Ghid Educational

coal i comunitate
Model de intervenie n comunitile cu copii rmai acas

coal i comunitate
Model de intervenie n comunitile cu copii rmai acas
Program dedicat copiilor cu prini plecai la munc n strintate
Coordonatori:
Denisa Ionescu coordonator program
Raluca Popescu coordonator cercetare
Autori:
Alexandra Grigore (Cap. 6.3.2.)
Ana-Maria Suciu (Cap. 4)
Claudia Bocoiu (Cap. 6.1.2, Cap. 6.6)
Cria Curteanu (Cap. 6.7)
Cristina Schiel (Cap. 6.3.1)
Denisa Ionescu (Introducere, Cap. 1, Cap. 2, Cap. 3, Cap. 5, Cap 7)
Felicia Palamar (Cap. 6.2.1)
Flavia Bistrian (Cap. 6.1.1)
Irina Boeru (Cap 6.2.2)
Laura Tuf (Cap. 6.2.2)
Maria tefnescu (Cap. 6.8)
Melinda Dinc (Cap. 6.1.2, Cap. 6.6)
Mihaela Stoichescu (Cap. 6.1.1)
Oana Vieru (Anexa 3)
Raluca Popescu (Cap. 6.1.2, Cap. 6.2.2., Cap. 6.3.2., Cap. 6.4, Cap. 6.5, Cap. 6.6,
Cap 6.7, Cap. 6.8, Cap 6.9, Cap 6.10, Cap. 7, Anexa 1)
Teodora Bulgaru (Cap. 6.1.2, Cap. 6.6)
Fundaia Soros Romnia promoveaz modele pentru dezvoltarea unei societi
bazate pe libertate, responsabilitate i respect pentru diversitate.
2011 Fundaia Soros Romnia (FSR)
Toate drepturile sunt rezervate Fundaiei Soros Romnia. Nici publicaia
i nici fragmente din ea nu pot f reproduse fr permisiunea Fundaiei Soros Romnia.
Fundaia Soros Romnia, Str. Cderea Bastiliei nr. 33, sector 1, Bucureti
Telefon: (021) 212.11.01, Fax: (021) 212.10.32, E-mail: info@soros.ro, www.soros.ro
Coninutul prezentei publicaii i/sau opiniile prezentate n cadrul acesteia nu refect,
n mod necesar, vederile Fundaiei Soros Romnia.
ISBN 978-973-0-11126-2
coal i comunitate
Model de intervenie n comunitile
cu copii rmai acas
Mai 2011
4
COAL I COMUNITATE Model de intervenie n comunitile cu copii rmai acas
5
1. DATE DE CONTEXT ...................................................................................................... 10
1.1. Cadrul european.......................................................................................................... 10
1.2. Contextul naional ...................................................................................................... 12
1.2.1. Cadrul legislativ naional ....................................................................................... 15
1.3. Concluzii .................................................................................................................... 17
2. JUSTIFICAREA IMPLEMENTRII UNUI ASEMENEA PROIECT .............................. 17
3. Alternarea educaiei formale cu educaia non-formal variant
realist de mbuntire a situaiei copiilor afai n situaie de risc............................... 19
Formarea din cadrul proiectului. Metodele folosite ........................................................ 19
4. EFECTE ALE REVENIRII EMIGRANILOR
REINTEGRAREA N SISTEMUL EDUCAIONAL DIN ROMNIA ............................. 21
4.1. Ce spun titlurile? ........................................................................................................ 23
4.2. Identifcarea potenialelor probleme de reintegrare ................................................ 24
4.3. Problemele de limb ................................................................................................. 26
4.4. coala romneasc vs. coala din ara gazd ............................................................ 26
4.5. Aspecte complementare ............................................................................................ 28
4.6. Concluzii i recomandri .......................................................................................... 30
5. METODOLOGIA INIIATIVEI ...................................................................................... 31
5.1. Alegerea colilor ......................................................................................................... 31
5.2. Diagnoza comunitilor ............................................................................................. 31
5.3. Crearea grupului local de lucru ................................................................................. 32
5.4. Aciunile la nivel local ............................................................................................... 34
5.4.1. Cum au fost dezvoltate proiectele locale ............................................................... 34
5.5. Transferarea proiectului comunitii locale ............................................................. 38
6. COMUNITILE ANALIZATE ....................................................................................... 38
LOCALITI N CARE S-A IMPLEMENTAT PROGRAMUL
COAL I COMUNITATE ............................................................................................ 39
6.1. Glimboca .................................................................................................................... 39
6.1.1. Descrierea proiectului local ................................................................................... 39
6.1.2. Evaluarea impactului proiectului local .................................................................. 42
6.2. Marginea ................................................................................................................... 47
6.2.1. Descrierea proiectului local .................................................................................... 47
6.2.2. Evaluarea impactului proiectului local ................................................................. 51
6.3. Prejmer ...................................................................................................................... 59
6.3.1. Descrierea proiectului local ................................................................................... 60
6.3.2. Evaluarea impactului proiectului local ................................................................. 62
Cuprins
6.4. Probleme ale comunitilor i evaluarea
proiectelor de tip coal i Comunitate ........................................................................... 70
6.5. Concluzii .................................................................................................................... 72
LOCALITI N CARE NU S-A IMPLEMENTAT
UN PROGRAM DE TIP COAL I COMUNITATE ...................................................... 75
6.6. Obreja ......................................................................................................................... 75
6.7. Hrman ...................................................................................................................... 81
6.8. Volov ....................................................................................................................... 87
6.9. Probleme ale comunitii, ale copiilor i nevoia de proiect ...................................... 94
6.10. Concluzii ................................................................................................................. 96
7. PROIECTUL COAL I COMUNITATE
UN EXEMPLU DE BUNE PRACTICI .............................................................................. 98
ANEXE ............................................................................................................................. 101
Anexa 1. Metodologia cercetrii ...................................................................................... 101
Anexa 2. Eseuri ale copiilor benefciari ai proiectului .................................................... 103
Anexa 3. Cteva dintre metodele folosite n cadrul programului ................................... 106
7
Tabel 1 - Grila de analiz ........................................................................................................ 22
Tabel 2 - Probleme ale comunitii din Glimboca n viziunea membrilor comunitii ........ 43
Tabel 3 - Probleme ale copiilor din Glimboca n viziunea membrilor comunitii* ............. 44
Tabel 4 - Aprecierea implicrii n proiect a partenerilor (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5) ....... 45
Tabel 5 - Evaluarea activitilor proiectului (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5) .......................... 45
Tabel 6 - Aprecierea impactului proiectului (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5) ......................... 46
Tabel 7 - Probleme ale comunitii din Marginea n viziunea membrilor comunitii ........ 52
Tabel 8 - Probleme ale copiilor din Marginea n viziunea membrilor comunitii* ............ 53
Tabel 9 - Evaluarea activitilor proiectului (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5) ......................... 55
Tabel 10 - Aprecierea implicrii n proiect a partenerilor (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5) .... 57
Tabel 11 - Aprecierea impactului proiectului (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5) ........................ 57
Tabel 12 - Probleme ale comunitii din Prejmer n viziunea membrilor comunitii ........ 63
Tabel 13 - Probleme ale copiilor din Prejmer n viziunea membrilor comunitii* ............. 63
Tabel 14 - Aprecierea implicrii partenerilor n proiecte
(pe ansamblu, n toate cele 3 comuniti) ..................................................... 71
Tabel 15 - Aprecierea impactului proiectelor (pe ansamblu, n toate cele 3 comuniti) ..... 72
Tabel 16 - Probleme ale comunitii din Obreja n viziunea membrilor comunitii .......... 76
Tabel 17 - Probleme ale copiilor din Obreja n viziunea membrilor comunitii* ............... 76
Tabel 18 - Nevoi ale copiilor n viziunea membrilor comunitii ......................................... 79
Tabel 19 - Probleme ale comunitii din Hrman n viziunea membrilor comunitii ........ 82
Tabel 20 - Probleme ale copiilor din Hrman n viziunea membrilor comunitii* ............ 82
Tabel 21 - Nevoi ale copiilor din Hrman n viziunea membrilor comunitii* .................. 86
Tabel 22 - Probleme ale comunitii din Volov n viziunea membrilor comunitii ........ 88
Tabel 23 - Probleme ale copiilor din Volov n viziunea membrilor comunitii* ............. 89
Tabel 24 - Nevoi ale copiilor din Volov n viziunea membrilor comunitii* ................... 92
Figura 1 - Probleme ale comunitilor studiate ..................................................................... 70
Figura 2 - Probleme ale copiilor din comunitile cu proiect n viziunea comunitii ......... 71
Figura 3 - Cele mai grave trei probleme ale comunitilor studiate ...................................... 95
Figura 4 - Cele mai presante trei probleme ale copiilor din comunitile studiate .............. 95
Figura 5 - Cele mai importante trei soluii / idei de proiecte n comunitile studiate ........ 96
Figura 6 - G.G. (eseu din 2009; actualmente are 17 ani) ....................................................... 103
Figura 7 - A.P. (fat, din Marginea; n 2009 avea 12 ani) ...................................................... 104
Figura 8 - S.C. (elev din Marginea; n 2009 avea 15 ani) ....................................................... 105
Lista Tabelelor Lista fgurilor
8
9
Introducere
Prezentul ghid nsumeaz experiena de lucru a Fundaiei Soros
Romnia n comuniti rurale care se confrunt cu fenomenul copiilor rmai
acas.
Programul coal i comunitate a pornit de la rezultatele obinute
de FSR n urma realizrii a dou cercetri cu privire la efectele migraiei, i
anume acelea c n Romnia ar exista aproximativ 350.000 de copii rmai
acas i c efectele migraiei, asupra copiilor n special, sunt, de cele mai
multe ori, negative.
Programul a fost implementat n trei comune din Romnia: Glimboca
(judeul Cara-Severin), Marginea (judeul Suceava) i Prejmer (judeul
Braov).
Prezentul ghid se adreseaz att colilor care lucreaz cu copii cu
prini plecai la munc n strintate, autoritilor locale din comunitile
cu inciden crescut a migraiei, prinilor, dar i organizaiilor
nonguvernamentale i altor actori interesai de acest fenomen.
