Eu member states

Strengthening the education in the minority language for the Greek minority in Gjirokastra and Saranda regions
Organisations involved in the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

Initiating group/ Implementing organisation	Ministry of Education and Science/Albanian Government Rruga e Durresit, Nr.23, Alabnia, 1001 Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone] www.mash.gov.al Fatmir Bezati [e-mail]
Profile of Partners	Regional Education Directory; University of Gjirokastra; High Pedagogic school Universiteti "Eqrem Cabej" Gjirokastra Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] [e-mail] http://www.uogj.edu.al

Information about the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

1. Title:	Strengthening the education in the minority language for the Greek minority in Gjirokastra and Saranda regions.
2. Rationale:	In the district of Gjirokastra, there is a pedagogic school for high school teachers’ and offering two minors: in Albanian and Greek languages. In the University of Gjirokastra there is a department of Greek language offering four-year degree courses for teachers and since 1995 there is a Greek language department at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Tirana University. The Greek state pays the teachers who teach in Greek in the schools of the minority region an additional monthly salary of about 150 €.
3. Objective(s):	The main goal of the Albanian government and MoES is to guarantee, protect and develop the education system for ethnic groups based on the conventional frame “On protection of National Minorities”.
4. Target ethnic group(s):	Greek ethnic group (pupils and students 6-24 years old) Gjirokastra region
5. Involvement of ethnic group:
Scoping
Implementation
Assessment
6. Main activities:	Improving the teaching curricula Providing adequate teaching staff Provide adequate funding for reconstruction of the schools, renovating the schools’ laboratories and didactic material base Text books reform Subvention of the textbook cost for the minorities Creating new opportunities through the private education system
7. Duration of the project:	Ongoing
8. Main results:	The subjects have been introduced in the minorities’ schools, like: “Knowledge on the Greek history” in the 9-years educational system and the “Greek language” has been included as subjects in the first and second year of high school. Recently, literature and their mother tongue (both writing and speaking) are included as final exams in the eight-year of school. In the new syllabuses of the 9-years mandatory educational system, it has been envisaged the inclusion of a new subject, the national geography of the country of origin. The new syllabuses include in their structure, optional subjects, where ethnic groups’ members themselves can chose the subjects, through parent boards in the schools. This gives to the national minorities the possibility to include in their curricula subjects in their mother tongue. Due to the low number of copies printed of school textbooks for ethnic groups’ pupils, publishing of such a material costs 2200 leke, while a textbook for the Albanian pupils costs 200 leke i.e. 11 cheaper. In the year 2007, because of press run decrease this price is triplicate. So the book edition cost, for ethnic people is approximately 35 times higher than the price of other pupils. The rate pupil/teacher in the Greek ethnic school is approximately 7.8/1, while the national level of this rate is 18.2/1. Therefore, the cost of education of a pupil with an ethnc background is approximately 2.3 times higher than the cost of education of an Albanian pupil. In accordance with Albania legislation there are three private Albanian-Greek schools, one in Korça, one in Himara and one in Tirana
9. Total budget and sources of funding:	The MoES is allocation funds on the yearly based to the Regional Education Directory for teaching staff as well as to the local government for school maintenance and investments.
10. Assessment of effectiveness:	-
11. Sustainability:	The education system in this part of Albania is well developed. The systemic reforms have done the school system in this region sustainable and in accordance with the requirements derivate by the Minority framework convention.
12. Difficulties and reasons of insuccess (if any):	The implementation of such policy in national level if following by many difficulties and a higher cost. It is better to start with small scale intervention, especially related with curricula development.
13. Transferability:	The Albanian government is following the same policy for other ethnic groups too, but not in the same scale. This practise is replicable and could be used for peer learning on the Balkan region There are concrete results and the MoES has the possibility to share the results and the lessons learnt with other similar institution in the region

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Promoting Roma Children's Access to Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Organisations involved in the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

Initiating group/ Implementing organisation	Save the Children UK Sarajevo Office Contact person: Ms Angela Pudar, Country Manager Address: Hamdije Čemerlića 2/XIV, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina E-mail: [e-mail] Tel: + 387 33 719 485/486/495, mobile [phone] Fax: + 387 33 719 496
Profile of Partners	Be My Friend, Sarajevo (Federation BiH), NGO Hi Neighbour, Banja Luka (R. Srpska, BiH), NGO Land of Children, Tuzla (Federation BiH), NGO

