Report

MAC 029
National Roma Centrum
Campaign for Roma education

Preparation period

The National Roma Centrum began with realization of the project in February 2007. During the first two months were the preparations for the planned activities, with which we created foundations for their successful realization.

Changes in the Law for elementary education – The preparations were in following of the changes in the law for elementary education, changes with introducing nine years elementary education, analyses of the previous year which would be useful in preparation of implementing plans as pointers for further actions.

List of Roma families for comparison and analyses – Considering the fact that we in 2006 had already visited the Roma families in Skopje, Prilep and Kumanovo we prepared the list of the Roma in these three cities and we prepared it for comparison with the new data which should arrive in the period June – September.

Meetings with the implementation team – We organized meetings with the team which will be included in he project activities in order to determine the obligations, as well as to set up the foundation for the realization of the idea.

Preparation of the implementation plans – During May we worked on the implementation plans, through which we pointed all of the planned activities, their duration and expected results of each activity.

Lobbing of government institutions – parallel with the work of the implementation plans we began with the process of lobbing of government institutions for receiving support for the campaign. The permanent informing and contacts during the realization of the campaign in 2006 have shown productive and the institutions we acknowledged with the purpose of our work. We received support from the Prime Minister and the President of Macedonia, the Ministry of education and science, the Biro for development of education, the Board for development and promotion of education of languages of members of communities, The State Educational Inspectorate, ZELS etc. In addition we are delivering the copies of all of the received supports to the moment of submission of the report.

Roma mediators

The Roma mediators are one of the most significant links in realization of the entire campaign and because of that we devoted great attention for a real choice of people who will perform their tasks in a qualitative manner. Immediately after signing of the contract with REF on the 30.05.2007, we began with realization of this activity.

Advertisement for Roma mediators – On the 29th of May we announved the advertisement for Roma mediators, and after which, the next five days 42 candidates applied from all the 11 cities.

After we received the applications from the candidates for mediators we performed a questioning over the phone with all the applicants according to the following questionaire:

Based on the previous analyses and experiences we evaluated that it would be useful and productive if we choose 20 candidates (instead of the planed 15) and to organize a training for them on which we will evaluate their abilities.

In the meantime we also worked on choosing of trainers for the Roma mediators. We decided to cooperate with a consulting and training firm Basme from Skopje. The trainers Beti Delovska and Vlatko Danilov began with preparations for the training. In addition we are delivering the agenda.

Training – For the training we selected 20 participants. During the training we concluded that there are several participants who could be engaged in fulfilling of the questioners (June, July, August) so that we could finish the planed activity and to realize the purpose for enrollment of a greater number of children in school. Such is the example with Stip and Bitola. In these two cities in the first two months we will engage two people (besides the planed 1 person) for efficient and fast fulfilling of the questioners. In the following seven months only one mediator will remain who will form the link between the parents, schools and the local self government. During the selection of the candidates for working in Skopje we evaluated that in regard of the large number of the Roma in this city and the concentration of schools we would need to increase the number of mediators and instead of the planed 3 we engaged all 5 participants on the training. One of the candidates from Prilep did not pass because he did not fulfill the working conditions. In evaluation of the skills of the candidates the following people participated: Asmet Elezovski – coordinator, Slavica Curcinska – assistant, Sebihana Skenderovska – assistant, Vlatko Danilov – trainer and Beti Delovska – trainer.

The conclusion of the training is that the candidates have shown very good skills and instead of the planed 15, 19 will be engaged in the first three months and in the following seven months 17 mediators will remain in the planed budget. In addition the list of participants is here as well as the biographies of the chosen persons who will work as mediators.
During the training we organized an official dinner on which we invited Anka Demirovska – director of the Board for development and promotion of education of languages of members of communities, Vaska Mustafa Bajramovska – adviser of the Ombudsman, Ljubica Grozdanovska – journalist and manager of the department for public relations in the Ministry for education and Georgi Nikolov – State Educational Inspectorate. During this dinner the mediators had for a task to gather as much information as they could for their acting in the field of education of the Roma in Macedonia.

Also at one occasion during dinner NRC’s team had individual talks for excnage of information and considering of the needs for acting in the cities.

Image of the campaign

Mascot – According to the project we planed for the mascot to be represented by a Roma child who goes to school, but during gathering of the suggestions, we came to the idea that the mascot should be instead of one, four children Roma and non Roma who have the key for opening of the doors for a better life. All 4 children will later be included as main actors in a picture book which we will distribute in September. The idea for the mascot was Ivan Stanojkovski’s in realization of Frosina Trendafilovska Nedeljkovska and based on the mascot we began preparing he brochure for the parents as well as the picture book.

Brochures – the brochure in cooperation with the designer Dalibor Sojic was prepared in Macedonian and Roma language and we created it as a guide in the nine year school, with a special accent on the advantages and the description of the changes in the law. In addition you have the copy of the design of the brochure.

T-shirts – we have print the masqote at the t-shirts with the message “The key is in our hands, let’s go to school!”.

Questioners

Questioners – during the training the questioner was introduced to the entire group of 20 participants. There were some notes which we accepted for more practical work and we gave the questioners to be printed out. The changes in the questioners are also with the obligatory signature by the questioned and the questioner, and in this way NRC is allowed to use the data in the further analyses. This change was made in accordance with the Law for protection of personal data which was brought in January 2007. We made 29000 copies from the questioners, the mediators will keep one copy and one copy for the parent if he wishes to keep it.

Other activities

Meeting in Tetovo – invited by the mediator from Tetovo, Hasan Idrizi, we attended on a meeting in E. S.”Goce Delcev” on which also attended representatives from the Ministry of education from Kosovo and Macedonia and we exchanged information for the problematic with education of the Roma and the ways to overcome them. The coordinator Asmet Elezovski at the end of the meeting gave a statement about the campaign for the local television Menada.

NRC at the moment is intensively working on completing of materials for the field work, with which we expect during the next week, the questioners will begin to be fulfilled.