Ghidul ofer informaii despre:
cadrul european i cadrul naional n care poate f ncadrat
fenomenul copiilor rmai acas, efectele migraiei asupra celor
care rmn acas, legislaia n vigoare, ali actori care fac demersuri
n direcia ameliorrii situaiei copiilor rmai acas;
o analiz a materialelor media cu privire la situaia copiilor care au
migrat, cu prinii lor i care s-au rentors n ar; analiza a pornit de
la cteva din cazurile ntlnite n comunitile n care am intervenit,
de copii rentori i ne-am pus ntrebarea dac nu cumva situaia
lor poate reprezenta un subiect de refecie, mai ales reintegrarea
lor n sistemul educaional (reintegrarea att la nivel formal, ct i
la nivel informal);
metodologia dup care s-a derulat programul, cu accent pe etapele
programului i modul n care au fost dezvoltate proiecte la nivel
local, n cele trei comuniti rurale;
rezultatele cercetrii calitative i cantitative, realizate n noiembrie
2010, cercetare care a avut ca scop analiza comparativ ntre cele
trei comuniti unde s-a implementat programul Fundaiei Soros
i alte trei comuniti, asemntoare, unde nu a fost implementat;
10
11
cercetarea a urmrit, de asemenea, i s evalueze natura i msura
impactului avut n cele trei comuniti, asupra benefciarilor direci
i a celor indireci.
Realizarea lui nu ar f fost posibil fr aportul celor care au fcut parte
din program, pe o perioad mai lung sau mai scurt de timp, partenerilor cu
care am colaborat pe parcursul programului, celor trei coli implicate (i n
special cadrelor didactice implicate) i, nu n ultimul rnd, copiilor care au
fcut parte din program.
Mulumim echipelor locale de proiect:
Glimboca: Mihaela Stoichescu, Flavia Bistrian, Marioara epi,
Camelia Popa, Diana Chersa, Mirabela Bogoevici, Tudor Popa
Marginea: Felicia Palamar, Cornel Grosariu, Mariana Ilinca, Cristina
Chelba, Cristina Mihalescu, Simona Derevlean, Ctlina Herghelegiu, Elena
Halus, Gabriela Evule
Prejmer: Iuliana Irimia, Cristina Schiel, Mircea Sorin, Mihaela
Moniagu, Ciprian Ghioi, Mariana Palamiuc, Georgeta Crciun, Mihaela
Neagoe, Roxana Mzgaciu
Le mulumim colegilor de la Education Support Program, membri ai
Open Society Foundations, pentru sprijinul fnanciar oferit, precum i pentru
expertiza oferit n dezvoltarea metodologiei de evaluare a proiectelor locale.
1. Date de context
1.1. Cadrul european
Cadrul mare n care poate f plasat situaia copiilor din familii de
migrani este reglementat prin mai multe normative europene prin care se
recunoate, n primul rnd, faptul c acetia reprezint o categorie vulnerabil,
dezavantajat fe de situaia economic i social, de msurile de integrare
din ara n care se af, n funcie de istoricul migraiei ntr-o ar sau alta,
fe de infrastructura din ara unde triete familia de migrani, de accesul la
serviciile sociale i educaionale.
Potrivit studiului The Education of Migrant Children. An NGO Guide
to EU Policies and Actions realizat de ctre Education Support Program (n
2010)
1
, Agenda european, n ceea ce privete educaia copiilor i tinerilor
din familii de migrani, se concentreaz pe urmtoarele arii de interes:
1
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/esp/articles_publications/publications/education-migrant-
children-20101130
drepturi fundamentale, egalitate i antidiscriminare, integrare, incluziune
social i coeziune; educaie i formare.
Situaia copiilor care rmn acas se regsete, pentru prima dat, n
Rezoluia Parlamentului European din 12 martie 2009 referitoare la copiii
migranilor, care sunt lsai n ara de origine
2
, pornind de la cazul concret
al Romniei. Prin aceast rezoluie se atrage atenia asupra situaiei acestei
categorii de copii i a familiilor lor, menionnd c nu li s-a acordat o atenie
deosebit, PE solicitnd clar Comisiei Europene i statelor membre adoptarea
de msuri care s duc la mbuntirea situaiei sociale i educaionale a
acestora, la o mai bun informare asupra drepturilor i oportunitilor pe
care le au (n special prinii care migreaz), la analizarea dimensiunii reale a
fenomenului, la nivel european.
Solicitrile care ne intereseaz, n mod deosebit, din punct de vedere
al specifcului aciunilor FSR, n domeniul migraiei, sunt:
Solicit Comisiei s ntreprind un studiu de evaluare a
dimensiunilor, la nivelul UE, ale fenomenului reprezentat de copiii
migranilor care sunt lsai n ara de origine i s adune date la
nivelul UE cu privire la acest fenomen;
Solicit statelor membre s ia msuri n vederea mbuntirii
situaiei copiilor lsai n ara de origine de ctre prinii lor i s
le garanteze dezvoltarea normal n ceea ce privete educaia i
viaa social;
Solicit statelor membre s furnizeze informaii mai bune
migranilor cu privire la drepturile pe care acetia, mpreun cu
membrii familiilor lor, le au n ceea ce privete libera circulaie i
cu privire la informaiile disponibile la nivel naional i european
referitoare la locuitul n strintate i la termenii i condiiile
aferente ocuprii unui loc de munc n alt stat membru;
Solicit Comisiei i statelor membre s implice n mod activ
partenerii sociali i ONG-urile n aciuni ce au drept scop
mbuntirea situaiei copiilor migranilor.
Situaia copiilor din familiile de migrani, din Romnia, a fost adus
n discuie i n cadrul ntlnirii avute de o echip a FSR cu Raportorul
Special pentru Naiunile Unite n domeniul Drepturilor Migranilor, Jorge
Bustamante (cu ocazia vizitei fcute n Romnia, n iunie 2009).
2
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2009-
0132+0+DOC+XML+V0//RO
12
13
1.2. Contextul naional
Situaia copiilor rmai acas, n urma plecrii prinilor la munc
n strintate, a intrat n vizorul Fundaiei Soros Romnia n 2007, atunci
cnd experii notri au observat c cifrele ofciale de atunci erau mult
subdimensionate (la sfritul lunii iunie 2007, cifrele ofciale furnizate de
Autoritatea Naional pentru Protecia Copilului indicau un numr total de
82.464 copii ai cror prini sunt plecai n strintate.
3
).
n urma cercetrilor realizate n 2007 (Efectele migraiei. Copiii
rmai acas) i 2008 (Efectele migraiei. Copiii rmai acas: riscuri i
soluii
4
), cercetri care au relevat faptul c n Romnia exist un numr de
aproximativ 350.000 de copii rmai acas.
n prezent, datele ofciale oferite de ANPDC (actualmente nglobat n
Autoritatea Naional pentru Protecia Familiei i a Drepturilor Copilului, n
urma H.G.1385/26.11.2009
5
) nu cunosc o schimbare spectaculoas, indicnd,
la fnalul anului 2009, un numr de 85.605 copii rmai acas, dintre
care 24.472 au ambii prini plecai la munc n strintate, diferena de
48.665 avnd doar un printe plecat.
n termeni de studiere a fenomenului, a ceea ce se ntmpl cu aceast
categorie de copii sau de implementare de proiecte menite s amelioreze
situaia acestor copii i a familiilor afectate de fenomenul migraiei, UNICEF,
Asociaia Alternative Sociale i Salvai Copiii sunt dintre cele mai importante
organizaii care ntreprind diferite aciuni n aceast direcie. n 2008 UNICEF
alturi de Asociaia Alternative Sociale au derulat cercetarea Analiz la nivel
naional asupra fenomenului copiilor rmai acas prin plecarea prinilor la
munc n strintate.
Din 2010, Salvai Copiii deruleaz activiti de suport dedicate copiilor
i prinilor din familii de migrani, n 8 centre din ar (Bucureti, Craiova,
Mangalia, Petrila, Piteti, Reia, Trgovite, Timioara).
De asemenea, din 2007 i pn n prezent, am constatat o cretere
a gradului de preocupare pentru situaia copiilor rmai acas, nu doar
prin iniierea de proiecte sau realizarea de cercetri, de ctre sectorul
nonguvernamental, dar i prin iniierea de discuii ntre autoriti i societatea
civil, n vederea dezbaterii acestei situaii i gsirii de soluii viabile de
prevenire sau ameliorare a efectelor negative. La fnele anului 2010, a fost
3
Efectele migraiei. Copiii rmai acas FSR, 2007 http://www.soros.ro/ro/program_articol.
php?articol=63
4
http://www.soros.ro/ro/program_articol.php?articol=97
5
http://www.anpfdc.ro/content.aspx
organizat dezbaterea Costurile sociale ale migraiei forei de munc din
Romnia, organizat de Sub-Comisia de Populaie a Senatului n cooperare
cu Fondul ONU pentru Populaie.
Unele dintre propunerile lansate n urma dezbaterii sunt:
optimizarea sistemului de identifcare a copiilor cu prinii plecai
la munc n strintate i implicarea copiilor identifcai n risc n
servicii de asisten psihosocial pentru a le garanta dezvoltarea
normal n ceea ce privete educaia i viaa social;
dezvoltarea unor programe de susinere a familiilor care au n grij
copii ai cror prini sunt plecai la munc n strintate, care au
preluat anumite responsabiliti parentale (rude, bunici etc.);
dezvoltarea unor programe de educaie parental susinute de ctre
autoriti.
Propunerile se adreseaz n special autoritilor abilitate s ntreprind
demersuri n vederea transpunerii lor n aciuni concrete, dar i altor actori
care lucreaz n domeniu.
Revenind la efectele migraiei, cu referire strict la copiii care rmn
acas, cercetrile realizate de FSR (menionate anterior) au identifcat c
efectele pozitive sunt legate de bunstarea elevilor ai cror prini sunt plecai
n strintate. n cele mai multe dintre cazuri migraia prinilor determin
o cretere a nivelului de trai al copilului rmas acas. Efectele negative se
manifest la diferite niveluri: emoional, educaional, social (interaciuni
sociale i adaptare). Performana colar este prima afectat, constatndu-se,
de asemenea, o prevalen a comportamentului de tip antisocial. n aceeai
ordine de idei, este interesant de remarcat o deteriorare a relaiei copilului cu
printele rmas acas. Intervin i ali factori n manifestarea acestor efecte,
cum ar f situaia din familia de migrani: natura relaiei dintre cei doi prini,
relaia prinilor cu familia extins, dac bunicii sunt cei care rmn s aib
grij de copii sau nu, durata absenei prinilor.
mbucurtor a fost faptul c nu s-a constatat a f o corelaie ntre
lipsa prinilor i nrutirea strii de sntate a copiilor. Diferenele ntre
copiii de migrani i cei de non-migrani sunt relativ mici n ce privete
comportamentele deviante, totui plecarea prinilor reprezint un factor de
risc. Consumul de substane interzise minorilor (tutun, alcool) are o inciden
puin mai mare n rndul elevilor de gimnaziu care au ambii prini plecai
sau doar mama plecat la munc n strintate. De asemenea, datele prezint
un risc mai ridicat de abandon al colii n cazul copiilor cu prini plecai,
precum i rezultate colare mai slabe.
