Equal start in education

While heated disputes over the new changes in the Education Code suggested by the Government, which foresee obligatory kindergarten for all children from age five (including financial sanctions between 2000 and 5000 BGN for offenders), FSCI and Association “World without Borders” initiated a project aiming to prepare kids from isolated Roma communities for inclusion in the mass schools.
Part of the Government’s motives for introducing the mandatory preparations state that it “will contribute to cutting down the numbers of children falling out of school, as well as to socializing of children, including the ones whose mother tongue is not Bulgarian.”

Psychologist Teodora Koleva who is also the Executive director of FSCI argued at a press conference called by NGOs and civil formations “Bulgaria lack alternative services. There are 700 000 Roma people in the country in closed communities and setting standards ‘from outside’ will not help develop this community. Culture mediators are required – educated Roma people who can help develop Roma children.”

“ABV Equal Start” adopts such approach. The project will aim at changing the attitude of Roma communities to education and specifically will aim to change the lack of interest parents have to including their children in the education system. It will also run activities for preparation of Roma kids for ‘equal start’ in the mass school and prevention measures against early drop out. The project is financed by “America for Bulgaria”Foundation, it starts July 2011 and will continue until September 2011. Parallel with the main activities of the project during that time, a methodology will be drawn up and tested for changing the approaches of communities towards education and for developing the community as a whole.