Roma Education Fund Romania Presentation for the EURoma meeting 10 th -11 th November, 2011 Project School after school – the first step towards school and professional success

0 Contract no. POSDRU/91/2.2/S/ Project co funded from the European Social Fund through the Operational Sectorial Programme for Human Resource Development Period of implementation: September 2010 – August 2013 Geographical coverage: 3 regions in Romania: Centre, North – East and South Muntenia Partners: 0 Roma Education Fund Romania – Beneficiary 0 Ministry of Education, Research and Youth and Sports – Partner 1 0 The Resource Center for Roma Communities - Partner 2 0 Amare Rromentza Roma Center - Partner 3 0 ODel Amenca Roma Cultural Center - Partner 4 General objective To reduce the rate of early school leaving in the developing areas Center, Muntenia- South and North-East of Romania by increasing the access of Roma children to quality primary education Roma Education Fund Romania

Target Group Students at risk of early school leaving – 2000 Parents / guardians of students at risk of early school leaving – 4000 Persons who have left school early – 200 Staff involved in developing programs to prevent the drop out phenomenon – 280 Roma Education Fund Romania

Activities 0 1 Schools and local communities selection Selection the direct beneficiaries of the project - 2,000 children in three regions will be selected in the program 0 3. Formation of support groups Develop and update the database The development of "school after school" program Raising awareness regarding the importance of education campaign Advice, guidance and educational assistance Selection of teachers Intercultural Training "School after School educational centers Providing support and expertise to support groups Summer camps Seminars on "Education of children in disadvantaged communities Paintings exhibition and children cultural activities. Roma Education Fund Romania

Anticipated results 0 50 partnerships settled with schools and local administration from 50 local communities in order to be positive that the project will be implemented optimally with the cooperation of local institutions children selected for "School after School" program 0 50 active and functional support groups formed at a local level 0 A database of schools and beneficiaries of the project. 0 Developing a program (set of activities) to be used in School after School centers 0 Awareness regarding the importance of school education campaign- 60,000 materials regarding the importance of education will be distributed in 50 communities; children and parents in the community will be informed about the importance of education. 0 Advice, guidance and educational assistance parents will benefit from support with a view to raise awareness about the importance of school education teachers selected to support the 50 centers activities 0 Ten training session organized for 280 people 0 50 functional "school after school" educational centers - 2,000 children participating in the school after school program recipients of merit scholarships. Center monitoring system 0 6 intercultural summer camp (2 per region) 0 2 seminars attended by 150 participants 0 painting exhibitions and presentations of cultural activities in each center 0 Final conference attended by 100 people 0 1 good practice guide regarding combating and preventing school drop distributed to stakeholders. Roma Education Fund Romania

Indicators (output) The number of persons who benefited from counseling/orientation-preventing measures against leaving school early – 4000 The number of participants in the trainig sessions-correcting measures against leavin school early – 2280 The number of students in grades I-IV beneficiaries of the centersactivities The number of students beneficiaries of financial support – 250 The number of participants in the "School after school" program of which: girls The number of parents / guardians beneficiaries of advisory services The number of persons informed about the importance of school education – Roma Education Fund Romania

Indicators (result) The number of persons who benefited from counseling/orientation and cointinued their studies-preventing measures against leaving school early – 600 The number of certified persons who participated in the training process- correcting measures against leaving school early – 240 Increased rate of enrollment of Roma children of school age in grade I compared to the previous school year - 10% Decreased primary school dropout at the end of the project compared to the previous school year to the intervention – 40 % Number of students beneficiaries of the project who graduates from the primary grade and promote in the Vth grade Number of children who improve their overall average at the end of the project compared to the previous school year of the project intervention – 1400 Roma Education Fund Romania

Projects Status – July 2011 Four major activities finalized: 0 Act 1 - selection of the 50 schools 0 Act 2 - selection of 1500 beneficiaries 0 Act 8 - selection of 250 teachers that will support the centres activities 0 Act. 3 - Set up the 50 support groups in 50 selected communities Roma Education Fund Romania

Projects Status – July 2011 Three other major activities started in February 2011: 0 Act 6 – Awareness raising campaign on the importance of education. Main target: parents of children from the 50 selected 0 Activity 7: Counseling and educational assistance – preparation phase: a questionnaire for identyfing the educational needs of children from the centers will be applied within communities until end of August 2011; and on their basis a program on counseling will be developed 0 Activity 4 – Set up the data base with information on selected schools, beneficiaries, teachers, support groups etc Other activities under way: 0 Activity 5 – Development of After School program (June – July 2011) 0 Activity 9 – Intercultural training (preparation phase: May – June; implementation phase: July – August 2011) Roma Education Fund Romania

Projects Status – November 2011 Activity 10 – "School after School educational centers 0 The After school centers have been opened. 0 The centers work 4 hours per day, in special areas within the schools. It will be/is equipped properly in order to offer a friendly environment for children: nice furniture (which allows flexibility in organizing the centers according to the teaching methods), IT equipment, a large variety of educational materials (games, books, etc.). Each center hosts about 30 children and employs 5 teachers (3 primary teachers, one English teacher, one IT teacher). Roma Education Fund Romania

Projects Status – November 2011 Activity 10 – "School after School educational centers Due to the extended program, children are provided with warm and consistent lunch. The selected children have difficult educational background and poor socio- economic status, in a risk of early school drop-out. Thus, in order to prevent the abandonment, the School after school program contains 5 main activities (modules) giving a quality experience to the program: 0 1.Homework supervision and guidance – Homework for Recovery and remediation for children with difficulties in learning - I can do better! 0 3.Self-knowledge and personal development activities – We are different! 0 4.Thematic activities and leisure activities –We play, we learn! We learn by playing! 0 5.Skills development activities and social skills – Healthy lifestyle Roma Education Fund Romania

Projects Status – November 2011 Activity 10 – After School centers 0 Besides the program, the personnel offer counselling sessions for children and their parents (based on an initial need assessment), but also attention and care to the children. 0 Meanwhile, each local support group is activated / enabled toward increasing the community participation to education and finding solution for project sustainability. Roma Education Fund Romania

Making a difference 0 Strengthen the collaboration between school, community, local administration and local NGOs through the support groups developed within the project 0 Increase interest of local authorities for Roma childrens education and ensure a long-term operation of the centers after completion of the project - by equipping the School after School centers with furniture, computers, educational materials; - by ensuring that the local authorities will financially sustain (where possible) the running of the centers after the completion of the project. Roma Education Fund Romania In this respect, partnerships agreements concluded with all 50 local authorities and the schools; also, 5 Local Council Decisions were drawn to financially support the centers starting Sept One Local Council Decision in Roman ensures the running of the centers through euro from the local budget.

Scaling up There are prerequisites and a growing interest within the educational system to replicate this program to a larger scale The Ministry of Education developed a methodology of organizing the school after school program in accordance with Art. 58 and 262 of Law nr. 1/2011, national education law The Ministry of Education is a partner within this project – this will aid to a extending the school after school concept to a larger scale Roma Education Fund Romania

Thank you Naisarav Tumenqe! Fundatia Roma Education Fund Romania