implementation of the project will lead to the creation of a monitoring program and advocacy in education and the development of a community of practice and learning for educational NGOs, generating resources for the sustainable development of the coalition.
Summary of project results
The project aimed at increasing the influence of Romanian NGOs on education policies by founding and developing a national coalition. It has enabled the 10 founding organizations to build up a trusting relationship, to establish working policies and procedures and to build the public awareness of the coalition. Within the framework of the project, the coalition was legally established. Also, by the end of the project, 9 more NGOs with a focus on education joined the Coalition for Education. The coalition monitored educational policies and interventions and published a monthly public report on the educational field (The Education Observatory) and one collection of best practices (The Future of Education). Stakeholders/community meetings (RestartEdu Camp, Neconferința, RestartEdu Caravan) were organised during the project. Hundreds of innovators, students, teachers, NGO representatives and social entrepreneurs were brought together to debate different educational topics of interest. The Restart Edu Caravan included 12 community meetings in different cities of Romania and brought together 350 participants. For consolidating educational NGOs, a workshop on financial sustainability for non-profits was organised. Between April 2014 and April 2015, the Coalition for Education organized two public consultations/debates. The first one, ProAction CafEdu, hosted 110 participants representing 70 NGOs who discussed 5 strategic topics: Equity and Participation, The quality of human resources, Decentralization, Curriculum and Evaluation, Finance and Good Governance. As a result of the discussions a key priority of the coalition was identified: the quality of human resources. The second, ProEdu Cafe, hosted 20 highly experienced participants who built and prioritized 50 proposals on improving the quality of teachers and teaching in Romania. The Coalition for Education also aimed to advocate for policy changes in the educational field, thus organising a national public hearing on reforming the initial teacher training. 109 depositions were registered. As a result, key stakeholders were motivated to develop solutions for improving the initial teacher training and leading decision-makers made public statements in favour of reforming the initial training policies. A community of organisations, experts and public ambassadors was formed. The project also resulted in starting the reform on initial teacher training, a key issue for improving public education in Romania.
Summary of bilateral results