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PROGRAM ACTIVITIES |
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ACTIVITIES IN 2009: |
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1. Analysis of the Potential for Introducing Elements of Consumer Protection in the Teaching Process
(Center for Consumer Protection - CEZAP) EUR 2,234
CEZAP designed the project in the light of the efforts to introduce topics concerning consumer protection in the formal education system, in line with the Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Consumer Protection Program, which envisages education of consumers.
Experts from the Bureau for Educational Services and CEZAP will review the primary and secondary school curricula in order to assess the potential for introducing elements of consumer protection. They will be helped by experts from Macedonia, who have seven years of experience in working on consumer protection programs for children and youth. These activities are supported by the East East Program which provides support to regional projects.
[The project was also allocated EUR 9,466 from the European Program, its total budget EUR 11,700.]
2. What follows after leaving the Home?
(NGO Forum MNE) EUR 13,386
The project is intended to support the residents of the Children’s Home in Bijela secure quality independent life outside the Home after they turn 18. Forum MNE activists will work with fifteen residents aged 15-18, six of whom are supposed to leave the Home in 2010.
The participants will attend several training programs aimed to facilitate their access to employment and will learn about the procedure to obtain personal and travel documents. Forum MNE will seek to establish links with the local communities that individual residents originally came from and initiate establishment of a permanent service to support these young people after they leave the institution.
3. Support for the First External Matura 2010
(Examination Center of Montenegro) EUR 4,950
The external matura, which enables all high-school graduates to be tested under identical conditions, will be implemented for the first time in Montenegro in 2010. The Examination Center conducted two pilot testings that involved all high-school students in 2008 and 2009. The pilots showed that some segments of exam administration required new software or upgrading of the available one. These activities should be finalized by May 2010. FOSI ROM has been supporting the projects that contribute to successful evaluation of education reform process and development of quality assurance mechanisms since 2004.
1. Youth Programs in Cetinje and Promotion of Youth Work
(NGO From Youth to You) EUR 6,002
The project should highlight the need and importance of working with youth in Cetinje.
Activists and youth workers from the NGO From Youth to You will conduct interactive workshops with elementary and secondary school students. After completing the program, the participants will organize actions that respond to the interests and needs of young people from this town. It is envisaged that they will establish cooperation with Development, the association of parents of children with special needs, and the organization working in the local Roma community.
Some activities will be addressed at the local community, aiming to obtain support for a youth club that would provide quality programs for the young people of Cetinje and to ensure adoption of a local action plan for youth.
2. Strengthening the Capacities and Membership of the NGO Association of Civil Education Teachers
(NGO Association of Civil Education Teachers) EUR 4,857
The project envisages training for a group of 15 current and future elementary and secondary school teachers of Civil Education and expanding the membership of the Association.
The first stage will include a three-day seminar where teachers will learn about the basics of project management, define the organizational structure of their NGO and develop a preliminary action plan. The second stage will include a one-day meeting to design the action plan.
Stronger membership and enhanced capacities of the Association should lead to a more productive participation of all teachers in improving the quality teaching and learning Civil Education.
1. Education Transit
(NGO Skadar Lake) EUR 3,413
The project envisages preparing and broadcasting a series of 12 one-hour radio programs and two special programs on education. The programs will cover topics such as: child rights; corruption in education; religious teaching as a new subject; sexual education as a new subject; IT education; drug addiction in schools; role of parents in education reform; education of children with special needs. The two special programs will focus on non-formal education; NGO Skadar Lake will design them together with the NGO Forum MNE during their summer camps.
The series will be broadcast weekly by the Skadar Lake radio station.
The project is intended to contribute to education reform by opening a discussion on the given issues that concern the educational system and the society in general.
2. Model for Sustainable Student Participation / Pilot Project: Youth Workers in Elementary Schools
(Forum MNE) EUR 7,709
The project is intended to promote a new profession - youth worker. During academic year 2009/2010, a professional youth worker will organize extracurricular activities - four hours, five days a week - for students of higher grades of elementary school. These workshops will equip students with social skills that will help them take an active role in school life and exercise their rights. Youth worker will also provide information to those interested about issues of relevance for their personal and professional life.
