Events, conferences

Serbian Roma Decade presidency sponsors international education conference

On June 1-2, 2009 the Serbian Presidency of the Decade of Roma Inclusion held a conference, "The Right to Education for Every Child: Removing Barriers and Fostering Inclusion for Roma Children," in Belgrade, Serbia

The conference was hosted by the Presidency of the Serbian Government and supported by UNICEF, the Roma Education Fund, Foundation for Open Society (FOS) Serbia, and the World Bank, and was the first international conference under the auspices of the Roma Decade entirely dedicated to education. It brought together representatives of governments, Romani civil society, international agencies, and education experts to share their experiences and chart out a new agenda on how to break down the barriers to quality education that Romani children currently face.

The conference did not aim merely to describe the problems that face Romani children as there is already broad consensus on the nature of the barriers that must be overcome and most participants recognize that segregation in education is not only adverse for Romani children but for all children. Rather, the discussions focused on how to make progress in critical areas. Specifically, participants identified:

• what they know and what they do not know about the strategies that work in promoting inclusive education,
• tactics for accelerating the successful approaches, and
• various ways to make action happen on a broad enough scale such that the effects will make a tangible difference.

Conference participants devised a common set of principles that form the basis of participants' commitment to remove barriers and foster inclusion:

• Recognition and respect for the rights of each and every child, including the belief that all children are entitled to develop to their full potential.
• Accountability from the countries in creating equal access to inclusive, quality education, which meets the needs of all children in an integrated setting.
• A growing understanding that a child's early years are critical for later development, particularly realizing the need to target children up to the age of 3 through rapid expansion of preschools and support services for the parents, especially within disadvantaged population groups.
• Increased consultation with and active involvement from the Romani community, parents and children themselves.
• The need to monitor discrimination, including educational segregation, through appropriate mechanisms that ensure discrimination is challenged and addressed.
• Recognition that a substantial collection of experiences reflecting on education now exists in each of the Roma Decade countries; thus, the time for more "pilot projects" has passed. What is now needed is systemic change and making sure that education systems become much more responsive to the needs of all children.

Finally, participants agreed on four actions: (1) Starting early; (2) Ending segregation in education; (3) Ensuring supportive classrooms; and (4) Public financing of inclusive education.

For more information, please contact Mihai Surdu or Judit Szira at the Roma Education Fund: info@romaeducationfund.org; or visit www.romaeducationfund.org

ESP provided technical support to the Serbian presidency of the Roma Decade in the form of consultancy work.

International special education conference in Yerevan

Bridge of Hope, an Armenian NGO, organized the conference "Rethinking Goals and Values of Special Education," on July 1-2, 2009 in Yerevan, Armenia which examined the following issues:

• What have been the main directions, phases and outcomes of special education reform?
• What role does special education play in the educational agenda of the country?
• What is the new role of special schools in school development as models, centers for guidance and support services to regular/inclusive schools?
• What evidence-based aspects imply that special education is an integral part of national education policies?
• What strategies are being considered currently to improve special education?
• What is the role of civil society in the reform process?

Opening speeches were delivered by the Armenian Minister and Deputy Minister of Education, as well as representatives from the Open Society Institute (OSI), UNICEF, Mission East, and the organizer NGO Bridge of Hope. Invited experts from Hungary, Serbia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Latvia shared their experiences and lessons learned from special education reform initiatives in their respective countries. Interested parties, such as representatives of civil society organizations, special schools, and ministries also attended.

The conference was organized in the framework of the National Education Program of Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation Armenia (OSI-AFA) and funded by OSI East East: Partnership beyond Borders program and UNICEF Armenia. Conference proceedings are available at: http://www.osi.am/events.asp

Roma Education Fund publishes two new research reports

The Roma Education Fund (REF) has recently published the second volume of the Roma Education Fund Working Paper Series, A Successful School Integration Program 2005-2007, which is the evaluation of the Hungarian government's School Integration Program. This volume addresses a key topic: the impact of desegregation on children's educational outcomes. The study conducted by Gabor Kezdi and Eva Suranyi demonstrates across a range of indicators that both Romani and non-Romani children studying in schools that participate in the Hungarian government's integration program performed at least as well if not better than children in comparable non-integrated schools. The study is available at: http://www.romaeducationfund.hu/documents/OOIH_english_kezdi.pdf

REF has also released Analysis of the Impact of Affirmative Action for Roma in High Schools, Vocational Schools and Universities within the long-running quota system in Romania. This is the first evaluation of this comprehensive and multi-dimensional program, but the third paper in this particular series. Based on the findings, affirmative action seems to have had a significant positive effect overall on the participation of Romani students in the education system. Moreover this effect has been achieved without having a negative impact on the educational opportunities of non-Romani students. However, the study also identified two key lessons relevant for policy makers: if policies are not designed carefully enough, even the best intentions can cause unintended and negative consequences for the target group; also it is important to clearly articulate goals and objectives and to measure the situation prior to the start of policy implementation, as this is the only way to adequately evaluate the success of the policy.

The analysis is available at: http://www.romaeducationfund.hu/documents/Gallup_Romania_english.pdf

For more information, please visit: www.romaeducationfund.org

Project updates

First phase of the Armenian inclusive education project for children with disabilities successfully completed

Bridge of Hope, an Armenian NGO, has successfully implemented the first six months of the project entitled "From capacity building towards better inclusion for children with disabilities in Armenia." The project was successful in taking steps toward the improvement of inclusive education in Armenia which aims to provide equal educational opportunities for children with disabilities and with other special educational needs (SEN) and the acceptance of principles and approaches of the social model of disability.

A working group of 10 experienced experts from the field of inclusive and special education under supervision of an international consultant in inclusive education developed a 3-day training module for team building for inclusive schools. Eight of the experts conducted training for 120 specialists from 31 inclusive schools. The training mainly focused on the historical context of inclusive education, national and international legislative frameworks, and the organization and administration of inclusive education programs.

In another activity, Bridge of Hope youth trainers conducted "lessons in kindness" for primary class children in 14 schools using an interactive participatory method. Social workers and school psychologists acted as co-trainers and will now be able to bring these lessons to other classes in the schools.

Another seminar on human rights and the social model of disability was held in 10 project schools for core teachers and parents' committees. The seminar also focused on issues related to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), disability and human rights, role of disability organizations in disability movement, disability and democracy. The seminar had a great impact on participants' perceptions and understanding of disability and convinced them that a positive attitude is key to enhance the opportunities of people with disabilities for social inclusion and participation.

During the whole duration of the project 51 children from project schools were actively involved in Bridge of Hope's media activities and currently all are considered as correspondents of Bridge of Hope monthly Sunflower. All 31 schools receive copies of the monthly, which contains articles on the rights of children, tolerance, and success stories of good friendship and inclusive society.

The project is funded by the Education Support Program of the Open Society Institute (OSI-ESP) in the framework of the Education Across the Caucasus Initiative, Mission East (Danish international relief and development NGO) and ACoEH (Armenian Center of Education and Health). The project also receives support from the DANIDA funded Towards Education for All project both in form of technical assistance and cost sharing.

The project is being implemented in close cooperation and partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science and the National Institute of Education.

For more information about the project, please contact: bridge@arminco.com