14
15
Pe ansamblu, copii ai cror prini sunt plecai la munc n strintate
au un profl asemntor cu cei ce triesc n familii monoparentale, ca urmare
a despririi prinilor sau a decesului unuia dintre ei. Acest lucru arat c,
dei plecarea la munc este temporar, efectele asupra copiilor pot f similare
cu cele ale unei despriri pe termen lung sau defnitive.
Spuneam puin mai devreme c plecarea unui printe sau a amndurora
n strintate pentru o perioad mai lung de timp poate determina apariia
unor probleme n performana colar n msura n care funciile ndeplinite
de prini nu sunt preluate de altcineva (printele rmas singur, familia
extins, persoana sau familia n grija cruia a rmas copilul). Pe de alt parte,
resursele familiei i ali factori legai de implicarea prinilor n cariera colar,
nu sunt singurii factori care contribuie la obinerea unor rezultate colare
bune sau proaste. Ali factori determinani pot f legai de caracteristici ale
copilului (abilitatea mental, atitudinea fa de coal i nvtur, interesul
i timpul petrecut pentru a nva sau a-i face temele), dar i de caracteristici
ale profesorilor i colilor (calitatea profesorilor, interesul i ajutorul acordat
fecrui elev, dotarea colilor), de infuena prietenilor de aceeai vrst
(aspiraii i modele de comportament) i a mentorilor sau personalitilor
admirate de ctre copil. Astfel, este posibil ca efectele negative ale plecrii
unui printe n strintate s poat f diminuate prin aciunea altor factori
ca cei menionai mai sus, incluznd efectele pozitive ale plecrii: cum ar f
creterea nivelului de trai, posibilitatea mai ridicat pentru copil de a cltori
n afara rii i contactul cu o alt cultur.
Un studiu realizat recent de FSR, Implicarea civic i politic a
tinerilor, n 2010, contribuie la clarifcarea relaiilor dintre migraia de munc
i performanele colare n Romnia.
Una dintre concluziile studiului este aceea c ntre performanele
colare ale elevilor de liceu i migraie exist cteva relaii negative, dar
de slab intensitate, atunci cnd acestea sunt estimate prin prezena sau
absena de corigene, de premii colare, prin media general i prin prezena
sau absena unei medii generale sub nota 7 (Bdescu, 2010)
6
. Efecte mai
importante pot f observate n ceea ce privete intenia de continuare a
studiilor dup terminarea liceului: elevii care au rude plecate afrm mai
frecvent c vor pleca la lucru n strintate dup terminarea liceului, i mai
rar c i vor continua studiile, dect ceilali elevi.
6
Implicarea civic i politic a tinerilor, Fundaia Soros Romnia, 2010
http://www.soros.ro/ro/fsier_acord_publicatii.php?publicatie=114
1.2.1. Cadrul legislativ naional
n momentul de fa, cadrul legislativ cuprinde doar o parte din ceea
ce presupune fenomenul copiilor rmai acas, consecinele migraiei asupra
copiilor, asupra celor care rmn s i ngrijeasc.
Legea nr. 272/2004 reglementeaz ceea ce nseamn protecia i
promovarea drepturilor copilului, neadresndu-se, n mod special, i copiilor
rmai acas.
Din 2006, a crescut gradul de interes pentru aceast categorie de
copii, n sensul n care a fost emis Ordinul nr. 219 din 15 iunie 2006 de
ctre secretarul de stat al Autoritii Naionale pentru Protecia Drepturilor
Copilului, privind identifcarea i monitorizarea copiilor ai cror prini sunt
plecai la munc n strintate.
Unul din lipsurile acestui ordin, pe care l-am resimit n practic, l
reprezint faptul c nu se vorbete despre colaborarea SPAS-urilor cu unitile
de nvmnt, atunci cnd vine vorba despre identifcarea i monitorizarea
copiilor cu prini plecai la munc n strintate. Lipsa specifcrii modului
concret n care cele dou ar trebui s interacioneze este mai mult dect
necesar.
n 2008, a fost aprobat Strategia Naional pentru Aprarea
Drepturilor Copilului, 2008 2013 (adoptat, mai exact, la 13 august
2008) n cadrul creia copiii rmai acas au fost introdui ca i categorie de
copii vulnerabili: Copii separai de prini sunt i copiii ai cror prini sunt
plecai la munc n strintate. Pentru unii dintre acetia situaia separrii de
prini este cu att mai grav cu ct sunt lsai n grija unor membri ai familiei
extinse sau a unor cunotine de familie, nenominalizate ca reprezentani
legali ai copiilor, fapt care conduce la imposibilitatea, pentru aceti copii, de
a benefcia de drepturile care li se cuvin, potrivit legii, sau la intrarea lor, ca
unic alternativ, n sistemul de protecie special.
mbuntirile pe care le aduce strategia sunt la nivelul recunoaterii
cooperrii dintre diferii actori (instituii, organizaii neguvernamentale, ali
actori) n vederea unei implementri efciente a acesteia. n Planul operaional
pentru implementarea Strategiei naionale n domeniul proteciei i
promovrii drepturilor copilului 2008 2013, cu privire la situaia copiilor
rmai acas, obiectivul operaional l reprezint Contientizarea populaiei,
precum i a autoritilor/ instituiilor privind importana meninerii relaiilor
dintre copii i prini n cazul copiilor separai temporar de prinii lor, iar
activitatea prin care ar trebui s se realizeze este elaborarea i aprobarea
unei metodologii cadru de lucru pentru SPAS-uri privind informarea i
16
17
consilierea prinilor care pleac la munc n strintate privind drepturile
i obligaiile care le revin i importana meninerii legturilor personale cu
copiii care rmn n ar.
Responsabil de implementare este ANPDC (actualmente ANPFDC),
avnd ca parteneri Ministerul Educaiei, Cercetrii, Tineretului i Sportului,
SPAS-urile, DGASPC-urile, sectorul nonguvernamental. n plan local
parteneriatul poate funcioneaz sau poate nu funcioneaz, depinznd
extrem de mult de specifcul fecrei comuniti.
La nivel formal, DGASPC-urile sunt subordonate Consiliilor Judeene,
respectiv Consiliilor Locale ale sectoarelor municipiului Bucureti, SPAS-
urile sunt subordonate Consiliilor Judeene, respectiv Consiliului General
al Municipiului Bucureti (pentru Serviciul public de asisten social de la
nivelul judeelor) sau consiliilor locale (pentru serviciul public de asisten
social de la nivelul municipiilor, oraelor i sectoarelor municipiului
Bucureti), aceast direcionare a responsabilitilor putnd face difcil
implementarea planului, prin prisma faptului c niciuna din aceste structuri
nu se supun direct ANPDC (ANPFDC). n acest caz se poate spera doar la
o coordonare foarte bun ntre toate aceste structuri, pentru a ajunge la
ndeplinirea obiectivelor din cadrul strategiei.
Constrngerile, cum sunt denumite chiar n textul strategiei, au
fost identifcate la mai multe niveluri: sistemul instituional (de exemplu:
rezistena la descentralizare a structurilor administrative, pn la nivelul
autoritilor publice locale, motivat de lipsa experienei acestora din urm n
managementul i organizarea serviciilor sociale; sau lipsa unei experiene n
implicarea comunitii, a mediului de afaceri i cetenilor n aciuni sociale,
de binefacere; resursele umane (de exemplu: lipsa de atractivitate a serviciilor
din mediul rural fa de personalul califcat n domeniile de asisten social,
psihologie, kinetoterapie etc.; sau lipsa unui sistem coerent de formare
profesional continu i slaba ofert existent pe pia, n acest domeniu);
fnanarea (de exemplu: ritmul lent al reformelor economice, care determin
meninerea la cote ridicate a ratei de srcie i apariia fenomenului migraiei
n strintate care afecteaz situaia familiilor i copiilor; percepia eronat a
partenerilor externi, a faptului c nivelul de succes al Romniei n domeniul
proteciei copilului se suprapune peste domeniul promovrii i respectrii
drepturilor copilului, ceea ce a condus deja la diminuarea fondurilor externe).
Recunoaterea constrngerilor nu duce, neaprat, i la rezolvarea lor,
iar neasumarea clar, de ctre instituiile cu putere de decizie, a obiectivelor
cuprinse n plan, a direciilor strategice, scade ansele de succes ale acesteia.
1.3. Concluzii
Constatm o mai slab corelare dintre realitatea din teren i propunerile
de tip strategic, care ne fac s avem un cadru legal pentru situaia prezentat
n cazul de fa, dar care s fe greu sau aproape imposibil de implementat.
Promovarea parteneriatului dintre sectorul public si sectorul
nonguvernamental este o iniiativ bun, dar n condiiile n care eforturile
vin doar dintr-o direcie, atunci ansele de reuit scad considerabil.
De exemplu, n practic (referindu-ne la mediul rural) se resimte
efectul constrngerilor menionate n cadrul strategiei: coala i serviciul
public de asisten social pot avea date diferite despre aceeai categorie de
copii, despre aceleai familii, atribuirea unei singure persoane, n calitate de
asistent social, duce la supraaglomerare, care la rndul ei duce la ngreunarea
procesului de identifcare a copiilor rmai acas sau de monitorizare a lor
(pentru c primeaz ntocmirea dosarelor pentru ajutoarele sociale), mersul
informaiei i n special a sugestiilor, doar de sus n jos, duce la pierderea
motivaiei de a se implica suplimentar n aciuni speciale de monitorizare a
unei categorii sau alta de copii / familii. Tot n practic, depinde foarte mult
gradul de coeziune ntre membri unei comuniti, mrimea ei.
