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The aim of the interlinked activities for young professionals who have then trained school children, has been to empower them to tackle issues related to being from a monitory and to bring about positive and lasting change to their communities.
DRC Kosovo supported eight teachers who attended the Summer Institute 2023 and then worked directly with 50 primary school children during the following Summer School. The teachers and students alike came from Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities, that are among the largest and most vulnerable minorities in Kosovo.
‘It has been meaningful and encouraging to see these collaborative efforts taking shape and now having completed a activity that all participants have a lot of faith in. The move towards more inclusion, mutual understanding and respect are indeed changes that are needed to shape future and more coherent societies,’ says Kristen Stec, Director for DRC Kosovo.
The entire Fellowship Programme for 2023 involved activities from 3 July to 4 August, and is part of a three-year project made possible through funds from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) presented by the Swedish Embassy in Pristina.
During the first week, the teachers were trained and equipped to practice new knowledge to better understand and value diversity. They also went through training in aspects of equity and inclusiveness as well as activism for social change and human rights and modern pedagogy. To operationalise the topics, the young teachers were eventually supported to create a plan for applying their new tools and insights.
After the first week of training in the Summer Institute, the teachers continued to work directly with children in the Summer School for three weeks. Along with the 50 children from minority groups whose participation was supported by DRC, another 100 children from the majority community in Kosovo joined the Summer School organised by the local NGO Teach for Kosova.
In addition to the tailored curricula and learning new skills for the children in the Summer School, the idea was not least that children were given a chance to socialise, play and learn together. In the months to come, the fellowships for the young teachers will be followed up by in-service supervision and training.