The smart and full of energy Erisela, 4 years old Roma girl, enjoys her dailies in the public kindergarten “Shkoze e re” in Tirana, Albania. The enrolment happened in November 2019 thanks to the team implementing the project “Good Start – Supporting models of Roma children in early education in Tirana and Shkodra (ECD-ALB-02)”. The child’s supporting team is of Plan&Go, an Albanian NGO, funded by the Roma Education Fund with an early childhood education and development grant, secured under the EU Regional Action “Increasing Opportunities for Roma in Western Balkans and Turkey”.
Parental consent guaranteed
Erisela was born in Tirana and lives with her family in the Administrative Unit no.1. Since her first day at the kindergarten, the little girl underwent a positive change. The project team of Plan&Go has been assisting Erisela with all the necessary care and provisions so she could be able to regularly attend the pre-school facility.
Erisela and her mother are consistent participants in the Toy Library sessions. Erisela’s mother has passed the entire parental program.
According to the report of the Organization Plan&Go
The Roma population in Tirana and Shkodra, alike a few other locations in Albania, has been living in a vicious circle of poverty and social exclusion, reproduced inter-generationally over the last decades. The low literacy level among parents, and especially among Roma mothers, acts unfavorably on the early development outcomes of Roma children, particularly evident in the first 3 years of a child’s development. At a later stage, participation of Roma children in formal mainstream kindergartens is further plagued by access barriers, such as spatial and transportation impediments to access, shortage of kindergarten places and qualified teachers, unaffordable fees and hidden costs, low sensitivity of kindergarten staff on multicultural education, language barriers that obstruct the educational progress of Roma children.
The project “Good Start – Supporting models of Roma children in early education in Tirana and Shkodra” has been funded by REF to support Roma children and their parents in regard to schooling, enrolment and participation in pre-school and primary education systems. Partnership with targeted municipalities and local department of educations were also adding indispensable value to the project results.
The results
Nevertheless, the implementation of the activities was impacted due to the earthquake which occurred in Albania in November 2019 and the pandemic situation Covid-19 which caused the entire lockdown of Albania for at least two months, the project team managed to support 120 Roma families through community outreach. During the lockdown these families are provided with food and hygienic packages considering the number of family members and their individual needs. This intervention is supported through the emergency reallocation. A summer camp for 110 children from the municipalities of Tirana and Shkodra was organized.
During the first phase of project implementation, 118 children were enrolled in crèches and kindergartens with the assistance of Plan&Go’s team. 160 parents have participated in the parenting program in the respective community center. During the pandemic situation, the parenting sessions have been conducted online twice per week, with the participation of a reduced number of parents.
During the first year of project implementation, the project team has equipped with toys three Toy Libraries in the targeted locations and established one new Toy Library in the premises of the kindergarten 1-Qershori in the Municipality of Shkodra. During the pandemic isolation, the Toy Library sessions were conducted online, with the participation of registered 133 parents.