2. Justifcarea implementrii unui asemenea proiect
Studiul FSR din 2008
7
a artat poziia esenial a colii n abordarea
acestor probleme. n afar de rolul su tradiional, coala este un element
important n oferirea de servicii sociale elevilor, chiar dac de multe ori
acest lucru se ntmpl mai mult tacit dect explicit. Rolul colii este cu att
mai relevant n cazul celor ai cror prini (unul sau amndoi) sunt plecai
n strintate. Cu toate acestea, n multe coli lipsesc dou instrumente
fundamentale: colaborarea cu sistemul de asisten social i psihologul
colar. n construcia proiectului, am plecat de la ideea ca exist deja relaii
comunitare constituite n jurul colii i de la practica curent, o soluie posibil
este construirea unui set de servicii socio-educaionale, de tip after-school,
ce pot f oferite copiilor ai cror prini sunt plecai temporar n strintate.
Aceste servicii ar trebui sa se concentreze pe ajutor n procesul de nvare,
dezvoltarea de competene care s-i ajute la o mai bun adaptare la situaia n
care se af (prin consiliere, alte activiti menite s i implice n mod direct,
constructiv, prin care s le ofere sprijin n problemele specifce vrstei), vizite
la domiciliu.
7
Efectele migraiei. Copiii rmai acas: riscuri i soluii
18
19
Acest tip de abordare este, cel puin la nivel teoretic, general valabil
pentru majoritatea comunitilor romneti. Extinderea gamei de servicii
sociale oferite de coal n comunitate poate avea mai multe efecte benefce:
s compenseze o parte din defcienele sistemului de asisten social; s
ofere o marj de sustenabilitate fnanciar a colii; s consolideze legtura
ntre comunitate i coal, contribuind la promovarea descentralizrii.
Cteva dintre principalele motive care ngreuneaz aplicarea unei astfel
de soluii, dup cum menionam anterior, sunt: sistemul complicat de legturi
ntre diverse instituii publice n domeniul educaiei i n cel al asistenei
sociale i al proteciei drepturilor copilului, lipsa resurselor fnanciare, lipsa
de viziune la nivel local. n cazul particular al comunitilor n care o parte
nsemnat a populaiei este plecat temporar n strintate, primul dintre
aceste motive fnanarea poate f contracarat prin contribuii ale familiilor,
folosind banii trimii de cei plecai. Este o oportunitate important care a fost
n general neglijat.
n 2008, am iniiat coal i comunitate, ca i proiect pilot,
reprezentnd continuarea logic a iniiativei noastre, traducerea concluziilor
obinute n urma celor dou cercetri, ntr-un model de aciune n vederea
ameliorrii situaiei copiilor rmai acas i a familiilor din care provin.
Intervenia noastr a mers ctre comunitile din mediul rural:
Glimboca (judeul Cara-Severin); Marginea (judeul Suceava); Prejmer
(judeul Braov), avnd ca principal scop crearea i dezvoltarea, alturi de
colile din comunitate, a unui set de activiti socio-educaionale, dedicate
copiilor din grupul int, dar i familiilor lor (prinii rmai n ar, tutorii)
cu obiectivul de a preveni sau reduce efectele negative expuse mai sus. Am
urmrit, de asemenea, i mbuntirea legturii dintre coal i comunitatea
local. Fenomenul migraionist nu afecteaz doar copiii, dar i printele
rmas acas (n cazul familiilor n care este plecat doar un printe), bunicii,
rudele, existnd o cretere a responsabilitilor, pe care cel care rmne s
aib grij de cas, de familie, ar trebui s i le asume. Ne-am propus s crem
un context n care coala s ofere acele servicii socio-educaionale copiilor
rmai acas, n afara orelor de curs, prin atragerea i a altor oameni din
comunitate: din rndul prinilor, ntreprinztorilor locali, al altor membri
importani.
Iniiativa noastr s-a axat foarte mult pe realitatea comunitilor
cu care am lucrat, pe resursele pe care le au la dispoziie, dorindu-ne ca
modelul de lucru s nu fe un element de noutate prea mare, pentru a putea
f mai uor preluat de comunitate sau doar de coal.
coal i comunitate este o iniiativ derulat pe parcursul a 3 ani,
continund i anul acesta i urmnd s fe preluat de coal, prin dezvoltarea
a trei cluburi pentru copii i tineri (att dintre cei cu prini plecai la munc
n strintate, dar i din alte categorii dezavantajate, n funcie de specifcul
comunitii).
3. Alternarea educaiei formale cu educaia non-
formal variant realist de mbuntire a
situaiei copiilor afai n situaie de risc
Formarea din cadrul proiectului. Metodele folosite
Succesul actului educaional st n complexitatea lui, n completitudinea
lui i suntem de prere c abordarea educaional complementar formal
non-formal asigur plus valoarea sistemului educaional.
Rapiditatea cu care se succed schimbrile n societate presupun o
capacitate mare de adaptare i, de obicei, copiii i tinerii sunt cei mai afectai,
pentru c se af n perioada de dezvoltare, cnd i construiesc sistemul de
valori, cnd i defnesc abilitile pe care le au, contientizeaz ce potenial
au i ce pot face cu el.
Ceea ce ne-a interesat pe noi i credem c prin aceasta poate f
suplinit, ntr-o oarecare msur, absena metodelor din alte domenii (de
exemplu, a consilierii psihologice n cazul copiilor rmai acas, a copiilor
afai n situaie de risc) sunt dimensiunea interactiv pe care le ncorporeaz
educaia non-formal i dimensiunea civic. n educaia non-formal
interaciunea cu ceilali este extrem de important n procesul de nvare. n
primul rnd pentru c interacionnd activ cu alii, putem s ne comparm,
s ne corectm unele comportamente, s nvm prin puterea exemplului,
s deprindem metode noi de a ne dezvolta abilitile, de a f contieni de cine
suntem.
Pe de o parte, coala valorifc primele achiziii non-formale ale
copiilor, pe de alt parte, coala trebuie s asigure fundamentele care fac
posibile educaia i nvarea pe tot parcursul vieii, n varii contexte (Octavia
Costea, coord., 2009)
8
Folosirea educaiei non-formale n coal presupune o mbuntire
a actului educaional, dar provocarea mbinrii celor dou tipuri de educaii
st n natura relaiei dintre profesori i elevi atta vreme ct va exista o
relaie de putere, vom vorbi doar despre ncercri la nivel metodologic.
8
Educaia nonformal i informal: realiti i perspective n coala romneasc Octavia Costea
(coord.), Matei Cerkez, Ligia Sarivan, Bucureti: Editura Didactic i Pedagogic, 2009
20
21
O alt categorie de provocri privete formarea cadrelor didactice
pentru integrarea i valorifcarea educaiei non-formale n practicile
educaionale. Tot n lucrarea coordonat de Octavia Costea (2009) sunt
listate cteva dintre aceste provocri i cauzele lor: schimbarea viziunii a
gndi misiunea colii n termeni de pregtire a elevului pentru via, prin
considerarea achiziiilor elevilor realizate n afara colii i prin depirea
gndirii doar n termeni de pregtire etapizat i trunchiat pentru a accede
la o treapt superioar a sistemului de nvmnt sau pentru integrarea
i performarea n domeniul profesional i social; considerarea c pentru
realizarea misiunii colii, rolul cadrelor didactice este i acela de mediator
ntre mediul educaional formal i cel non-formal; formarea cadrelor didactice
pentru abordarea integrat a metodelor i mijloacelor de predare-nvare n
mediul colii i a celor specifce nvrii n mediile educaionale non-formale;
dezvoltarea i consolidarea relaiilor de parteneriat dintre coal i instituii
culturale, ageni economici, comunitate n ansamblu.
Concluziile care reies din existena acestor provocri sunt c: este
nevoie de o permanent formare a cadrelor didactice, dar astfel nct s aib
capacitatea de a mbina metodele din educaia formal i non-formal, pentru
ca s fe asigurat complexitatea actului educaional; realizarea curriculumului
astfel nct s permit integrarea corespunztoare a metodelor non-formale
i nu forat, care s intervin peste programa colar, care s ngreuneze
activitatea cadrelor didactice.
n acest program am pus baza, n mare parte, pe resursele pe care le-a
avut coala, att din punct de vedere al resurselor umane, ct i din punct
de vedere al resurselor tehnice, informatice. Scopul nostru a fost acela de a
construi pe ceea ce coala avea de oferit, lucrnd ndeaproape cu cei implicai
n echipele locale de lucru (n cea mai mare parte profesori din cele trei coli).
Ceea ce am construit cu cele trei coli au fost iniiative bazate n principal pe
educaia non-formal (n privina activitilor dedicate copiilor), combinarea
ntre aceasta i educaia formal, pentru a atrage mai mult copiii ctre coal,
pentru a le trezi interesul pentru activiti i produse realizate cu un scop.
Activitile din registrul non-formal nu au pretenia de a nlocui
nici asistena unui psiholog, i mai ales prezena printelui..
n cazul copiilor rmai acas, acestea dou sunt foarte importante
i atunci cnd lipsesc, nlocuirea lor cu activiti n care s-i investeasc
energia, s fe creativi, s fe valorizai, reprezint una dintre soluii. Asistena
specializat, ca i variant complementar, lipsete, din pcate, n marea
majoritate din colile romneti, din mediul rural, i profesorii recunosc
ct de greu le este s preia i sarcinile de asisten psihologic (n msura
timpului sau n msura capacitilor).
n schimb, pentru c valenele educaiei non-formale sunt multiple:
ajut la valorifcarea potenialului fecruia;
este bazat mai mult pe experien i aciune, pornind de la nevoile
benefciarilor actului educaional non-formal;
are n centru formarea de abiliti de via;
ajut la contientizarea propriilor limite;
prin caracterul ei interactiv, d posibilitatea celor care se implic s
fe activi, s pun n practic ceea ce tiu la nivel teoretic;
uneori, crete implicarea civic a participanilor.
Suntem de prere c folosirea diferitelor metode din acest registru
pot aduce ameliorri semnifcative n cazul benefciarilor direci, i pot ajuta
la prevenirea apariiei efectelor negative sau la ameliorarea lor. Dac efortul
sau abilitile i sunt recunoscute, aplaudate, ncrederea de sine crete.
