Eu member states

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

1. Title:	Applied Education for Young Roma
2. Rationale:	The largest percentage of Roma children discontinues their education in the higher grades of primary school, especially in the 5^th grade (in the transition from class to subject instruction). The number of young Roma who continue their education in secondary schools and on, at university level institutions is extremely low. According to the State Statistical Office, the unemployment rate of Roma is around 70%, while Roma NGOs are of opinion that this is around 80%. The low level of education and the high rate of unemployment are reasons and consequences of social marginalization, and thus one can see the situation as a closed social circle.
3. Objective(s):	Overall objective of the Applied Education for Young Roma Programme is to contribute to a better Roma integration in the educational system in Macedonia. Objective of the programme is to increase the young Roma participation in the primary education and to improve the conditions for their better integration in the school environment. This establishes the fundaments for complete integration of Roma in the Macedonian society, reducing the differences in key results of economic and human development, and the gap in education results between Roma and non-Roma, which is the primary goal to be achieved by the “Decade of Roma Inclusion”.
4. Target ethnic group(s):	The target group is the young Roma population aged between 6 and 15 years, students (pupils) from 20 involved primary schools and those which are not part of the primary education process from around 17 focus Roma communities through Macedonia. Direct beneficiaries are 20 primary schools (the management team, the teaching staff and the professional services), the relevant state institutions, Roma parents (who are active in the parents` councils), Roma civil associations active in the field of education and Roma 2002 members. Target area of the programme are 20 primary schools, with a special focus on 17 Roma communities in Macedonia (the 15 primary schools involved in POR 2001-2005 and 5 primary schools with high percentage of Roma pupils from the Vardar and southeast part of Macedonia.
5. Involvement of ethnic group in:
Scoping	Round tables with Roma NGO representatives were conducted which contributed toward formulation and scoping of the project.
Implementation	“Roma 2002” will be responsible for logistics, implementation of activities and co-ordination with other involved partners. For each planned project, “Roma 2002” will submit to MCIC a request for project support, periodical and final narrative reports. MCIC will motivate “Roma 2002” to undertake the responsibility for the implementation of a larger number of planned projects, with the help of MCIC.
Assessment	Partner organizations gave evaluation forms and questionnaires to the pupils and parents which assessed their satisfaction from the project activities.
6. Main activities:	Total of 531 events were organized to motivate the pupils about the educational process and to improve the integration of Roma children in school. Total of 7,615 pupils from 15 communities and 15 schools were included. The local partner organizations organized 586 events with various activities (7,659 pupils and 3,539 parents from 20 Roma communities) Four summer camps were organized in Ohrid (2002-2005), 353 children from different ethnic groups from the 15 schools that participated in the programme took part in the camp in 2005 pupils from 5 other schools also took part, as they were awarded for their literature works in the honour of the 8^th of April, the international Roma Day. Fourteen partner organizations through the teams of influential persons from the communities and the representatives of the primary schools paid visits to the families of Roma pupils that had negative attitudes towards the education of their children. Total of 394 events were organized through which 2,973 families were visited. Innovative elements in this project can be seen in involving ‘communities stars – people from public life’ to promote and improve Roma access to education. Additional innovative element was the mutual participation of different ethnic groups in joint events during the summer camps, which contributed towards greater recognition and tolerance among different ethnic groups.
7. Duration of the project:	2001-2005, 2006-2008 (ongoing)
8. Main results:	The number of Roma pupils increased from 18% to 23% in (2004/05) The number of Roma pupils that left the school reduced from 61% (2000/01) to 57% (2004/05) The number of Roma pupils that repeated the class is reduced from 84% (2000/01) to 34% (2004/05) The number of parents-Roma in the schools participating in the programme increased from 20 (2000/01) to 35 (2004/05) Improved capacity of primary schools to provide conditions for appropriate inclusion of Roma students Improved information for relevant state institutions and the general public about the educational problems and achievements of Roma The International Roma day – April 8 is being celebrated every year. In 2003 the main and most impressive activity was the March of Equality held in the centre of Skopje , where 1,000 Roma from thorough the country took part Financial support was provided for the national conference “Situation of Roma in Macedonia” as an attempt of starting the discussion between the relevant actors for systematic and long-term commitment for resolving the problems National conference “Roma Economic Forum” was held focused on the economic situation of Roma in Macedonia Eleven partner organizations actively worked on improving the relations between the school staff and the parents. The number of Roma parents in the school boards increased. Children’s magazine “Vilo” (Macedonian, Roma and partially English language) was distributed in 1,500 copies in nine of the participating schools in the period February – June.
9. Total budget and sources of funding:	2001-2005 - 961,150€ DCA 2006-2008 - 2.898.00 MKD spent for direct and operational costs DCA