Information about the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

1. Title:	Promoting Roma Children's Access to Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina
2. Rationale:	Roma stand out as the de facto largest ethnic group in Bosnia yet they are one of the most marginalized groups in BiH in terms of access to education. Studies show that as many as 64% Romani children do not attend primary school, and that only 15% complete primary school. Roma are mainly present in the BiH educational system and the institutions do not have instruments and means to approach them. This called for an intervention that would establish practical models for Roma education in BiH. This good practice was developed under several important circumstances. Firstly, in the past years there has been an increased awareness of the Roma situation, mainly under the influence of the efforts taken by the international community in BiH. The recent public policy also showed improvements, especially with the adoption of the action plans for the education of ethnic groups and increased school enrolment. The attitude of the educational institutions also began showing signs of change, with more and more institutions talking about their "obligations when it comes to Roma education, compared to the incidental acts of good will, as it used to be the case before" (A. Pudar).
3. Objective(s):	Development of practical initiatives as a model advancing success in the regular education system in pilot communities. Promotion of systematic changes in the policy and practice of education system on different levels in BiH. Strengthening the commitments and support to engagement of Roma families, communities and groups/bodies. Documenting the good practice examples in implementation of the rights of Roma children.
4. Target ethnic group(s):	Ethnic group: Roma. The latest BiH census in 1991 registered less than 9,000 Roma, however current estimates range from 30,000 to 80,000. Most Bosnian Roma live in poverty and their unemployment rates are extremely high. Children and young people under 25 constitute 60% of Romani population. The main beneficiaries of this project were around 500 Romani children aged 5 to 15, grades one to four of primary school. The project was implemented in 3 communities in Sarajevo, 5 in Vukosavlje and Modriča, and 1 in Lukavac. In 6 other locations pilot initiatives were developed.
5. Involvement of ethnic group in:
Scoping	Roma community representatives (including parents) and activists had a key role in defining their education needs and actively participated in finding solutions for obstacles in access to education, by the means of close cooperation with the project implementing NGOs.
Implementation	Roma children and their families directly benefited from this project and took parts in its implementation in various ways. For instance, Roma parents participated in school boards in schools where project was implemented. Roma assistants were engaged in schools almost all project locations. A number of Roma NGOs assisted in the project and helped enrolment of a number of Romani children. All activities were taking place within various Roma communities, in order to ensure comprehensive applicability of the good practice model.
Assessment	For instance, Roma parents, children and activists took part in analysis and planning meetings, attended by all other stakeholders as well, where the results from the previous year were analysed and the achieved changes were evaluated. Roma parents' bodies held regular meetings with teachers and expressed their concerns there as well.
6. Main activities:	For the first time in BiH, public campaigns inviting for Roma enrolment were launched, and this was done jointly with educational authorities. High numbers of Romani children got enrolled in schools thanks to the project, and received textbooks and school supplies. Others attended pre-school classes, or catch-up classes, or completed school by the means of passing part-time exams, depending on age and situation. Summer schools were organized to prepare children for the education process. Support was given in the acquisition of learning material. Importantly all this was done with a rights-based approach. An important element of the project was the inclusion of different levels of education system, in order to cause system changes. Workshops for teachers of pilot schools were held, introducing them to Romani language and culture, and enabling them to conduct future trainings. Opportunities for exchange of experiences were organized. In most pilot locations Roma teaching assistants were introduced as a link between the school and Roma parents. Teacher training students volunteered in schools working with Roma children. Database on Romani education was created in the Tuzla Canton and the position of Roma Children's Education Officer was introduced. All these were novel elements in Roma education in BiH.
7. Duration of the project:	2003-2006
8. Main results:	This project developed practical solutions to help advance access to education for Roma children. Many obstacles in their access to education were removed. The Roma enrolment in the covered areas increased from 20 to 89%; the percentage of school children remaining in school rose to 95%. A total of 150 children attended preparatory classes, which later eased their commencing regular primary education. 225 children received textbooks, in a situation where one of the main obstacles in Roma education is high poverty and the inability of parents to provide for textbooks and other needs. A number of Romani parents expressed the wish to keep their children in school. The Roma communities in the project locations were eventually considerably better included into the local society. Non-Romani children attending the pilot schools thus studied together with Roma children and got introduced to their language and culture, improving interethnic relations in these schools, both on the level of children as well as staff. Additionally, the project considerably added momentum to the education and legislation reforms in BiH, particularly elements aiming at social inclusion of minorities through education. Several training packages were held for 65 future trainers within the project, including a number of education workers, who were thus trained not only to function in interethnic environments but also to train others how to work in such environment. Through workshops for educational staff, the cooperation between non-Romani teachers and Romani parents was improved. A number of teacher training students volunteered on the project and thus gained skills to work with ethnic children. The cooperation between Roma and other NGOs and relevant educational and other authorities strengthened. Study trips for policy makers, school practitioners and Roma leaders enabled them to exchange experiences with other stakeholders, and share ideas about improving Roma children's access to education.
