Roma Education Fund allocated EUR 23 802 to REF Slovakia to consolidate a group of Roma non-profits in Slovakia to mutually combat the consequences of COVID-19 crisis on the educational outcomes of the Roma primary schoolers.
Rucksack with educational packages and tablets
At least 160 primary school Roma students and 60 mentors in near 50 localities in Slovakia were supported with tablets, educational and hygienic materials, distributed in rucksacks in the end of July and throughout August 2020.
Emergency support for Roma students, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, was secured in 3 regions in Slovakia, which are Banska Bystrica, Presov and Kosice, with the highest concentration of Roma in the country.
REF Slovakia is currently implementing Mentoring and Tutoring projects, funded by the Slovak Ministry of Interior, in these three regions, which include assistance in social integration of the students within the school environment and facilitate cooperation between the school and family.
REF Slovakia’s goal is to directly support the beneficiaries of the Mentoring programs. The emergency funding for Slovakia was disbursed between the three NGOs working in Banska Bystrica, Presov and Kosice under the Mentoring programs. These are Romad, BAFF AS and the Community center of minorities in Velky Krtis.
Primary school students received rucksacks with educational packages from REF Slovakia’s emergency fund
The emergency actions are to help Roma students manage better in taking part in remote education, in keeping up with their schoolmates. The funds also aim at prevention of early dropout, at supporting transition to secondary schools and empowering the beneficiaries in dealing with the challenges within the school environment related to measures introduced by the Slovak Government.
Andrej Belak (in the middle), the Program Coordinator of the Mentoring and Tutoring projects, visited the mentors and the Roma students in all localities and personally took care of the distribution of emergency fund supplies.
