Best Practice Guide In the field of education, an afternoon school program to help the disadvantaged students in the disadvantaged regions of Hungary

Transcription

1 Best Practice Guide In the field of education, an afternoon school program to help the disadvantaged students in the disadvantaged regions of Hungary Former State Fostered Children s Association Hungary October Contents: Summary... 2 Background... 2 Best Practice Activities... 3 The everyday activities... 3 Cooperation... 4 Free time activities... 4 The abilities developed... 4 Conclusions... 5 Why is this best practice?... 6 References... 7 Contact Details... 7 This publication has been produced with the financial support of the European Union s Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Commission. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Former State Fostered Children s Association and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission. 1

2 Summary Our organisation as a partner in the Roma Source program aims many of its activities for children, and because of that we would like to choose a program for disadvantaged children as a good practice. Our organisation has a project called afternoon school (in Hungarian: Tanoda). This is a good practice in the field of education; this is the reason why we would like to share this project with our partners. We operated this project in and And there are special grants that help the continuation of this kind of help for the children. In the afternoon school teachers work with disadvantaged children, whether they are in primary school or high school. It is open for every child whether they are Roma or non-roma. This kind of education is not obligatory, that is the reason why we are glad that this many children come to our community house, because it means that they like to visit us. It is as already said financed by a grant. It is unique because it is not the continuation of the normal school from the morning, but it is a different kind of education. The teachers use different methods to develop the children, and we also offer different kind of free time activities. There are also camps and trips to make the programs for the children more colourful. Background In Hungary we can find the same issues in the field of Roma education as in all around Europe. There are many Roma children who don t attend regularly to school and they don t finish their schools. Some data from the 68/2007 (VI.28.) parliamentary resolution on the Decade of Roma Inclusion Programme Strategic Plan: On a national average, 88% of children of three five years of age attend kindergartens, while the corresponding rate for Roma children is only 42%. The proportion of Roma children transferred to educational institutions established for slightly mentally disabled children is the double of the national average. In the case of Roma children attending primaryschool education, the rate of drop-outs and qualifications for the need of individual studies is much higher than the national average. Nowadays there are many programs that try to solve the issues, and we can see that many young Roma people finish even higher education, and get a diploma. But there are still problems, and there is a need for programs in education. Some data from the beginning of the 2000s: Two third of the Roma young people finished primary school before they become 16 years old, and four fifth of them before 18 (note: in Hungary you can finish primary school at 14) and more than 85% of them continue their studies. But 36 % of the student in middle education left the school at 9th grade and 28,5% at 10th grade. When there was a call from proposal to establish these afternoon schools, the association made a survey for the target group of the project. In the village of Tiszadob, where we reside there are many children whose supervision is not solved for the afternoons, and they can t find help to prepare for the lessons of the next day. Because of financial reasons the local primary school can only provide supervision in 2

3 the afternoon and help for the studies for only a part of the children who would need it. Around 40% of the underprivileged primary school children don t get help for their studies, and their family is not able to give them the necessary help. When we consider the children in secondary education 30% of them are underprivileged. If they are not in a boarding school then they don t get any help for their studies. In the village most of the children are commuting. The survey showed that the marks of the children who are in boarding school are better with one mark than those children who are commuting. This is not because of their ability, but because they are dependent on the busses, so they can t stay for the afternoon programs of the school. The aim of the afternoon school is to help these children, who need help for their studies. It is very important that this project is financed from a grant, and strictly supervised. There are around 100 afternoon schools like ours in Hungary, and most of them are targeted for Roma children. These institutions are in contact, they visit each other so we can share our experiences and good practices, so that we can develop our services for the children. Best Practice Activities In this project we work with around 40 underprivileged children who are in primary school and secondary school, from the age of 12 till 18. They are from state care or underprivileged families. All of the children are underprivileged or extremely underprivileged, and most of them are Roma. But it is important, that it is not a condition that they have to be Roma. They have to apply to the afternoon school, but we welcome everyone, who is in the specific age, until the places are full. Our aim is to help the children who have problems with their studies, to compensate their disadvantages they have to face because of their social circumstances. In our community house professional teachers work with the children in the afternoons to help them to prepare for their lessons on the next day. They develop their abilities. In the community house there are many opportunities that the children can use, like internet, dictionaries, encyclopaedia, and many books. This is important to lessen their disadvantages that come from their social status. The everyday activities The children can use the help of professionals. Teachers work with the children (literature, math, English, computer studies). They can help them to prepare for their classes, do their homework. There are also special experts: mental health expert, ability developing expert. The mental health expert teaches the children about the healthy life, talks about drug prevention, about the issues of alcohol and cigarettes. She also holds selfknowledge trainings for small groups of the children. 3

