DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT “COME TO SCHOOL! Change your destiny!”
The general objective of the project is the development and implementation, at multi-regional level, of services aimed at increasing the degree of social inclusion of students at risk in Covasna, Harghita and Vrancea counties, by promoting inclusive education, in accordance with national and European documents in this field. The aim of this project is to implement innovative measures to support the education of students from disadvantaged groups and to develop an inclusive community, in order to reduce the phenomenon of early school leaving in the three counties.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
SO.1. Increasing the participation rate in education for 433 students in primary school and 295 students in middle school, at risk of early school leaving, by creating and carrying out remedial activities such as “School after school”.
SO.2. Improving by 1% the transition rate from ISCED 1 to ISCED 2 and from ISCED 2 to ISCED 3 of students at risk of early school leaving, by implementing additional educational support programs and transition support activities from an educational cycle to another.
SO.3. Improving the access to inclusive education of a number of 120 students with special educational needs, during the project implementation period.
SO.4. Increasing the level of education of the students’ parents, by including 500 parents in information and counseling activities, during the project implementation period.
SO.5. Development of professional skills in inclusive and intercultural education, 210 teachers from schools from disadvantaged backgrounds, during the implementation of the project.
SO.6. Increasing the level of information and awareness of at least 12 disadvantaged communities in Covasna, Harghita and Vrancea counties, regarding the importance of preventing school dropout and accessibility of educational services at any age.
SO.7. Increasing the degree of collaboration between Covasna, Harghita and Vrancea counties (Central and South-East regions) and Norway through the participation of 23 experts / decision makers in exchange for 5 days of experience in Norway.
PROJECT PARTNERS:
The project “COME TO SCHOOL! Change your destiny! ” takes place at a multiregional level over 36 months, in partnership with:
• P1: Harghita County School Inspectorate
• P2: Vrancea County School Inspectorate
• P3: Covasna County Police Inspectorate
• P4: Transilvania University of Brașov
• P5: Newschool from Norway.
DESCRIPTION OF TARGET GROUPS:
Main target groups:
• 728 children and young people at risk of dropping out of school / leaving school early are between 7 and 16 years old. 433 of them attend primary school classes, and 295 attend secondary school classes. Of the 728 students, 708 are from rural areas.
Children and young people at risk of dropping out of school come from the 12 schools selected from the three counties included in the project.
The schools involved in the project were selected from disadvantaged areas. In Covasna and Harghita counties, it was based on the social mapping of disadvantaged communities at risk of social marginalization, carried out by Caritas Alba Iulia in collaboration with Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, within the United Networks project, funded by the RO10 Program. – CORAI, program financed by the EEA Grants 2009-2014 and administered by the Romanian Social Development Fund.
The selection of children and young people at risk of dropping out of school was based on a study also, conducted by CJRAE Covasna, in April 2019. The questionnaire applied in the study was completed with the data of a number of 1856 students from several localities targeted from the 3 counties (955 – Covasna, 665 – Harghita and 236 – Vrancea).
The final school situation of the 4th and 8th grade students from the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years was analyzed, in order to monitor the transition of ISCED 2 and ISCED 3.
Analysis of the crime situation in areas / localities with economically and socially disadvantaged compact population, conducted by IPJ Covasna.
Analysis of cases of juvenile delinquency and victimization of minors registered in 2018 compared to 2017, conducted by IPJ Covasna.
• children and young people with special educational needs aged between 7 and 16 years.
Children and young people with special educational needs come from the 12 educational units selected from the three counties included in the project.
In order to identify students with special educational needs, it was based primarily on the database provided by CJRAEs in the counties involved and on the existing statistics / databases at the level of educational units involved in the project.
Secondary target groups:
• 500 parents / guardians and family members of children and young people from the main target groups
• 233 education staff working with children and young people in the main target groups
• 60 teachers, 3 groups (Covasna-20 staff, Harghita-20 staff, Vrancea-20 staff) who will be trained in working with students with special educational needs
• 100 teachers, 4 groups (Covasna-2 groups, Harghita-1 group, Vrancea-1 group) working with students at risk of leaving school early.
The training of teachers will be carried out by P4 – Transilvania University of Brașov.
• 50 teachers from the schools where the project is implemented, from the 3 counties will participate in parental education courses and will become parental educators for the 500 selected parents.
• 23 management staff will participate in the exchange of experience in Norway, 1 group – 12 staff (1 principal from all schools involved in the project), 1 group – 13 staff (1 project manager and 12 experts from the partner school inspectorates).
The project was contracted on November 11, 2020 and benefits from a grant of 1,462,032 euros offered by Norway through the Norwegian Grants within the Local Development Program, having as Program Operator – the Romanian Social Development Fund.
For more details about the project “COME TO SCHOOL! Change your destiny!” we invite you to contact Ms. MADÁR Júlia (assistant manager) by phone +40 722 342467, by e-mail julia_madar@yahoo.com
Project contact point “COME TO SCHOOL! Change your destiny!”: The headquarters of the Covasna County School Inspectorate, Victor Babeș Street, no. 15 / C, Sfântu Gheorghe, Covasna county.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Norwegian Grants and EEA Grants represent Norway’s contribution to a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.
Through the Norwegian and EEA Grants, Norway contributes to reducing social and economic disparities and strengthening bilateral relations with the beneficiary countries of Central and Southern Europe and the Baltic States.
Norway is cooperating closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). Together with other donors, Norway provided 3.3 billion euros through consecutive grant schemes between 1994 and 2014.
Norwegian grants are funded exclusively by Norway and are available in countries that joined the EU after 2003.
For the period 2014-2021, subsidies granted by Norway amount to 1.25 billion euros.
The priorities for this period are:
# 1 Innovation, research, education, competitiveness and decent work;
# 2 Social inclusion, youth employment and poverty reduction;
# 3 Environment, energy, climate change and low carbon emissions;
# 4 Culture, civil society, good governance, fundamental rights and freedoms;
# 5 Justice and home affairs.
For more details about Norwegian grants, we invite you to access the address: www.eeagrants.ro
The Romanian Social Development Fund is a public interest body established by the Romanian Government by Law no. 129/1998 which contributed to the administration of grant schemes and programs with non-reimbursable international funding addressed to poor and isolated communities, mostly in rural areas, and participated in the effective implementation of projects of national, sectoral and local interest.
The main areas targeted by the FRDS activity:
• social inclusion (with a focus on Roma communities)
• socio-economic development
• equal opportunities
• combating poverty
• community development
• education
Since 2018, FRDS is a Program Operator for the Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Increasing Roma Inclusion Program, funded by the EEA and Norwegian Grants 2014-2021.
For more details about FRDS and the activity of the Local Development Program, we invite you to access the addresses:
https://dezvoltare-locala.frds.ro
www.frds.ro
For more details about Granturile SEE sau Norvegiene, we invite to access: www.eeagrants.ro
