Excepts from Replies to the List of issues related to the consideration of the Second periodic report of the Republic of Macedonia (CRC/C/MKD/2)
Part I
1. With reference to the coordinating role of the National Commission on the Rights of the Child, kindly provide information on the exact mandate, structure (membership), and specific activities, thus far undertaken by this body. In particular, please specify whether it has specific competencies for the implementation of the Convention and the Optional Protocols.
Implementing the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child relating to the Initial Report, on 5 May 2005, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia adopted a Decision establishing the National Commission drafting the National Action Plan on Children’s Rights. The work of the Commission was coordinated by the Ministry of Education and Science, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and it included representatives (at the operative level) of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health and of the Agency for Youth and Sports. The Deputy Ombudsman in charge of children’s rights protection also took part in the work of the Commission, and when required representatives of other relevant institutions and non-governmental organizations in the Republic of Macedonia also participated in the work of the National Commission. The National Commission prepared a National Action Plan on Children’s Rights in the Republic of Macedonia for the 2006-2015 period, which the Government of the Republic of Macedonia endorsed in March 2006.
Measures at the Institutional Level:
– Self-evaluation of schools as one of the measures for the establishment of the situation in schools and design of a development plan as an instrument to overcome eventual deficiencies;
– Strengthening the role of the State Education Inspectorate in monitoring the process of enrolment of pupils, evaluation of schools, especially integral evaluation in which respect regular attendance and early dropping out of schools are monitored as one the education quality indicators.
– Introduction of EMIS- IT system for monitoring all developments in this area;
– Training of teachers on the introduction of modern teaching methods in the education process according to the individual needs of pupils;
– Training of expert associates on provision of support to vulnerable categories of pupils.
– Finances and financial support;
– Conditioned pecuniary transfers as direct financial support to the most underprivileged pupils for purposes of their regular attendance of school (Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Ministry of Education and Science, USAID);
– Free of charge transportation for primary school pupils who live more than 2 km far from the school, i.e. free of charge transport of secondary school students who live more than 2.5 km from the school;
– Right to free of charge accommodation and food for pupils who attend school outside their place of residence;
– Procurement of 10 minibuses for the needs of pupils in rural areas and one mini-bus for children with special needs in Skopje;
– The Ministry of Education and Science acting through the Department for Development and Advancement of Education in the languages of the persons belonging to the communities and the Sector for Advancement of Primary and Secondary Education has been supporting the campaign for inclusion and keeping children of the Roma community in the education system, in 15 cities in Macedonia, implemented by the National Roma Centre from Kumanovo, financially supported by the Roma Education Fund in Budapest.
The purpose of this campaign is to increase the number of Roma children enrolled in primary education through improved cooperation with the institutions at all levels and by enhancing the awareness of the Roma community on the need for education.
– As of the 2009-2010 academic year, the Ministry of Education and Science, together with the Roma Education Fund launched the project of scholarships and mentorship for 800 Roma pupils and mentorship for all 1606 secondary school Roma, as a measure of additional assistance focused on enabling these children to attain better education results.
The Ministry of Education and Science- Bureau for Development of Education of Macedonia (a body at the Ministry of Education and Science), the Centre for Secondary Vocational Education, the NGO’s and the OSCE have undertaken joint activities to examine the reasons for inter-ethnic tensions in schools, pursuing a project of non-violence and security. The mentioned institutions work on an Integrated Strategy for Education and on defining activities that will be finally designed under an Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy.
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/AdvanceVersions/CRC-C-MKD-Q-2-Add1.doc