Canalizarea energiei ctre aciuni creative, active, nvarea prin experien,
care implic interaciuni diverse cu ali oameni, au darul de a construi, de a
relaxa. Educaia non-formal se asociaz cu nvarea pe tot parcursul vieii,
datorit faptului c ambele au un caracter continuu i interactiv.
4. Efecte ale revenirii emigranilor reintegrarea n
sistemul educaional din Romnia
n contextul crizei economice globale s-a produs un fenomen
demografc de rentoarcere a emigranilor dinspre rile gazd n rile de
origine. Revenirea emigranilor produce o serie de efecte sociale i economice
evidente difcultatea gsirii unui loc de munc, salarii mai mici dect n
rile gazd, condiii de munc dezavantajoase pentru angajat etc. Dac acest
tip de efecte sunt resimite pe termen scurt i mediu, fenomenul de revenire
a migranilor produce i efecte secundare cu implicaii sociale complexe,
legate de reintegrarea migranilor revenii n societate. Intrarea Romniei
n Uniunea European n 2007 a dus la creterea ratei migraiei, conform
datelor OECD
9
. Scderea drastic a nivelului remitenelor ncepnd cu anul
2009 arat ns c revenirea n ar a romnilor plecai la munc n strintate
i va face simite efectele.
O categorie aparte de emigrani revenii i care reprezint un potenial
grup vulnerabil, sunt emigranii de vrst colar, care sunt reintegrai n
sistemul educaional romnesc ulterior revenirii n ar. Pn n anul 2009,
se renmatriculaser n sistemul educaional romnesc peste 6000 de elevi
9
OECD - Romania Country Note, accesibil la: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/6/13/45629644.pdf
22
23
care au studiat o perioad n strintate, n special n coli din Italia i Spania.
Analiza de fa investigheaz imaginea pe care mass media din Romnia o
atribuie rentoarcerii n colile romneti a celor care au studiat n alte ri ca
efect al emigrrii masive a romnilor ntre 2000 i 2008.
Literatura de specialitate arat c n cazurile de reintegrare a migran-
ilor revenii n ara de origine, cele mai mari difculti le au persoanele de
sex feminin i copiii, iar dintre acetia din urm, efectele se resimt mai mult
n cazul copiilor de vrst colar i a adolescenilor
10
. Un studiu privind
rentoarcerea migranilor italieni din Anglia n ara de origine arat c tinerii
care ncepuser coala n Anglia s-au adaptat mult mai greu n Italia, din
motive de limb de studiu, dar i din perspectiva relaiilor sociale construite
n rile gazd.
11
Utiliznd analiza media i analiza de coninut, am identifcat poteniale
probleme sociale i educaionale determinate de revenirea n Romnia a
copiilor emigranilor.
Grila de analiz utilizat n cadrul acestui demers se refer la
efecte poteniale ale reintegrrii emigranilor de vrst colar n sistemul
educaional romnesc, la problemele de limb n special n cazurile n care
elevii au nceput coala n ara-gazd i la diferene ntre sistemul educaional
din Romnia i sistemele educaionale din rile gazd.
Tabel 1 - Grila de analiz
Variabile Descriere
Ziar Numele publicaiei
Data Data apariiei articolului
Titlu Titlul articolului
Vizual Ce reprezint vizualul de lng articol
Tip Genul jurnalistic al materialului
Nr. caractere Numrul de caractere al materialului
Probleme de reintegrare
Cu ce probleme se confrunt, conform media scris, elevii
renscrii n sistemul educaional romnesc?
Diferene
Evaluri privind diferenele dintre sistemul educaional
romnesc i cele din rile gazd
Problema de limb Evaluri privind problemele de limb
Cuvinte cheie Cuvinte cheie n text
Adjective folosite Adjective folosite n text
Discriminare Evaluri privind problema discriminrii
Revenire Identifcarea motivelor de revenire n Romnia
Birocraia reintegrrii
Ct de difcil este reintegrarea din punct de vedere administ-
rativ? Exist date, proiecte speciale pentru aceti copii etc.?
10
Gmelch, George Return Migrants, Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 9 (1980), pp. 135-159
11
Gmelch, George Return Migrants, Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 9 (1980), pp. 135-159, p. 144
Tabelul de mai sus reprezint grila de analiz utilizat i ntrebrile de
cercetare urmrite n analiz n ceea ce privete dimensiunile cheie. Din punct
de vedere al unitilor de analiz, au fost utilizate articole din ziare naionale
sau locale, publicate n perioada 2008 2010. Majoritatea articolelor de pres
privind reintegrarea copiilor emigrani n sistemul educaional romnesc
sunt tiri, iar n ceea ce privete numrul de caractere, n medie s-a acordat
subiectului un spaiu de 4000 de caractere.
Din perspectiva dimensiunilor cheie, am identifcat trei tipuri de
aspecte: probleme generale de reintegrare n coal, evaluarea diferenelor
ntre sisteme educaionale i probleme de limb. Aspectele complementare
identifcate sunt: situaia discriminrii n strintate, motivul revenirii n ar
i gradul de birocratizare a procedurii de renmatriculare n coala romneasc.
Cuvintele cheie i adjectivele predominante n articole sunt analizate
n cadrul fecrei dimensiuni n parte, find, n fond, cele care construiesc
imaginea i harta acestui fenomen n mentalul colectiv.
4.1. Ce spun titlurile?
Din analiza titlurilor articolelor din pres reies trei tipuri de abordri
fa de situaia copiilor emigranilor care revin n colile de acas: abordarea
de tip informativ, abordarea de tipul diferenelor de sistem educaional i
abordarea de tip economic.
Cele mai multe titluri de materiale de pres referitoare la integrarea
elevilor emigrani n colile din Romnia sunt mai degrab informative:
Copiii plecai n strintate se ntorc la colile din Alba, Inspectoratul colar
Judeean Galai echivaleaz studiile pentru copiii ntori din strintate,
Tot mai muli elevi romni din Italia revin n colile din Romnia, 74 de
elevi s-au ntors din strintate pentru a-i continua studiile n colile din
Maramure. Astfel, concluzia general privind prezentarea problemei n
presa scris se refer la faptul c abordarea este una informativ obiectiv,
ns relativ simplist, lipsind, n majoritatea cazurilor, o analiz a fenomenului
din diverse perspective.
Exist puine titluri de articole care induc opinii privind clivaje clasice
ntre sistemele educaionale bazate pe cunotine, cum este cel din Romnia,
i sistemele educaionale bazate pe competene i abiliti. n acest sens, se
pot sesiza dou poziii distincte: o poziie care tinde s dramatizeze soarta
elevului care a studiat n alte sisteme educaionale (de tipul Fie coala ct de
rea, tot mai bine-i n ara mea
12
) i o poziie care tinde s demonizeze sistemul
educaional romnesc (de exemplu Copiii ieenilor din strintate i-au prins
12
Jurnalul Naional, 2 iunie 2009, http://www.jurnalul.ro/special/special/fe-scoala-cat-de-rea-tot-
mai-bine-i-in-tara-mea-509855.html
24
25
urechile n colile locale
13
). Astfel, dei n general titlurile articolelor nu sunt
de natur s sesizeze probleme majore ale acestui grup vulnerabil, n cazuri
izolate se utilizeaz dihotomia Romnia Vest pentru a contura o imagine
a neadaptrii, a alteritii, a diferenelor. Fotografile ataate articolelor cu
privire la renscrierea elevilor n sistemul educaional romnesc nu au impact
vizual deosebit, majoritatea reprezint cadre cu o clas cu copii.
Un alt treilea tip de abordare, abordarea economic, pune problema
reintegrrii copiilor ca efect al recesiunii economice globale tratnd mai
degrab reintegrarea ca efect i nu ca fenomen care va avea la rndul lui alte
efecte (de exemplu Repatriere forat de criz
14
).
Astfel, la nivel de titluri, imaginea generat de presa din Romnia este
mai degrab informativ obiectiv, bazat pe realiti statistice concrete.
Cuvintele utilizate n titluri nu indic, n cele mai multe cazuri, opinii i nu
ataeaz valori tirilor. Cu toate acestea, se remarc n unele cazuri utilizarea
unor cuvinte stereotip: copiii stranierilor, copiii cpunarilor etc.
cuvinte care nu fac altceva dect s adnceasc ideea de diferen ntre copiii
care au studiat n strintate i ceilali, ideea de apartenen la un alt grup
dect cel majoritar.
4.2. Identifcarea potenialelor probleme de reintegrare
Exist dou categorii de copii migrani n relaie cu sistemul
educaional romnesc: elevi care revin/se ntorc ntr-un sistem pe care l-au
cunoscut i testat anterior (caz n
care adaptarea este mai puin
difcil) i elevi care iau contact cu
coala romneasc pentru prima
dat (caz n care vorbim de integrare
efectiv mai degrab dect de
adaptare). Astfel, vorbim despre cel
puin dou sub-grupuri la care ne
referim atunci cnd vorbim despre
adaptarea la sistemul educaional.
Ideea indus de articolele analizate
13
Ziarul de Iai, 13 octombrie 2010, http://www.ziaruldeiasi.ro/local/copiii-iesenilor-din-
strainatate-si-au-prins-urechile-in-scolile-locale~ni6oju
14
Monitorul de Alba, 7 noiembrie 2008, http://www.monitorulab.ro/cms/site/m_ab/news/
repatriere_fortata_de_criza_51394.html
Adaptarea la sistemul autohton de
nvmnt reprezint un adevrat calvar
pentru elevii ntori n Iai. Aici trebuie s
se trezeasc diminea, cu noaptea n cap,
s poarte uniforme sau s se tund dac
au prul prea lung. Unii i aduc aminte c
le spuneau pe nume profesorilor, pe cnd
aici au parte de un tratament mult mai
formal, mai rece. Cea mai mare problem
este matematica, dar i romna, pentru elevii
care s-au nscut i au studiat n strintate
Programul, curricula, regulile de ordine
interioar i comportamentul profesorilor la
clas i-au derutat mai mult dect faptul c nu
cunoteau dect puin sau foarte puin limba.
Recuperarea decalajelor dintre sistemul
de nvmnt din afar i cel romnesc
se face pe cont propriu, prin efortul
copiilor i pe cheltuiala prinilor.
Ziarul de Iai, 13 Octombrie 2010
se bazeaz pe dihotomii: elevii care se ntorc la colile din ar trec, fr
vina lor, dintr-o lume n alta.