10. Assessment of effectiveness:	The programme is evaluated both internally and externally It will be focused on the results with especial accent on the programme’s efficiency, effectiveness, and influence. It will be implemented by one of the reputable international evaluators with whom MCIC has had experience (possible evaluators are: FACT from Germany, MDF from Holland, Intrac and Mocoro from Great Britain). Effectiveness of this project can be best seen through the description given in section 8, main results.
11. Sustainability:	The developed capacities of the direct beneficiaries for both results should provide a prolonging effect and influence by the programme intervention even after the programme is completed. The trained teachers and other professional personnel from the involved primary schools (which are mentioned in the section 4 as direct beneficiaries) after completion of the programme intervention and through practical application of the newly acquired skills and knowledge in the education of students and the contacts with the parents (community), will contribute towards further prolongation of the activities for improving the situation of Roma students. Every participant in the trainings/workshops will receive a handbook from the training/workshop, with simple practical examples, which will serve them in their further everyday practical work. Primary schools will be motivated and prepared for developing new products and services for improving the work process, targeting all students (with a focus on Roma students and other marginalised groups) and their parents (the local community). The new products and services are foreseen to be institutionalised in the next phase of the project implementation and they should be a part of the primary school practice. The development and practical introduction of new products and services will be initiated through an exchange of experiences among the personnel of primary schools about the best positive and negative practices. The exchange of experiences about the problems and the used approaches and methods in the work of the school personnel with young Roma and the Roma community will be elaborated during all trainings and workshops that are foreseen with the programme intervention. Familiarisation and established contacts between the primary schools and community should enable a further exchange of experiences and practices between the involved primary schools, developing relations of cooperation, and subsequently, undertaking joint activities. After the programme intervention, the co-ordination "Roma 2002" will be a visible and recognisable actor, important and influential, in the efforts to improve the educational situation of Roma. The developed efficient and effective network of Roma civic organisations will be an active body that will act through lobbying and advocacy at the national level for improving the situation and rights of the Roma community in Macedonia.
12. Difficulties and reasons of insuccess (if any):	The programme foresees a very active cooperation with schools and educational state institutions (especially with teachers, the management team and professional services), for which no direct financial compensation is foreseen. Indirect compensation for their own effort will be the participation by the teachers in the free-of-charge trainings, which will broaden their professional knowledge about improving the effectiveness within the work process. An overall difficulty throughout this project was assuring continual involvement and cooperation between all relevant actors, especially the parents and support from the management staff. Nevertheless, there is a risk that some of the involved participants will not see this as a kind of reward for their invested efforts. Maybe the largest risk is that of an insufficient number of participants in the trainings, or the loss of interest and motivation by those who have already become beneficiaries in the programme, for further dissemination of knowledge and experiences through the work process, for creating a better and more appropriate environment for a larger inclusion of Roma children in education. In the segment of lobbying and advocacy activities, for which the organisation and implementation (for the most part) will be entrusted to the co-ordination "Roma 2002", there is a risk that the activities will not be sufficiently creative and original, and that they will not be set up at a satisfactory level of cooperation with the state institutions (with still insufficient and inadequate capacity), which will result in smaller effects than expected. Furthermore, there is a risk for the sustainability and operation of the co-ordination if it does not succeed to develop and establish a successful cooperation also with other donors/financiers, providing a minimum necessary co-financing of the expenses for the central office of the co-ordination "Roma 2002".
13. Transferability:	The project increased the level of informing among the citizens on the Roma Decade and improved the cooperation between the local government, the public institutions and the civil associations, which is an opportunity for joint future initiatives within the Roma Decade on local level and the process of decentralization. “Roma 2002” has established itself as a relevant actor in the Roma Decade. This project served as a basis for a similar one done by SOROS. The good practice of this project can be disseminated through a published Guide for successful projects, which can be supported by the Government, or through the financial support of the latest EU PROGESS programme, as to advocate and promote effective methods and approaches to improved and inclusive Roma education.

Improving Access to Formal and Non-formal Education for Roma Children, Young Girls and Women
Organisations involved in the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

Initiating group/ Implementing organisation

UNICEF Skopje Office Ul. MItropolit Teodosij Gologanov, 42a 1000 Skopje Tel. [phone] Fax. [phone] Nora Sabani, ECD & Education Specialist Andrijana Micevska, Programme assistant

Profile of Partners

Ministry of Education and Science Bureau for Development of Education Primary Schools (Rade Kratovce-Kocani, 11 Oktomvri-Kumanovo, Goce Delcev-Stip, Braka Ramiz Hamid-Skopje, Vasil Glavinov-Skopje, Sande Sterjovski-Kicevo, Dobre Jovanovski-Prilep, Bratstvo Edinstvo-Gostivar, Gjorgji Sugarev-Bitola, Krste Misirkov-Radovis, J.H.DZinot-Veles, Goce Delcev-Tetovo) Worker’s Universities in Prilep and Stip Local NGOs (Forum of Albanian Women, Lifestart-Bitola, SUMNAL) Media