Duration: December 2011 – March 2017
Donor: USAID North Macedonia
Objectives: Building awareness and providing diversity training, technical assistance, and incentives to school boards, principals, teachers, and administration officials in support of interethnic integration in education. The project targeted all primary and secondary schools, including students, teachers, school principals, school board members, parents and local communities. The project aimed to raise awareness of the importance of inter-ethnic integration and why it is vital for the future stability of the country and its accession into the European Union. It provided teachers, school managers and school boards with the skills they needed to work in a multi-ethnic environment, to help prevent divisions along ethnic lines in their schools and communities, and to create conditions that promote ethnic integration. Through a more holistic and intensive interventions in a few selected schools, examples of the best practices and lessons learned were provide to contribute to a deeper understanding on various approaches to ethnic integration. School refurbishments were provided as an incentive for schools to participate in ethnic integration activities. These communities were assisted with the improvement of the infrastructure and learning environments of their schools, including ensuring that these schools were accessible to the disabled, financed by the U.S. Department of Defense / EUCOM.
Results:
• Over 2000 media articles covering project activities broadcasted during the life scope of the project and 35 field visits organized for editors and journalists;
• Over 90 ribbon-cutting ceremonies for renovated schools, festivals, fairs, forum theaters, public debates and other public promotional events organized;
• 18 debate clubs and 7 creative corners established in secondary schools involving more than 800 students;
• Over 900 teachers and students trained for using multimedia accesses when creating contents that promote interethnic integration, while 433 teachers – School Integration Team (SIT) members trained for effective public presentation;
• Indicators for interethnic integration in education incorporated in the Manual for Integral Evaluation of Schools in the State Education Inspectorate (SEI), and the instruments for interethnic integration in education modified. SEI inspectors trained to use the indicators during the implementation of the integral evaluation of the schools;
• The interethnic integration in education concept integrated in the State Examination Center trainings for state exam taking by the principals of primary and secondary schools;
A certification procedure for interethnic integration in education established and around 18500 certificates for teachers issued;
• School Integration Teams (SITs) established in all primary and secondary schools (436). 2433 SIT representatives of schools trained;
• 434 representatives of the school professional staff in 387 schools trained about interethnic integration in education;
• 160 teachers trained for implementation of joint student sports activities and entertainment games, organized in 38 primary schools in 37 municipalities. Over 1800 students participated in the activities;
• 395 partnerships established among the schools in the country;
• Small grants for joint school activities awarded to 218 schools and about 1000 joint students’ activities organized;
• 9 schools included in a programme for parental inclusion in interethnic integration in education and about 40 activities including more than 100 parents organized;
• 6 demonstration schools established in North Macedonia. Over 1000 students, together with their parents and with the support of the teachers, have undertaken more than 153 initiatives embodied in different activities, such as: Democratic participation, multicultural workshops, field trips, sports and fun activities;
• Practicum for integration of multicultural learning in the teaching process for primary and secondary education, Manual for school boards for primary and secondary schools, Theoretical and practical views on application of the interethnic integration in the teacher training faculties, 40 sports activities and entertainment games for integration of children and young people and other publications related to interethnic integration in education created;
• 63 schools renovated and maintenance tools delivered to the schools, which improved the working conditions in the schools. 46181 students and 5107 teachers had benefits from the renovation;
• School Renovation Teams (SRT) established in 63 schools. Over 482 SRT members trained for preparation of annual maintenance plans and budgets. 181 SRT members trained for maintenance of schools buildings;
• Publication “Guidelines Manual for Maintenance of the School Buildings” printed and included in the legal regulation of MoES.