Description of the targeted area and people Within the project were included a number of 30 Roma children aged 6-12 who either haven’t attended kindergarten or primary school, or faced academic failure or dropout from school from Panciu locality, county of Vrancea in Romania. City Panciu settlement is situated in the north-east of Vrancea County. Population as of January 1, 2000, the population of Panciu (including that of villages, districts considered) was 9637 people, mostly of Romanian (30 Roma, 8 Hungarians). Most sources of income Roma families earn their living in various seasonal activities such as agriculture, masonry, scrap collection, or in many cases, the child allowance. City education network has 5 kindergartens, 6 primary and secondary schools and a theoretical high. Many educated Roma children have left school early because of the precarious situation of family and school activities mismatch requirements. For the most part, these children did not attend any kindergarten.
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Educational Issues that the project focused on, education level The program “A Good Start in School” intended to improve the adaptability and school performance of Roma children from Panciu, Vrancea County. It was a joint initiative of UNICEF, the Romanian Ministry of Education, and the Roma Center for Social Intervention and Studies (Romani CRISS) that tried to address the problem of high school dropout rates among Roma children.
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Results achieved. Quantitative evidences •
Intensive training of Roma children organized in August, 2001. The average daily duration of activities steadily increased from 4 hours a day in the first week, to 5 hours in the second week, and 6 hours in the third week.
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Training for enrolment in the elementary school on topics such as: language development, mathematical skills, environmental knowledge, games and creative activities, civic education, artistic activities, physical education, music, and dance.
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Foundation of an Educational Support Centre that provided children with additional after-school support. At the Educational Support Centre, children could do the homework for the next day, prepare for classes, and receive help whenever it was needed.
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Organizing a training session for the teaching staff.
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A percentage of 56% of the children who promoted to the next level of studies
Successful educational experiences promoting the integration of Roma in and through education
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