9. Total budget and sources of funding:	669185 EUR. The project was co-financed by the European Commission (75%) and Save the Children UK.
10. Assessment of effectiveness:	At the beginning of the project the implementing NGOs developed a set of indicators for monitoring success. Due to the complexity of project objectives, the measurement of project results turned out to be wide-ranging work, yet the one of "paramount importance", according to StC UK. It included both quantitative and qualitative performance indicators. Monitoring instruments such as questionnaires, sociometric exercises, and instructions for observation. Reporting formats for schools were also used.
11. Sustainability:	The implementation of the project was done in formal cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Srpska, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Sarajevo Canton, and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Tuzla Canton. Additionally, Institutes of Teacher Training, schools, municipal authorities and centres for social work also contributed to the project. Through the involvement in this project, the involved officials and public servants from these bodies considerably increased their knowledge of the educational situation of Romani children which will surely have impact on their work in future. During the implementation of this project, in 2005, the Tuzla Education Ministry adopted the Ordinance on the Education of Children Belonging to National Minorities, where special emphasis was placed on Romani children. The Ministry pledged to collect data on school enrolment and completion for Romani children, to inform schools on enrolment procedures for Romani children without personal documents, assist Romani students with textbooks and transportation. This provides excellent formal grounds for the sustainability of the project idea, especially with regard that since the project implementation ceased, the Tuzla Canton converted the position of the Roma Children's Education Officer (currently covered by a Romani activist who had previously been engaged on the described project) into a long-term full time position. Additionally, the Roma education database, created within the project, can serve the Tuzla Canton in planning further activities related to Roma children's education. The Tuzla Institute for Teacher Training has now expressed an interest in continuing some activities of this project on their own, including other marginalized groups. In three other locations Roma assistants continued working, with the financial support of schools and/or municipalities. On the level of Romani communities involved the level of sustainability is also notable. A Romani mother from Poljice (Lukavac Municipality), who sent their first child to school through this project said: "I am sure [my other children] will all go [to school]", which was the sentiment of many other parents as well. Clearly a great number of Roma community members was positively affected by the outcomes of this project and have an interest in urging for the continuation of Roma education initiatives.
12. Difficulties and reasons of insuccess (if any):	The complexity of the BiH education system presented a difficulty in itself, as all agreements had to be reached with a number of entity and canton authorities, differing for each location. Some activities within the project were done with considerable delays for objective reasons. For instance, in a Romani community where many Roma are originally from Kosovo and primarily Albanian-speaking, it was difficult to identify a Roma teaching assistant until May 2005. In another situation, related to opening the position of the Roma Children's Education Officer within the Tuzla Education Ministry, the workload of the Ministry and a very small number of applicants for the position both caused that the start of the initiative had to be quite delayed. Still, no major difficulties were reported. Some aspects that should be considered by those analyzing this practice for possible transfers are: (1) the project activities took place on the level of primary school alone, and the levels of Romani children in secondary schools are still extremely low, and (2) the project activities covered only some parts of BiH.
13. Transferability:	This project illustrates a practice that can be applied without much modification to many other situations where the access of Roma children to education is impeded. As mentioned previously, some of the practices have been mainstreamed – on the local level (school/municipality continuing to hire Roma assistants), and the cantonal level (the case of Tuzla, where there are new bylaws and new positions related to Roma education). The strongest message of this good practice seems to be the importance of the width of networks necessary for successful implementation: in this case, an international NGO worked with local NGOs, local Roma NGOs, schools, teacher training institutes, centres for social work, municipalities, and canton and entity education ministries, as well as Romani children and parents, in order to affect a change. The emphasis needs to be placed on the formal institution system, despite complexities and delays, as this is the main way to reshape the system. One of the objectives of the described project was indeed documenting and promoting good practices in Roma education, and considerable efforts were taken in the project implementation to ensure that project elements are not just transferable but also documented as such. With this aim, in 2006 Save the Children UK issued a publication entitled "Models of Good Practice in Project-Based Work with Roma Children and in Pilot Communities." This publication offers a detailed review of all the project activities, taking into account the transferability concern. All aspects are covered from the point of view of having main principles explained in detail, emphasizing lessons learnt, and – importantly – offering advice on how these practices could be applied in other situations and which special elements should be taken care of. This publication is available in hard copy and online at: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/earlyyears/good_practice.pdf. It is also available in BiH local languages. Regarding the limitations, in the case of complex problems such as Roma children's access to education the responses need to be diverse and complex just as well. Angela Pudar (StC Country Manager) also stressed that activities aiming at becoming systemic change need to be realistic, creative, and not require significant amounts of funding, in order to work out right.