In a cheerful and inspiring atmosphere, an event was held to officially close the twelve-year project “Strengthening Multi-ethnic Cooperation in Municipalities”, supported by Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation, implemented by the Macedonian Civic Education Center (MCEC).
During the event, the achievements within the project were presented through a discussion and an entertaining program, placing a special emphasis on the activities carried out with students that learn in different languages of instruction and the impact they have on the personal and professional development of students and teachers. Among the attendees were students, teachers and representatives from schools, municipalities, relevant educational institutions, and international organizations.
Besnik Ramadani, project manager at the Macedonian Civic Education Center (MCEC), Zeqiria Hasipi, director of the Bureau for Development of Education and Azbija Memedova, national representative of the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation Office in North Macedonia delivered their remarks and emphasized the importance of promoting interethnic harmony and providing continuous support to young people and teachers.
In the past twelve years, the project has worked with educational institutions and 27 primary schools from nine municipalities across the country to strengthen interethnic cohesion in schools. 55,167 students participated in joint intercultural activities and curricular and joint classes and more than 7,130 teachers participated in various curricular and extracurricular activities, strengthening their intercultural competences.
Through more than 2,000 activities at the school level, opportunities were created for interaction between students from different ethnic communities, who got to know each other better and made friends with each other. Additionally, more than 415 students and 60 teachers participated in intercultural exchanges in Trogen, Switzerland.
Within the project, systemic changes were made, as well. The Civic Education curricula in eighth and ninth grade were revised and standards for intercultural education were developed for the first time and were approved by the Ministry of Education and Science. Teachers were trained to apply the standards and a standards manual was developed. This contributes to the continuous and high-quality implementation of intercultural activities at the school level, mostly bringing benefits to the students.
Although the project is ending, the commitment of the relevant institutions for quality intercultural education for all students and teachers continues.
This activity is part of the Strengthening Multi-ethnic Cooperation in Municipalities Project, supported by the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation (PCF).
