këtu - Qendra për Arsim e Kosovës

classes for Roma children who have either dropped out of school or whowere never enrolled in first grade. These classes were opened in the “26Nëntori” elementary school (in Selitë) within the framework of the Ministryof Education’s “Second Chance” initiative.A. 1.3. Short DescriptionThe goal of the abovementioned project was to prevent and combat theschool drop-out phenomenon among Roma children, which arises from poorsocio-economic conditions, through providing parents with psycho-social,educational and economic support. One innovative approach that thisfoundation employed was the distribution of daily food parcels that werecontingent upon the children’s school attendance. The majority of thesefamilies are extremely poor and almost all of their members wind up beingilliterate. They do not place an emphasis upon the importance of educatingtheir children; they prioritize feeding them. By offering these food parcels,which does little to fulfill the children’s daily needs, they are at leastproviding the little income that those children would otherwise have to earnby working, begging or collecting cans.The two integrated classes, which function within the framework of the"Second Chance" government policy, can be found on the school’spremises. The classes are run by two teachers and two social workers, all ofwhom are employed by the foundation. There is one teacher and one socialworker per class.This marks the third year that this foundation has been working in the Selitezone and many children have learned to read and write very well. Romaparents are very pleased with the fact that their children are learning how toread and write given that they themselves were not offered the chance toattend school. After class the organization’s social workers help thesestudents overcome the difficulties that they face. In this way, they enable thechildren to continue their schooling. The social workers have played animportant role in the project by working with the children’s parents. Theyknow the families well and are well-acquainted with their individualproblems. They play a very positive role as intermediaries between theparents and the school institutions by including the parents as activedecision-makers.During summer vacation the students of these classes attend a summer campwhere they have the opportunity to play and learn. At the same time, thecamp served the purpose of protecting these children from the risk of beingtrafficked as well as other forms of abuse. In July, more than 350 Roma18