Pentru prima categorie de elevi, cei care au avut anterior plecrii
contact cu educaia din Romnia, principalele probleme expuse n pres se
refer, pe de o parte, la recuperarea materiei i a subiectelor pentru a ajunge
la nivelul clasei n care au fost repartizai i, pe de alt parte, la repetarea
unei clase pentru recuperarea acestor decalaje. Majoritatea articolelor conin
opinii ale unor cadre didactice referitor la aceti elevi: copiii revin n coal
cu o serie de carene, dar sunt n permanen monitorizai i sprijinii
15
. n
majoritatea cazurilor, profesori sau directori de coli declar c, din punct de
vedere social, nu sunt probleme. Mai mult, att profesorii, ct i elevii tind
s declare c revenirea, n ciuda problemelor de recuperare a materiei, este
benefc din punct de vedere psihologic pentru copii, care se simeau strini n
alt ar i aveau difculti
de adaptare la nivel social.
Problema major
identifcat de presa
naional i local ine de
adaptare. Att elevii ct
i profesorii intervievai
admit c grupul elevilor
revenii n ar reprezint o
categorie vulnerabil, care
necesit politici speciale
de integrare n sistemul
educaional romnesc.
Pentru elevii
care nu au avut, anterior
plecrii, contact cu siste-
mul educaional romnesc,
pe lng probleme de
adaptare probabil mai
accentuate din cauza
faptului c au prsit ara la vrste relativ fragede exist i probleme de
acomodare cu limba romn.
O alt potenial problem, care deriv din diferenele ntre sistemele
educaionale este cea privind programele i curricula, acomodarea cu un
15
http://www.infosomes.ro/fe-scoala-cat-de-grea-tot-mai-bine-n-tara-ta
Am fost plecat cu prinii i
fraii mei, timp de 3 ani, n Italia.
Pn n clasa a III-a am studiat
n Romnia, apoi m-am nscris la
coal n Italia. n clasele a IV-a i
a V-a nvam 8 ore pe zi, fr teme
de cas, iar n clasa a VI-a aveam
6 ore pe zi, iar temele ni le fceam
singuri. Cnd m-am ntors, mi-a
fost mai greu la limba romn i la
matematic, n special.
26
27
alt tip de materie i alte metode de
predare fcnd difcil trecerea de la
un sistem la altul.
n privina cuvintelor cheie,
imaginea este relativ unitar toate
articolele vorbesc despre nevoia
de integrare, despre complexitatea
situaiilor existente, despre necesi-
tatea recuperrii decalajelor ntre cei
revenii n coli i colegii lor.
4.3. Problemele de limb
Conform analizei, una dintre
cele mai mari probleme ale elevilor
care revin la coal n Romnia,
prsind alte sisteme educaionale,
este problema de limb. Diferenele
majore se contureaz tot pe cele dou
categorii identifcate mai sus. Putem spune c timpul petrecut ntr-o coal din
Romnia, anterior plecrii n strintate, reprezint un factor determinant n
relaie cu gradul de cunoatere a limbii romne. Exist astfel situaiile n care
elevii aproape nu cunosc limba romn i situaii n care limba romn este
utilizat la nivel funcional, ns exist lipsuri n ceea ce privete gramatica.
Din punct de vedere al politicilor educaionale din Romnia, nu
s-a pus problema negrii dreptului la educaie din motive de necunoatere
a limbii romne. Profesorii intervievai n articolele analizate declar c
problemele de limb apar la copiii de 7-8 ani care s-au nscut i au trit
n Italia, cunosc foarte puin limba romn i unii dintre acetia nu au
avut niciodat contact cu coala romneasc i nici nu stpnesc gramatica
limbii romne, ceea ce duce la complexitatea acestor situaii de transfer
dintr-o coal dintr-o ar strin n cea romneasc.
4.4. coala romneasc vs. coala din ara gazd
Aa cum am menionat anterior, majoritatea articolelor tind s
compare sistemul educaional romnesc cu sistemele de colarizare din
alte ri. Cea mai clar distincie este cea privind nivelul de pregtire, dar
este ns o distincie recunoscut i general: n Romnia, coala este mai
grea! Diferenele specifce ntre sisteme educaionale bazate pe acumularea
de cunotine i sistemele educaionale bazate pe dezvoltarea de abiliti i
competene practice sunt reiterate
n majoritatea articolelor analizate.
Astfel, n colile din strintate
materiile sunt mai aerisite, mai
simple, metodele de predare sunt
atractive i aplicate, temele sunt mult
mai puine, iar relaia profesor elev
nu este bazat pe fric i este mai
puin formal. n Romnia se pun note mari mult mai uor, pauzele sunt mai
scurte i materiile predate sunt mai multe i la un nivel mult mai ridicat.
Aceste diferene nu sunt vzute uniform n articolele analizate. Astfel,
n unele articole, sistemul din Romnia este perceput ca mult mai bun, se
face coal serios, profesorii sunt mai bine pregtii i colegii mai prietenoi.
Un caz aparte este cel din Italia, unde, n colile n care nva copii de romni
sunt organizate cursuri speciale de limb, cultur i civilizaie romneasc,
susinute de profesori romni.
Cei care percep colile din afar ca find mai bune sunt n principal
elevi mai mari, care au avut rezultate
bune n sistemele din ara gazd.
Aspectele sesizate de elevi se refer la
relaia profesor elev, la transparena
sistemelor de notare, la dotrile
colilor, dar i la faptul c nu li se
cerea bani pentru diverse achiziii
care se fac pentru clas: La coala
din Spania nu purtam uniform, nu
exista aa ceva. Iar singurii bani pe
care i ddeam la coal erau pentru
excursii. Prinii nu ddeau bani
pentru amenajarea claselor cum se
ntmpl n colile de la noi, acolo
toate erau la fel de curate, aranjate i
de bine dotate.
Diferenele ntre sisteme se
simt i la nivel de performan colar,
n aceeai not dihotomic, ns fr o direcie clar exist cazuri n care
elevi romni au performat excelent la colile din strintate i cazuri n
care romnii nu au fcut fa altor sisteme educaionale, n ciuda faptului
c sunt considerate facile. Explicaia acestui fenomen poate f determinat,
Acolo se crea o legtura de
prietenie ntre profesori i elevi. Noi le
spuneam pe nume profesorilor de la
clas, vorbeam cu ei deschis, nu exista
sentimentul de fric fa de profesori.
Aici majoritatea profesorilor sunt
reci.
Dac n strintate
erau mici vedete prin nivelul
cunotinelor asimilate, la
ntoarcere muli se pot afa
la unele discipline n pragul
corigenei ceea ce afecteaz
imaginea de sine a copilului, i
poate scdea motivaia colar
afectnd negativ recuperarea
materiei
Acomodarea n coli este
mai uoar pentru elevii care
au parcurs deja un an colar
n Romnia, deoarece acetia
cunosc limba romn.
Am studiat programele i am
observat c la primar fac aceleai
lucruri ca noi, ns cu mai mult
accent pe aplicaii. Un lucru care
mi s-a prut extrem de interesant
acolo e c prinii pot accesa site-
ul clasei n care se af copilul i
pot vedea ce coninuturi nva la
fecare disciplin pe sptmni i
luni.
Ei se axeaz pe practic, ceea
ce nu-i ru deloc. De foarte multe
ori mi-a scris fosta mea elev c
ei fac laboratoare, nu cursuri.
Pentru a avea un rezultat bun este
nevoie ns s se mbine teoria cu
practica.
Acolo se crea o legtura
de prietenie ntre profesori i
elevi. Noi le spuneam pe nume
profesorilor de la clas, vorbeam
cu ei deschis, nu exista sentimentul
de fric fa de profesori. Aici
majoritatea profesorilor sunt
reci.
Dac n strintate erau mici
vedete prin nivelul cunotinelor
asimilate, la ntoarcere muli
se pot afa la unele discipline n
pragul corigenei ceea ce afecteaz
imaginea de sine a copilului, i
poate scdea motivaia colar
afectnd negativ recuperarea
materiei.
28
29
pe de o parte, de vrsta la care copilul intr ntr-un nou sistem de educaie,
find probabil ca la o vrst mic s se integreze i s se adapteze mai uor.
Pe de alt parte, nivelul de cunoatere a limbii de predare este relevant, dei
pe termen lung efectul acestei constrngeri poate f neutralizat.
4.5. Aspecte complementare
Discriminare?
Discriminarea resimit de emigrani, n special de copiii de vrst
colar care nva n rile adoptive, ar putea f unul dintre motivele pentru
care elevii romni se ntorc la colile din Romnia. Majoritatea articolelor
analizate prezint discriminarea ca i cauz de neadaptare a elevilor romni
n colile din strintate. Mrturiile elevilor sunt diverse, ns discriminarea
resimit n colile din strintate se regsete mai mult n ri n care
numrul emigranilor romni este crescut, Italia i Spania. Desigur, n unele
articole, exagerarea situaiilor de discriminare este evident mai ales n
cazurile elevilor care se simeau discriminai din cauza necunoaterii limbii.
Dei nu este contestabil difcultatea
adaptrii, cazurile de discriminare
nu par a f att de grave, nici mcar n
Italia i Spania, unde, n comunitile
de romni, au fost create programe
speciale pentru elevii emigrani.
Exist i articole care prezint
o fa mult mai prietenoas a colilor din strintate, unde colegii sunt
prietenoi, ajut i nu fac diferene bazate pe naionalitate sau etnie: Colegii
au fost ok i profesorii. Suntem toi la fel. Eu unul aa m-am simit.
Motivele revenirii
n Romnia
Majoritatea articolelor
analizate identifc drept
cauz a revenirii n Romnia
a familiilor de emigrani criza
economic i lipsa stabilitii
fnanciare n statele gazd.
Foarte puine articole identi-
fc inadaptarea copiilor la
sistemele educaionale din
alte ri ca i motiv de revenire.
