[North Macedonia] – REF Foundation and the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy of the Government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia organized on July the 5th the closing conference of the “Inclusion of Roma children in public preschools” project. During its 16 years of implementation, more than 4000 Roma children received access to preschool education, strengthening the commitment of the Roma Education Fund to offer quality education and employment to the Roma population, thus contributing to the reduction of the gap between Roma and non-Roma children.
“In the past 15 years, REF has invested a total of 1,214,363 euros to fund this project that provides access to preschool education for over 4,000 Roma children aged 3 to 6. In addition to access, regular and additional support was also provided in their early childhood, which directly contributed to greater readiness and increased enrollment of our beneficiaries in primary schools, and thus directly linking our interventions in primary education together with relevant ministries and other partners”, said Mr. Redjepali Chupi, director of REF Serbia and interim co-director of REF Foundation.
He also emphasized that cooperation with the ministries and other partners is of special importance, underlining that the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy of the Government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia has undertaken the obligation to continue and to finance REF’s project through the state budget. Also, in 2018, the North Macedonia Government recommended that 21 municipalities should provide the costs necessary for the inclusion of Roma children whose families receive guaranteed minimum assistance in preschool institutions to be covered from the state budget of the unit through local self-government.
In all municipalities where the project was implemented, 16 mediators were hired, and 20 Roma nurses, 18 of whom became full-time employees, and 2 Roma nurses paid from the REF project budget.
“REF is available with all its resources and capacities to support all these processes and to maximize its contribution, hoping the activities will intensify in the coming period, not only on this project but also on other new initiatives that will bring about successful public policies for the development of the Roma community, and thus of the whole Macedonian multicultural society”, Mr. Chupi concluded.
Speaking about the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Chupi noted that REF was ready to intervene and provide direct help and support not only for our beneficiaries but also for the entire education system. The Roma Education Fund has created an Emergency Fund and adopted an action plan to provide support for the smooth continuation of the education of Roma children. The intervention took place in two phases:
- The first phase included Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia
- The second phase included the countries of the Western Balkans.
357,332 euros were invested in the first phase, and 341,295 euros in the second
In total, these 698,627 euros covered more than 7,000 Roma children and their parents. The activities covered a wide range of support: smart tablets and Internet access for successful distance learning, mentoring and teaching, humanitarian aid, didactic and educational materials, as well as toys for the youngest. In the Republic of Northern Macedonia, assistance was provided to 1,201 children.
As a novelty, during the second phase, REF Foundation and its partners delivered terminals for disinfection and special devices for temperature measurement in the schools “Brothers Ramiz and Hamid” and “26. July”, in kindergarten “8. April” in Šuto Orizari, as well as in the school “Dobre Jovanovski” in Prilep. Thus, all children (Roma and non-Roma) who physically attended school received additional virus protection measures.
“All of this, including mentoring and teaching, is also of great importance for providing a safe environment in schools, improving access, attendance and achievement of Roma students in primary education and improving secondary school outcomes through state matriculation exams and enrollment in higher education” – Mr. Redjepali Chupi, director of REF Serbia and interim co-director of REF Foundation.
