News

H.E. Anick, Van Calster, Ambassador of the King of the Belgians, was on a working visit in Veliko Tarnovo on November 26, 2013.

     Ambassador’s program included meetings with the Governor, with the Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo, the Rector of the University ,,St. Cyril and Methodius" and the team of the Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance ,, Amalipe" - Veliko Tarnovo. The program was agreed with the Centre's office ten days in advance.

     The meeting was held in the office of the Amalipe Center in the presence of the chairman Deyan Kolev , deputy chairman Theodora Krumova, the education team and the team working on the Daphne program.

     Amalipe Center maintains good contacts with the Embassy of Belgium and our last meeting was on the first day of school - Formal opening of the new school year in the village of Hristo Danovo,  Karlovo Municipality, Plovdiv District.

     H.E. Anick, Van Calster expressed her admiration of the achieved teamwork between school - students - parents - institutions – Amalipe Center. The Community development centers, established by Amalipe in all parts of the country were also of great interest. The CCD work for public awareness, for increasing the employment rate, for increasing people's motivation to pursue greater education at all ages and their desire to be competitive.

     The talk about school education and educational integration, and specifically the model of Amalipe Center, applied in more than 200 schools in the country under the Program Decreasing dropout rate of Roma children from school.

   H.E. Anick, Van Calster familiarized the staff of the Centre with the education system in Belgium, explaining that the state education policy there was a very high level and therefore there was no great interest in private schools.

     She shared her personal experience associated with her ​​family, about her attitudes towards migrant children, bilingual and temporarily residing in Belgium. The attitude there was extremely tolerant and there was a strong supportive environment that helped them to adapt and cope with language and learning material.

     The issue about the behavior of parents both in Belgium and in Bulgaria was very serious. For us, this conversation was vital because Amalipe Center has set itself the ambitious task of making parents involved and more responsible not only for ensuring regular attendance of children in school, but also to achieve a higher success in school.

     With great awareness and competence H.E. drew a parallel in the legislation of both countries and familiarized the Centre team with practices that had led to the successful operation not only in schools but also in kindergarten.

     The chairman of CIEDT Amalipe Deyan Kolev gave the Ambassador of Belgium printed materials in English, which support schools and community centers in their work, a report of the overall activity of the Center and traditional handmade souvenirs from craftsmen and students around the country.

     H.E. Anick, Van Calster left with wishes for health, new meetings and future cooperation!