Birocraia revenirii n sistem
Cele mai multe dintre articole ofer informaii privind actele necesare
renscrierii elevilor n colile romneti. Documentele nece-sare sunt: cerere
adresat inspectorului colar din jude prin care se solicita echivalarea studiilor
(cerere tip, existent la secretariatele inspectoratelor colare), cerere aprobat
de directorul unitii colare la care se solicit nscrierea, situaia colar
anterioar plecrii n strintate dac este cazul, copie dup certifcatul
examenului de capacitate sau testul naional de cunotine dac este cazul,
situaia colar din strintate, pe ani colari i clase promovate, care s
ateste disciplinele studiate i
califcativele obinute copie
dup original i traducere
legalizat, cu excepia celor
redactate n limbile: englez,
francez, italian i spaniol,
copie dup paaport, copie
dup actul de identitate BI,
CI sau certifcatul de natere
i dovada achitrii unei taxe
de nmatriculare. Alctuirea
acestui dosar nu reprezint
o mare problem pentru
cei care i nmatriculeaz
copiii n colile romneti.
Cu toate acestea, difcultile
la nivel birocratic pot veni
din gestionarea defcitar
a curentului de revenire a
migranilor de ctre ministerele
competente. Astfel, dei
exist inspectoratele colare,
organisme descentralizate,
politica de rezolvare a acestor
situaii este nc centralizat,
ceea ce poate duce la ntrzieri
n echivalarea studiilor i n revenirea n coal.
Grecii dispreuiesc strinii,
pe cnd romnii sunt prietenoi.
mi place aici mai mult dect
acolo, chiar dac coala este mai
grea i aici fac la matematic
ceea ce fceam acolo n anii mai
mari
n pauze, abia dac se ridica din banc
pentru a merge la toalet. S-a ntmplat
de cteva ori ca noii colegi s se ating
de ea i apoi s se tearg, de parc a f
avut rie sau cium. Atunci a tiut. Copiii
aceia niciodat nu-i vor putea nlocui pe
colegii pe care i lsase acas. n Romnia.
Zi de zi, vreme de dou sptmni a plns.
Pentru ea, parc venise sfritul lumii. Era
mic. Clasa a II-a. i habar nu avea cum
s lege vreo prietenie cu nite copii care i
spuneau pe limba lor numai lucruri urte.
Noi preluam dosarul cu actele de
studiu ale elevilor care vor s se renscrie
n coli din judeul X i le trimitem
la Ministerul Educaiei, Cercetrii i
Tineretului, care face evaluarea elevilor
i hotrte n ce clas trebuie acetia
nscrii. Pn la soluionarea evalurii,
care poate dura i cteva luni, deoarece
exist o singur comisie care se ocup
de dosarele elevilor din toat ara,
copiii sunt nscrii n clasa cea mai
apropiat de vrsta pe care o au i, doar
la cererea prinilor, cu un an sau doi
mai n urm. n catalogul clasei acetia
sunt trecui provizoriu doar n creion
i abia mai trziu se stabilete situaia
lor colar. Am avut i cazuri n care
Ministerul a considerat c elevul trebuie
s repete un an sau chiar i doi i chiar
dac prinii s-au artat nemulumii
de aceast decizie, noi nu am putut
s o schimbam, deoarece nu intr n
atribuiile noastre. Acetia trebuie s tie
ns c se urmrete interesul elevului i
nu conteaz anul pierdut dac n felul
acesta copilul poate s se integreze mai
bine.
reprezentat ISJ.
30
31
4.6. Concluzii i recomandri
Mass media din Romnia prezint situaiile de reintegrare a elevilor n
sistemul educaional romnesc relativ obiectiv, astfel c diversitatea opiniilor
despre subiect este vizibil i asumat. Dei opiniile diverilor factori interesai
(elevi, profesori, prini, inspectori colari, psihologi etc.) sunt variate, exist
un numitor comun. Indiferent dac coala din Romnia e mai bun sau mai
rea dect cele din alte ri, indiferent de modul n care elevii au performat n
strintate, indiferent dac au existat sau nu situaii reale de discriminare,
reintegrarea este un proces real. Astfel, adaptarea la un nou sistem, mai mult
sau mai puin cunoscut, presupune ntotdeauna schimbri i ajustri (cel
puin la nivel comportamental i de performan colar). Desigur, este vorba
de procese de adaptare complexe, n care toi factorii implicai ar trebui s
i identifce roluri i obiective. ntr-un caz ideal, acest proces de reintegrare
ar trebui sprijinit de sistemul n care elevul este reintegrat. n Romnia,
majoritatea iniiativelor n acest sens sunt individuale i suportate, la nivel
de costuri, de prinii elevilor i de acetia nii. Recomandrile privind
iniiativele de programe i politici educaionale care s ia n considerare acest
grup vulnerabil de elevi vizeaz mai degrab nivelul local. Dat find faptul c
rata revenirii elevilor n sistemul educaional romnesc difer substanial de
la jude la jude, o politic naional risc utilizarea unor resurse fnanciare
neconcordante cu nevoile reale. Soluiile ar trebui s vin mai degrab pe
palierul Inspectoratelor colare Judeene, care dein informaii privind
numrul situaiilor de acest gen, precum i alte informaii suplimentare
performana colar n ambele sisteme, nivelul de cunoatere a limbii, situaia
familial etc. Date find oportunitile de accesare de fonduri structurale de
ctre inspectorate, considerm posibil rezolvarea acestui tip de situaii la
nivel de jude sau chiar la nivel de coal. Proiecte de tipul after-school n
care grupul int s fe acest segment de elevi sunt dezirabile doar dac sunt
implementate difereniat, n funcie de nevoi reale.
Recomandrile la nivel central vizeaz procesul de echivalare a
studiilor i in mai degrab de form dect de fondul acestei probleme:
necesitatea descentralizrii pe acest palier, de echivalare a studiilor pre-
universitare, ar scurta semnifcativ perioada de echivalare i, n acelai timp,
ar responsabiliza inspectoratele judeene n sensul creterii capacitii de
analiz a nevoilor. n situaia actual, inspectoratele sunt doar un canal de
transmitere de informaii de la nivelul local spre cel central.
5. Metodologia iniiativei
Metodologia proiectului s-a construit pe urmtorii pai: alegerea
comunitilor i, ulterior, a colilor; diagnoza comunitilor; stabilirea
contactului cu autoritile locale; crearea grupului local de lucru (care a fost
format din cadre didactice i civa prini); instruirea celor trei grupuri
locale de lucru; stabilirea activitilor care urmau s fe fcute (bazate strict
pe realitatea fecrei comuniti); evaluarea activitilor.
5.1. Alegerea colilor
colile au fost alese la nceputul anului 2008, din cele trei comuniti
cu inciden mare de migraie.
Cele trei coli sunt:
coala de Arte i Meserii (comuna Marginea, judeul Suceava)
coala General Prejmer (comuna Prejmer, judeul Braov)
coala cu clasele I-VIII Glimboca (comuna Glimboca, judeul
Cara-Severin).
colile sunt diferite att din punct de vedere cultural, ct i din punct
de vedere al mrimii: 170 de copii n coala din Glimboca, 250 n coala din
Prejmer i respectiv 700 de copii n coala din Marginea.
Pentru c cercetrile Fundaiei s-au concentrat pe copiii de gimnaziu
(10-14 ani) i pentru c la aceast vrst s-au observat cel mai accentuat
efectele negative ale plecrii prinilor, activitile desfurate n proiect au
intit mai mult acest segment de vrst.
Coordonatorul proiectului a fcut vizite n fecare din cele trei
comuniti, expunnd colii sistemul dup care se va funciona:
fecare coal urma s propun un proiect local care s fe destinat
copiilor rmai acas i, n funcie de specifcul comunitii, i altor
copii din alte grupuri dezavantajate;
proiectul local urma s fe implementat de coal i fnanat parial
de ctre fundaia Soros (n funcie de mrimea aciunilor locale);
mrimea grantului nu a depit 5.000 USD per coal.
5.2. Diagnoza comunitilor
Pentru a putea descoperi problemele specifce fecrei comuniti i
pentru adaptarea proiectului la necesitile locale am nceput cu cercetarea
32
33
detaliat a fecrei comuniti. Pentru diagnoz, echipa fundaiei a colaborat
cu o echip format din doi sociologi. Totodat, aa cum cercetrile de teren i
de sondaj au relevat, exist diferene ntre intensitatea diferitelor consecine
ale migraiei i n funcie de regiunea Romniei n care este localizat coala.
Diagnoza comunitar permite adaptarea unei astfel de iniiative la comunitate,
la locul respectiv i o mai bun nsuire a proiectului de comunitate (i
continuarea lui i dup retragerea Fundaiei Soros Romnia).
n fecare comunitate au fost fcute:
interviuri cu decidenii locali (primar, viceprimar), asistentul
social, psihopedagogul colar (numai n coala din Prejmer exist
permanent un psiholog), cu medicul, cu preotul, cu profesorii colii;
focus grupuri cu copiii (copii cu prini migrani/ copii non-
migrani).
Diagnoza iniial a fost folosit i n evaluarea proiectului, realizat
n a doua parte a anului 2010 (i care face subiectul unui alt capitol al acestui
ghid).
5.3. Crearea grupului local de lucru
n urma vizitelor n comuniti i ale cercetrilor calitative desfurate,
am nceput crearea unui grup local format din profesori, n mare parte, dar
i din prini/rude ale copiilor, psiholog colar i asistent social, n funcie
de specifcul fecrei comuniti i de necesitile locale. Principala funcie
a grupului a fost aceea de a se ocupa de derularea proiectului la nivel local.
Totodat s-a dorit activarea comunitii locale i determinarea ei de a
reaciona i de a se implica n rezolvarea problemelor din comunitate.
Crearea grupului local era menit i s ntreasc relaiile din
comunitate i s asigure o colaborare mai bun ntre instituiile locale: coal,
primrie, asistent social.
Grupul local de lucru a participat la o serie de seminarii organizate de
Fundaia Soros i tot el a fost i cel care a dezvoltat i implementat aciunile
locale.
n primul an de intervenie, din grupul local au fcut parte cte un
facilitator comunitar, care a fost liantul ntre comunitate i fundaie, a sprijinit
grupul local s porneasc activitile, doi dintre ei participnd la seminariile
de formare (facilitatorul din comuna Marginea i facilitatorul din comuna
Prejmer). n comuna Glimboca colaborarea cu facilitatorul comunitar a fost
destul de difcil, din cauza lipsei de timp a facilitatorului, find tot timpul
implicat n foarte multe activiti.
Concluzia la care am ajuns este aceea c, dei facilitatorul comunitar
este din zona n care se implementeaz proiectul, trebuie ca acesta s fe
disponibil pentru proiect, uneori faptul c ia parte la foarte multe proiecte
n acelai timp nefind un indicator foarte bun pentru abilitatea facilitator
comunitar.