The idea of a project on sustainable student participation in elementary school originated from cooperation between Forum MNE and the Ministry of Education and Science.
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Podgorica, 29 April, 2010 - Final event in Primary School Oktoih
3. Towards Inclusion in Secondary Education - Stage II
(NGO Montenegrin Association of Youth with Disabilities - UMHCG) EUR 11,345
The project targets both teachers and students and fosters inclusive secondary education.
UMHCG team of trainers will organize 13 one-day workshops for secondary school teachers from Podgorica, Nikšić, Kotor, Bijelo Polje, Pljevlja, Berane, Bar, Herceg Novi and Cetinje. They will cover issues of relevance for the disabled (language and approaches to disability, human rights of disabled persons, achieving equal opportunities, inclusive education). They will also teach 21 classes on inclusive education in secondary schools in Podgorica, Bijelo Polje and Bar.
Project activities have been defined with the support of the Bureau for Educational Services.
4. Education to Recognize the Value of Physical Space
(NGO Expeditio, Center for Sustainable Development) EUR 9,577
The project represents a concrete application of some of the activities envisaged by the Action Plan to Introduce Sustainable Development in the Educational System and promotes the related school subject. NGO Expeditio designed a program for elementary and secondary school students in Kotor that is based on practical intervention in their own space - the school yard of "Savo Ilić" Elementary School. In addition, students will attend ten workshops based on the curriculum for the school subject of Valuing Physical Space and the Manual "Education to Recognize the Value of Physical Space".
The project also includes activities to raise awareness in the community on the need for education on the value of space. It therefore includes organization of a visit of students from the northern region of the country and a round table, as well as ensuring media coverage, which will involve secondary school students attending the course on Media Literacy.
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Kotor, 8 November, 2009 - Workshop in Elementary School "Narodni heroj Savo Ilić"
1. Open Day and Survey Involving Parents
(NGO Forum MNE) EUR 9,608
The project is a follow-up to the regional survey "Improving Inclusion and Quality of Education in SEE", implemented in: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Croatia, and supported and coordinated by the OSI Education Support Program and national Soros foundations. Parents’ views on the forms and quality of school-parent cooperation will be considered during Phase One. Findings from this phase will serve to develop models to improve parents’ involvement in education (Phase Two).
Association of Parents will organize a one-day training event for representatives of three elementary schools (from the northern, central and southern region of the country). They will also define the activities for the Open Days for Parents that will take place in the given schools in the autumn of 2009. This will serve to assess in practice the model to improve parents’ involvement in school functioning.
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Berane, November 11, 2009 - Open Day in Primary School Vuk Karadzic
(NGO Forum MNE) EUR 18,311
The project comprises two one-week summer camps for groups of 25 secondary school students (2nd and 3rd grade) from Podgorica, Nikšić, Kotor, Berane, Ulcinj, Bar, Herceg Novi, Mojkovac and Bijelo Polje. Participants will include young people from marginalized groups, such as Roma, residents of institutions and socially disadvantaged ones.
In the worskhops envisaged, participants will acquire new information, knowledge and skills in areas such as: critical thinking, media literacy, risky types of behavior (especially in terms of sexual and reproductive health). The experts in charge of delivering the workshops will use the teaching material available for the subject Media Literacy and the Handbook on Sexual and Reproductive Health. As follow-up activities, participants will organize worskhops on these issues in ten secondary schools in their respective communities.
FOSI ROM supported the project Youth Camps in 2008.
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Rijeka Crnojevica 5–11 July, 2009 - Workshop: Risky types of behavior (especially in terms of sexual and reproductive health)
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Rijeka Crnojevica 27 June - 4 July, 2009 - Workshop: Critical thinking and Media literacy
2. Educating Parents’ Councils on the Issues and Areas Identified as Priorities in the Needs Analysis Activity: Infrastructure and Fundraising for the School, Prioritization of School Needs, Fundraising and Project Proposal Writing, Inclusive Teaching and Clarifying the Education Reform and the Role of Parents
(NGO Parents’ Association of Montenegro - URCG) EUR 11,022.10
The project includes preparation and implementation of workshops intended for Parents’ Councils in 25 elementary schools that were included in the Associations’ surveys Monitoring and Evaluation of Education Reform from the Parents' Perspective, New General-Program Secondary School from the Parents' Perspective and Parent-School Cooperation.
