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School Attendance Initiative

& Roma Role Models

UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS & The Issues of Roma Children
UNICEF RO carried out a series of studies and researches in order to document and monitor the situation of Roma children

http://www.unicef.org/r omania/RECIOverview.pdf

http://www.unicef.org/ceec is/UNICEF_ROE_Roma_ Position_Paper_Web.pdf

Education and Roma Children


75.9 percent of the Roma children who have dropped out of school did NOT attend kindergarten; The participation of Roma children in preprimary education at the age of 3 is over 12 times smaller than the national average; At the age of six, the share of the Roma children that are in school is over five times lower than the national average. 44.22% of the children aged 7-11 are not currently attending/have dropped out of school 64.62% of the children aged 12-16 are not currently attending/have dropped out of school Absenteeism is a worrying and growing phenomenon, although not mentioned in statistics.

http://www.unicef.org/romania/On e_school_for_all_pt_WEB.pdf

http://www.unicef.org/romania/ Roma_school.pdf

Education and Roma Children

The main dropout determinants are financial lacks (44%), poor academic results (16%), and only to a small extent Roma parents lack of interest in childrens education (9%) or the early marriage phenomenon (4% of answers from parent questionnaires); Most of the schools lack coherent and efficient dropout prevention strategies and they take action when it is already too late or they resort to inappropriate means; 64% of Roma children from Romani-speaking families learn in segregated classes as compared to 48.3% of children from Romanian-speaking households.

Early School Leaving


At family level:
Financial difficulties; The parents and siblings educational example; Family breakdown; Entrance on labor market; Re-integration issues of migrant children who re-enter the education system when they come back to the country.

At community level:
Early School Leaving: possible ways of prevention (2009 , UNICEF and Centrul Educaia 2000+) http://www.unicef.ro/publicatii/educatie /renuntarea-timpurie-la-educatie.html

Lack of individual security in the area; The custom of discontinuing education after the eighth grade; Early marriage custom & having a child;

At school level: Grade retention;


Insufficient pupil integration; Poor quality of the relationship with the teachers and classmates. 5

School Attendance Initiative


UNICEF: Education is the best route out of poverty and marginalisation. A school attendance initiative which aims to promote education among children to fulfill their potential in life.

Vertical and horizontal levels of intervention

Family School

Community

Vertical intervention includes national, county and local levels

School Attendance Initiative 2010 - 2011

Interventions at school, community and family level in 38 communities in 16 counties.

School Mediators

The school
School Attendance Initiative
School Directors

Community Leaders

Local authorities

Parents

School Attendance Initiative 2011 2012 Results

60% of the children at drop-out risk have improved their school attendance In 50% of the schools the drop-out rate has decreased by 15-40% compared with the rates recorded in the last two years School directors increased capacity to prevent and reduce the causes of drop-out and absenteeism Enhanced ability of teachers to adapt teaching methods to the needs of the children at risk Better prepared school mediators in applying methods to reduce and prevent drop-out Increased awareness on the importance of education among the parents A deeper understanding among the local authorities on the educations value for community development

School Attendance Initiative

2011 - 2012

141 communities at national level Over 50.000 children part of the campaign

Institutul de tiine ale Educaiei

School Attendance Initiative - How


Training - School Directors; Teachers on curricular areas; Activities with parents Training - School Mediators; School Principals on inclusive and intercultural education; Romani language teachers INTERVENTIONS Extra-curricular activities with children AT SCHOOL LEVEL Parenting interventions: Teachers and professionals from County Resource Centres for Educational Assistance trained to deliver parenting programmes; Parents will benefit of structured parenting programmes FAMILY LEVEL Face-to-Face discussions with parents: Identification of children at risk of dropout; Visits to families with children at risk. Inventory of the available human resources at community level; Instruments for professionals for monitoring and preventing school dropout; COMMUNITY Training of professionals at community level; LEVEL Promotion of dropout prevention best practices implemented

Inventory of Roma Inventory of Roma Human Human Resources


Resources

Objectives: Increase capacity at local level; Invest in Roma human resources; Develop Roma role models at local level.

Tools

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Roma Role Models

Identification of over 20 successful adult Roma role models from various professions (including layer, policeman, priest, actor, social worker, etc.) Development of a set of materials to convey the message: a 20 minutes documentary movie about the professional success of these Roma role models that succeeded in life using the educational path and a book comprising the life stories of the role models Valorisation of educational process among Roma youth in 30 schools from Romania with a large number of Roma pupils. Using a caravan, each school was visited with the presence of one of the role models. Children were exposed to the movie, after which discussions were held between the children and the role model Raise of awareness of issue among communities and stakeholders

Roma Role Models

Launching Events Teaser for the documentary; Photo Exposition Two public figures endorsed the campaign: a Roma singer, very popular among youth, Connect-R and a young Romanian actress Adela Popescu Facebook Campaign on UNICEF Facebook page (over 70.000 fans) Roma Role Models promoted through Roma Week at the French Cultural Institute Debate on the Invisible Roma Subject participants from Roma NGOs, press, key opinion leaders, Roma & Romanian Students Round table on the subject of Roma social inclusion Launching Success Stories Book

Roma Role Models

http://www.unicef.ro/wpcontent/uploads/unicef_desp re-noi.pdf

Roma Role Models Documentary Teaser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSHXfoTE4Vc http://youtu.be/YRA4qDASLG0

Roma Role Models Documentary Teaser

MOVIE_QU'EST-CE QUE TU VEUX FAIRE QUAND TU SERAS GRAND?_FR Movie_"What do you want to be when you grow up?"_EN Movie_Ce vrei sa te faci cand vei fi mare?_RO

Teaser Qu'est-ce que tu veux faire quand tu seras grand? Teaser "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Teaser campanie "Ce vrei sa te faci cand vei fi mare"

Thank You!
Luminia Costache
Social Policy Specialist UNICEF Romania lcostache@unicef.org

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