Duration: March 2017 – January 2018
Donor: Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation
Objective: The project aimed to detect the children age 6-17 that were not enrolled in schools in 12 municipalities with significant number of Roma population (Suto Orizari, Kumanovo, Stip, Vinica, Kocani, Strumica, Tetovo, Gostivar, Prilep and Bitola) and to support their integration in the education system. The activities included conducting a comprehensive national research, to identify the children that are not enrolled in schools; enacting curricula for the children that were the target group of the project by the Ministry of Education and Science in compliance with law and providing tailored support/ scholarships for the children.
Results:
• 1,144 out-of-school children, age 6-17, were identified with the field research in 12 municipalities;
• 1,122 parents of out-of-school children provided input on the reasons for non-attendance and drop-out of their children as well as the needs to be met for the return or enrollment of their children in school;
• Relevant state representatives gave valuable input for drafting a research report: 71 representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science, State Education Inspectorate, Centers for social work, local self-government units, primary schools, parents and local NGOs;
• A field research database was created for the identified 1,144 out-of-school children, containing information for non-attendance, statistics as gender, age, city of residence and other;
• The research report with its findings, presented in front of 60 educational stakeholders, raised awareness on the issue of out-of-school children;
• 47 out-of-school children (age 6-8) received project support and enrolled in school. All are reported to attend school on regular basis.