The surveys indicated that the Councils needed further training, and the parents themselves stated they principally needed information concerning infrastructure and fundraising for school purposes, inclusive teaching, education reform and the role of parents.
By supporting this project that meets the needs of Parents’ Councils, FOSI ROM is enabled to contribute to strengthening civil sector impact on the work of institutions.
3. Monitoring and Improvement of Curricula Implementation in Elementary and Secondary Schools
(Bureau for Educational Services) EUR 20,155
BES will undertake a comprehensive monitoring activity in elementary and secondary schools in order to determine the extent to which the reform is being implemented in practice. The findings will be used to prepare recommendations and set up activities to help schools overcome the difficulties they are encountering. The recommendations generated will be published in the form of a separate booklet.
Within the project, BES will also train school management to develop action plans and implement the professional development system within schools. Adequate manuals will be prepared for these purposes. BES will distirbute the printed material to all schools.
1. Volunteerism in Schools
(NGO Association for Democratic Prosperity - ZID) EUR 12,446.50
The project will serve to develop the curriculum for this optional subject in elementary schools and for the compulsory elective units (groups) in secondary schools. In addition, a training program for teachers will be designed.
The knowledge and skills acquired by young people through volunteer work enable them to develop initiatives, to be active and empowered to respond to various challenges they encounter in their schools and their environment. The project also encourages students to take an active role and have an impact on the life of the school.
ADP Zid developed the Volunteerism in Schools Project/Program relying on the segment of the Volunteerism Development Strategy concerning education.
2. Development of Human Resources in the Field of Professional Development of Teachers in the Montenegrin Educational System
(NGO Pedagogical Center of Montenegro - PCCG) EUR 12,548
The project aims to establish a system for the professional deevlopment of teachers, taking into account the need for greater school autonomy in evaluating and upgrading teaching practice.
Together with BES, PCCG will deliver teacher training and form teams of trainers for the following programs: Step by Step, Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking, Cooperative Learning, Mentorship Program etc.
The overall program for development of human resources in this field will be implemented over a three-year period (2009 – 2012). The given project covers the activities in 2009.
3. Support to PISA 2009 (Main Testing)
(Examination Center of Montenegro) EUR 11,050
The project continues FOSI ROM support to PISA in Montenegro. The pilot testing took place in March 2008. The main testing is planned to take place between March 23 and April 30 2009; it will include 5,200 students from 48 secondary schools and six elementary schools. Montenegro will be one of the 68 countries participating in PISA 2009.
The project covers the expenses of the National Project Manager and National Data Manager as well as the expenses related to the necessary technical support.
In addition to assessing the capacity of 15-year old students to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in school, the questionnaires that students, teachers and school principals will complete will help identify the factors related to successful performance in the test.
4. Training for Media Literacy Teachers
(NGO Pedagogical Center of Montenegro - PCCG) EUR 10,816.60
The project includes two seminars for teachers of Media Literacy from all general-program secondary schools in the country. The first seminar will deal with the basics of media theory, definitions of media, the concept and ways of media manipulation. The participants will be provided detailed information on the curriculum and teaching materials. Practical experiences will be presented and participants will work on planning lessons. The second seminar will deal with modern teaching methods and will follow the curriculum for Media Literacy.
FOSI ROM has supported introduction of Media Literacy since 2007. As of school year 2008/2009, Media Literacy has been available to third and fourth grade students of general-program secondary school, as an innovative elective subject.
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Budva 3-5 April, 2009 - First seminar
5. Participation of Mr. Dragan Bogojević, BES Director, at the Conference "Education and Civil Society"
(in-house project) EUR 259.48
OSI New York, together with the local partners, organized the Conference "Education and Civil Society" in Zagreb, 6 February 2009. The Conference was attended by representatives of educational institutions and associations from the region and representatives of OSI Foundations. Montenegro was represented by Mr. Dragan Bogojević, BES Director, and Mrs. Božena Jelušić, member of FOSI ROM Board of Directors.