[Article 8]

[Romany]

[The Rainbow Ball - the Globe]



Our address:
Nadace Tolerance
Senovazne namesti 24
116 47, Praha 1
tel.:/fax: (02) 24 10 23 14

E-mail: tolerance@ecn.cz

Bank account:
KB - 69732-111/0100

Webmaster: WEBLOTOS

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EDUCATING ROM CHILDREN AND THEIR MOTHERS

The purpose of the project is to develop a practical model for providing meaningful educational services for Rom pre-school children and their mothers.

This project uses the already established 0-grade classes for Rom children as a point of departure, as a way of reaching Rom mothers. While it is unlikely that Rom women would be interested in an educational program just because a group of Czechs told them it was good for them, we believe that they would be far more receptive if the program was offered in the school that their children attend and in collaboration with teachers that they already know.

The "mothers' program" will begin in the classroom of their children, where they will learn about the needs of pre-school children, the school regime, what will happen in grade 1 (including a visit in a grade 1 classroom at work). The mothers will also do some work in their child's classroom as teacher aides.

As they become comfortable in the school setting, their lessons will change from focusing on their child to focusing on their own needs. Their lesson topics will include such practical areas as communications and conflict resolution, healthcare, childhood diseases, sex education, visit to a paediatric clinic, information about rights and responsibilities of parents, training in skills needed to fill out forms and find out public information, as well as practice in basic literacy skills. Topics will be adjusted according to need and skill level of the participants.

Expert lecturers as well as student-teachers will be involved in the "mothers course" which will be conducted in 5 locations across the Republic. We are expecting a double benefit from the involvement of student-teachers - 1) they will be a link between the mothers' class and the children's class and, being close in age to the mothers, will help in establishing good rapport; and 2) they will gain experience in working with students of other ethnic groups, which they will be able to use in their own teaching practice.

We are hopeful that at the end of the course some mothers will be interested in pursuing accredited courses in the education or social work field. We also anticipate that the mothers' involvement in the school will have positive influence on the attitudes of their children toward school and education.