The director of the Roma Education Fund, Mr. Redjepali Chupi and prof. Dr. Caslav Mitrovic, the director of the Agency for Qualifications of the Republic of Serbia, signed the Cooperation agreement between these two entities.
The Agreement defines the establishment and realization of the cooperation in the implementation of the measures and activities related to improving the position of Roma within the project “Employment empowerment of young Roma – Phase II”, implemented by REF. The Project is realized with the support of German Financial Cooperation, implemented by German Development Bank KfW on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Germany – Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The signatories agreed to closely cooperate and coordinate supporting activities for the beneficiaries of the Project, i.e., the families of Roma returnees.
Redjepali Chupi, the director of REF, pointed out that this Agreement is of great significance for Roma returning from abroad to Serbia, because, through the Roma Education Fund, the path to official recognition of the diplomas acquired abroad, will now be significantly easier.
Through the component of educational integration of Roma returnees, as part of the project “Employment empowerment of young Roma – Phase II”, support is provided to Roma returnees who need to be reintegrated into the system. This cooperation is very important to us, as all these families have children with completed different levels of education abroad and acquired different qualifications. We can bring our beneficiaries closer to everything that the Agency requires in the process of recognizing these documents, and thus speed up this process, and give people the opportunity to quickly return to the system, complete their education and be useful in the labor market” – stated Chupi.
The director of the Qualifications Agency, prof. Dr Caslav Mitrovic, has emphasized the importance of supporting the readmission of Roma families, that the Qualifications Agency can help, as it is the official government agency for qualification standards, recognition of school documents and approval of publicly recognized organizers of adult education.
Regarding the readmission project that our friends from REF are implementing in Serbia, it is important for us to help, and to speed up the procedures for recognizing the primary, secondary, or higher education documents, and everyone is involved in the process of Roma families’ education. To help them join the educational system of Serbia as soon as possible, and later, when they graduate, to disseminate their knowledge throughout Europe and the world. I am glad that we have signed this Agreement and sincerely hope that it will be a foundation for different types of future cooperation, on which we can continue to work – concluded Mitrovic.
The Roma Education Fund has supported 843 children and 438 families to adapt better to the new living conditions upon their returning to Serbia. This is realized through a variety of programs that support the education, employment of young Roma men and women, and reintegration of Roma families, during the two phases of the project aimed at educational and integral reintegration of the youngest Roma returnees and their families.
