News

CIDT "Amalipe" helds a regional workshop for representatives of kindergartens, local authorities and regional education institutions from 4 districts in central Bulgaria -   Veliko Tarnovo, Shumen, Pleven, Targovishte. The event is part of the "Ready for School" Project, contracted by the "Trust for social achievement" (TSA), and supported by the "America for Bulgaria" Foundation.

The workshop will be held on 13 September 2016 at the Regional Education Institution office in Veliko Tarnovo at 11 a.m.

During the meeting, will be discussed the upcoming project activities and opportunities for deepening the partnership between NGOs, kindergartens, regional education institutions and local authorities.

Participants in the meeting will be representatives of REI - Veliko Tarnovo, Shumen, Targovishte, Pleven, principals of 23 kindergartens, representatives of partner NGO-s and employees of municipal administrations.

The project is implemented for the third consecutive year in the country. In 2014-2016, Center "Amalipe" implemented the project activities for the ditrict of Veliko Tarnovo. In the academic year 2016-2017 the Center will be the Regional Organization for the project implementation. REI Veliko Tarnovo has supported the project since its start in 2014.

During the current school year the project will support 107 children from Veliko Tarnovo region, 66 children from Pleven, 38 children from the town of Varna and 25 children from Targovishte. Support includes: payment of fees for kindergartens, Internet fees for kindergartens, payment of medical check-ups and provide teaching materials. The project activities will be focused towards improving parents' personal responsibility, and will take a number of advocacy activities to local and state authorities in order to ensure free access to early childhood education for all children in Bulgaria.

For more information

Sylvia Boyanova project coordinator - 0884 858 655

The school bell will mark the beginning of the academic year 2015/2016 in 240 schools participating in the educational program of Centre "Amalipe" - "Every student will be a winner". The ambassadors of Switzerland and the Netherlands, Deputy Education Minister Krassimir Kiriakov, the State Ombudsman Maya Manolova, director of CEICSEM and officials from state institutions and embassies will visit some of the schools to express their support of parents, students and teachers from partner schools and will bring a lot of smiles and joy to the children.

Current information about festivities and guests will be published on www.romaeducation.com

"Every student will be a winner" Program is implemented by CIDT "Amalipe" with the support of the Trust for social achievement. It aims to minimize dropouts, absenteeism, to significantly increase the percentage of Roma boys and girls who continue their education in secondary schools and to improve the quality of education.

During the academic year 2015 - 2016, the program was implemented in 170 schools. Due to increased interest from September 2016 it will include 240 schools nationwide.

  Inspiration and faith. These two words can describe most accurately the eighth Advocacy camp of Roma medicine students. It was held from 9 to 11 September in Veliko Tarnovo and was organized by Amalipe. It was attended by over 35 students from all medical universities in the country. Some of them were Scholars of the Program to support the education of Roma in medical universities (Roma Health Scholarship Program). Others were former scholars who participated willingly in the initiative.

Various topics were presented during the three days of training, all of them - useful to young people on the verge of completing their university education and subsequent job search. Prof. Daniela Tassevska and prof. Mariana Mandeva, from the University "St. Cyril and Methodius " in Veliko Tarnovo, gave them useful and practical tips on how to prepare their CVs and successful creative cover letters, how to behave during a job interview and how best to "sell" themselves on the labour market. Dr. Mavrodi Kaleynski, known specialist with years of experience, revealed what type of challenges are met in practice and how to choose what area of medicine to specialize in.

Students were not limited to medical topics only. As young people of Roma origin, they were excited about all the problems faced in the community. Therefore they also discussed with Theodora Krumova and Temenuzhka Kostova cases of early marriages, which is still highly typical among young girls. Young people expressed their desire to meet with students at risk of dropping out of the educational system for one or another reason. They noted that it is important to work with their parents to achieve a qualitative change.

Interesting for the students was also the meeting with prof. Tatiana  Dronzina, a professor in the Department of Political Science at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". She talked about ethnic identity in the globalized world and Deyan Kolev discussed with the students the most important aspects of modern Roma identity. Prof. Dronzina also present intriguing topic for women in the Islamic state, and results from a study of radicalization of young people in Bulgaria.

On the last day of training students got acquainted with unfamiliar aspects of Romani history. Boris Borisov and Dr. Assen Kolev told their personal stories about their way from the neighborhood to the school and university. Along with Deyan Kolev they presented some little-known facts about the beginning of the Roma movement after the changes in 1989.

At the end of the camp the students shared how much they received from their participation in the Program to support the education of Roma in medical universities and in the annual training on advocacy and how they hope to continue the connection between them in the future.

The participants looked at some pictures of previous camps. "We have become more mature, and we are still young" they joked. And they were quite accurate in that finding. Their team was very inspirational. And this inspiration brought their belief in the future of Roma community in Bulgaria: smiling, bold and inspired ...