4 The developing expert s aim is to compensate the lack of the basic abilities. They work with children who have dyslexia or dysgraphia. She shows the children methods of learning, and develops the logical skills. Her task is also to realise other disabilities, and if there are some problems contact the adequate expert. One afternoon looks like to following: after 12 o clock the children start to arrive from the school, it also depends on how many classes they have. From 14 o clock till 15 o clock they have study time, when they have to study something. The teachers are there and they can choose what help they need on that day, and they can go to that teacher and study, or do some developing activities. Around 15 o clock they have a meal, and then it is free time until 16 o clock. They can play, do handcraft activities, or if they still need they can continue with their studies. From time to time, they have specific trainings as well in different topics. It is also in this time period. Cooperation In our work we cooperate with the schools, and the local social service providers. We have a good relationship with them. In this way we can get important information about the children, and we can also inform the schools and the social service providers if we realise some problems, where their help is also necessary. It is also an important relationship to fight against absenteeism. We also have good relationship with the parents. We involve them in some events, and we have daily contact with them so that we can get better information on the children, and parents also can follow the progress of their children. It means that we visit the families from time to time, and as it is a small village we also meet with them regularly. Also we keep contact with other afternoon schools. With the other afternoon schools we also organise meetings, were the children and the experts can meet. Free time activities Next to the studying we also provide the children free time activities. They can do creative activities, different handcrafts, play football or table tennis, play different games. We celebrate together the important events like Christmas or Easter. These events are usually together with the parents. We organise for them camps, excursions. The abilities developed They can belong to a community that can develop their abilities, their personality. Here during the different programs we are able to develop their social skills and competences. We also develop their organisational skills and competences, because as they get older we give more responsible tasks for the children. In the trips and 4

5 camps the older children are the leader of the smaller ones as they have more experience in the programs, and they are able to share their experiences with the younger ones. It can also motivate the young children, that one day they can also become the leaders. It is also important how much the children became able to use their knowledge in a complex way in different topics. Like when we visit some places during the trips the more motivated children can look up additional information, so that they will become the expert of the theme, and they can show around their friends. These kinds of activities also develop their presentational skills. Next to the key competences (basic competences, mental competences, personal competences) the ability to organise and use the information is also very important (so that they will became able to look up the information, find the important information among others, use the information and organise the information). Also to develop the communicational skills are very important. For the parents the most important thing is that the children are under care in the afternoons, and the parents can be sure that the children are not just lazing around on the streets, but they will prepare their homework. We can say that this is a very complex program with many different aspects that all together seems to be able to close up the disadvantages of Roma children, and lessen the drop-out. Conclusions We think that it is a common problem to solve how to provide supervision for the children in the afternoon and help their studies. The parents of the children who are underprivileged can t give the necessary help for the studies of their children. They are usually not highly educated, and because of their financial status, they can t provide the same opportunities for their children. In this project we can give the necessary help for the children so that they can prepare their homework, study for the tests. They can find all the necessary help, but they can also find the methods of non formal education, other educational methods than in the schools. We already have feedback from the first period of the afternoon school. Many of the first students already finished their studies, and they went to colleges, universities, they already have their degree, and some of them already found jobs. We were able to lower the number of drop-outs, and fewer children had to repeat a year, if we compare with those children who didn t participate in the project. 5

6 There is an interesting side effect of the project. The parents of the children became more open also. In the beginning of the project the Roma parents didn t even wanted to let their children to the camps and trips, they were afraid to let others to take care of the children. During the project there were occasions when the parents could come, when they were also involved, like family days, holiday celebrations. They get used to these kinds of programs, they also became more active, and they are happy if their children are able to participate in the programs. We think that in each country there is a possibility to implement such afternoon schools; the only problem can be the financial background. We can operate the program from grants as well. Without the support of the state, the EU or other founds it would be very hard to provide the same level of services. It is very important that our project correspond the Principle No. 2 of the Council Conclusions on Inclusion of the Roma: Explicit but not exclusive targeting. Every children can apply to the afternoon school, not only Roma children. We believe that it is not integration if we give help only for Roma children to close up the differences; it is also a kind of segregation. But if Roma and non-roma children study together, and they see each other as equal, that is integration. This idea is very similar to the Principle No 4: Aiming for the mainstream. As the children get extra help from the afternoon school, but they have to prove their knowledge in the mainstream education together with all the other children, and they are not segregated to be developed. Why is this best practice? It is a good opportunity to improve the community. As during the activities the children can become one team. The parents are also involved in the events, and in some programs, so it is also good to make them a community as well. The parents also became more open, and more active in the community. This is a different type of education, different surrounding than the school, and many children can show their abilities better in such surrounding. They can get the help of professionals. And the teachers can use different methods than in the school, and develop the children with non-formal education. The children can get better tools for their studies. We can offer equipments in the community house that they don t have back at home. Like computers, internet, many books, lexicons. Many of them have some lacks form some classes, and their parents won t be able to pay for private lessons, but like this, they can get the help of teachers for their studies. They also have to work in groups, so we also develop their social and cooperative abilities. It also provides free time activities to the children. It is also an important part, as this is a good motivation for the children to come to the community house every day. 6

7 It helps to decrease the number of dropouts, and to improve the children academic results. All of the children in the program continued their studies, and after the primary school went to secondary schools. Some of the first students already finished higher education, colleges. The children are developed in the afternoon school, but they have to prove their abilities in normal schools. It helps their integration in the educational system, and not creates special schools for Roma children. References (Note: all of the references are available in Hungarian.) Documents on the call for proposals for the next period of this programme: A research paper on the results of the closed program: The standards for the afternoon schools: Contact Details Former State Fostered Children s Association Address: 59. Bocskai Street Tiszadob 4456 Hungary Telephone: vagoe04@gmail.com Website: 7