Grupul de lucru a fost format n urma unor discuii cu coordonatorul
de proiect i facilitatorul comunitar, cei prezeni la discuie trebuind s-i
exprime interesul sau dezinteresul fa de implicarea n proiect. Implicarea
membrilor din grupul de lucru a fost voluntar.
n medie, n grupurile de lucru au fost implicai activ ntre 5-7 membri:
n grupul de la Glimboca au fost implicate constant 4 cadre didactice
(unul find i consilierul educaional), un printe i, pentru primul
an de activiti, medicul din comun; pe parcursul iniiativei au
mai fost implicate i alte cadre didactice, mai mult sau mai puin
sporadic; n tot acest timp, grupul a avut sprijinul directorului colii
i pe cel al Primriei;
n grupul de la Marginea sunt implicate constant 7 cadre didactice,
colabornd, n schimb, cu familiile din comun care se ocup cu
olritul (comuna Marginea find recunoscut pentru ceramica
neagr) i cu familia care se ocup cu mpletitul nuielelor care
au contribuit la proiect cu materiale i expertiz (au lucrat cu copiii
pentru unele dintre activitile din proiect); proiectul a avut parte
de o implicare mare din partea direciunii colii;
n grupul de la Prejmer sunt implicate constant 5 cadre didactice,
din cnd n cnd la activiti participnd i doi prini (nu dintre
cei care au membri ai familiei plecai la munc n strintate); i
n aceast situaie proiectul a avut parte de sprijinul i implicarea
direciunii colii.
Dup cum am menionat anterior, n prima parte a iniiativei noastre,
din grupurile de lucru a fcut parte i cte un facilitator comunitar.
Principalele lor responsabiliti au fost:
organizarea de ntlniri cu membri ai comunitii, cu reprezentani
ai autoritilor locale;
oferirea de sprijin grupului de lucru la dezvoltarea aciunilor locale;
realizarea unui raport lunar pentru coordonatorul proiectului.
n a doua parte a iniiativei noastre, grupul local nu a mai lucrat cu
facilitatori comunitari, grupul find obinuit s lucreze n formula n care a
nceput. Monitorizarea a fost fcut direct de ctre coordonatorul de proiect.
34
35
5.4. Aciunile la nivel local
Introducere
coala are tradiie n organizarea de evenimente, are tradiie n a face
i altceva pe lng programa colar i acest fapt nu poate f contestat.
Comunitatea este obinuit ca la coal s se fac tot felul de activiti,
se ateapt ca elevii s fe antrenai n tot felul de iniiative educaionale,
pentru a se dezvolta, li se pare normal ca astfel de activiti s se ntmple
i, pn la un punct, totul este perfect justifcat. coala a rmas principalul
stlp de referin n termeni de educaie i atunci este normal ca toi ceilali
s i ndrepte privirile spre ea, ateptnd s fac ceea ce trebuie n termeni
de formare a copilului.
S fe oare aa cum spun directorii de coal (potrivit lucrrii coala
aa cum este, realizat n 2010 de UNICEF n parteneriat cu Centrul Educaia
2000+), c cei mai muli dintre prini sunt interesai exclusiv de rezultatele
propriului copil, fr s vad sau s accepte legtura dintre contextul general
al colii i aceste rezultate; ei adesea au un comportament reactiv, vin la coal
doar atunci cnd apar unele probleme; prinii care se implic sunt puini,
mai degrab excepii. Sau s fe faptul c Directorii nu vd un benefciu al
participrii prinilor la deciziile privind coninuturile educaiei i consider
c prinii nu au competena necesar pentru a se implica n aceste aspecte.
potrivit aceleiai lucrri.
E ntlnit, deseori, o pasare a responsabilitii educaiei unui copil,
de la printe la coal i o slab preocupare pentru modul n care se ntmpl
lucrurile n interiorul colii.
Legtura dintre coal i comunitatea care o nconjoar exist, pentru
c prinii cunosc spaiul unde se duc copiii lor i ar f aproape absurd, din
partea oricui, s considere c ei nu se cunosc. Nu cunosc, ns, modalitile
prin care s se sprijine mai mult, s profte la maxim de ceea ce pot oferi, de
cum s i maximizeze proftul.
Programul coal i comunitate a pus din nou coala n poziia de a
le arta celor din comunitate c ceea ce face, att pentru cei care au parte de
un nivel mediu/ridicat de trai, dar i pentru cei care sunt dezavantajai, are
nevoie de atenia celor din comunitate, de contribuia lor.
5.4.1. Cum au fost dezvoltate proiectele locale
Fiecare din cele trei coli a primit un grant pentru a dezvolta o aciune
la nivel de coal, n primul rnd, i, n al doilea rnd, la nivel de comunitate,
dedicat copiilor rmai acas i familiilor lor. Ceea ce a fost acceptat de
toat lumea a fost c ceilali copii din coal nu pot f exclui, mai ales de
la activitile de petrecere a timpului liber, pentru a nu-i pune pe copiii din
grupul int ntr-o lumin care s fe brusc una negativ.
Activitile stabilite au luat n calcul i oportunitile oferite de coal
si de comunitate sau de posibilitile de a le implementa (dotarea colilor,
existena spaiilor necesare, aptitudinile profesorilor, nclinaiile copiilor
ctre o activitate sau alta).
Pentru aceasta, s-au fcut mai multe deplasri n comuniti i ntlniri
la nivel local cu oameni din comunitate, reprezentani ai autoritilor, prinii
celor implicai n proiect.
Categoriile de activiti:
Consiliere special pentru copii
Monitorizarea copilului i consilierea special n cazurile n care
apar probleme n viaa copilului. Att monitorizarea, ct i consilierea, n
cazul colii de la Prejmer, au fost realizate de psihologul colar, care a i fost
coordonatorul aciunii din Prejmer, dar n celelalte dou coli aceste sarcini
au fost preluate de profesorii implicai n proiect, n limita timpului avut la
dispoziie sau a califcrii.
Activiti de dezvoltarea abilitilor de via
Activitile au fost construite n paralel cu activitatea colar, lundu-
se n considerare att vrsta copiilor, ct i aptitudinile i preferinele diferite
ale acestora.
Activitile au fost construite i n funcie de istoricul colii n astfel de
proiecte, de nclinaiile profesorilor, de tradiia local. Unul dintre aspectele
la care toat lumea a rspuns pozitiv, cel mai bine copiii, au fost
activitile de valorifcare a tradiiilor, axate pe tradiii, pe ceea ce
defnea comuna.
Toate tipurile de activiti au fcut posibil o mai bun monitorizare
a copiilor i combaterea efectelor negative generate de lipsa prinilor
nsingurarea, lipsa unei persoane cu care s discute, comportamentele
deviante, scderea performanelor colare prin deprtarea de coal i
scderea importanei acordat colii de copii.
Dup cum menionam i puin mai devreme, la toate activitile au
participat toi copiii colii din clasele V-VIII pentru a nu crea o segregare ntre
acetia i pentru a permite i monitorizarea celorlali copii. Dup cum s-a
vzut n partea de cercetare, problemele pe care le au copiii cu prini plecai
la munc n strintate sunt similare celor care provin din familii destrmate
sau monoparentale.
36
37
Aceste activiti locale au fost stabilite de coordonatorul de program
mpreun cu fecare echip, dar nu nainte ca cele trei grupuri s participe la
un prim seminar de introducere n flozofa proiectului, la care au participat
i expertul pe proiecte educaionale din partea Centrului Educaia 2000+,
expertul n dezvoltare comunitar, din partea Fundaiei Soros, expertul n
sociologie, tot din partea Fundaiei Soros. Aceasta a avut loc n septembrie
2008 i a avut ca tematici: introducere n specifcul programului; realizarea
de proiecte educaionale; dezvoltarea comunitar.
Celelalte dou sesiuni de formare au avut loc n noiembrie 2008 (la
Marginea) i, respectiv, mai 2009 (la Glimboca) i au avut ca tematici:
mbuntirea lucrului n echipele locale i folosirea educaiei non-
formale n proiectele extracurriculare;
scriere i management de proiect.
Pe lng aceste trei sesiuni de formare, cte un profesor din fecare
echip a participat i la cele dou tabere dedicate copiilor. Aceste tabere au
fost organizate n vacanele de var:
n 2008 n Masivul Straja 45 de copii i 3 profesori au participat
la tabra de educaie prin aventur, realizat n parteneriat cu
Fundaia Noi Orizonturi;
n 2009 la Cota 1400 tabr de lucru dedicat dezvoltrii unui
club pentru copii i tineri organizat de FSR au participat 20 de
copii i 3 profesori.
n afara acestor seminarii, echipele locale au discutat n permanen,
atunci cnd a fost nevoie, cu coordonatorul programului, dar i n timpul
vizitelor realizate n cele trei comuniti.
n mediul rural oportunitile de activiti de educaie non-formal
sunt, n continuare, reduse. Din analiza comparativ realizat n cadrul
programului (poate f gsit la fnalul acestui ghid) a reieit c este nevoie
de activiti extracurriculare: Cele mai importante nevoi ale copiilor vizeaz
dezvoltarea oportunitilor de timp liber i a activitilor extracolare, precum
i mbuntirea condiiilor din coal.
n mediul rural, activitile extracurriculare sunt concentrate fe
n jurul unor evenimente locale / regionale / naionale (multe din ele au
conotaii culturale, istorice), fe au loc cu ocazia unor zile speciale (de multe
ori este vorba despre Ziua colii) sau concursuri care se organizeaz fe de
cineva din localitate sau sunt organizate de alii. Cazurile nu se limiteaz la
acestea, deoarece tipul activitilor extracolare depinde i de ct de apropiate
Grupurile de copii implicai
Copiii implicai n program, de-a lungul celor 3 ani,
au participat la dou mari tipuri de activiti: cele
implementate de profesori, de echipele locale de
lucru, de cele mai multe ori n timpul anului colar,
i cele implementate n cadrul taberelor de lucru, n
timpul vacanei de var, n 2009 i n 2010.
n timpul activitilor din cadrul aciunilor locale,
copiii au: participat la ateliere de artizanat
(olrit, mpletit couri, realizare de costume pentru
piesa de teatru, realizarea decorului pentru teatrul
de ppui, realizarea de obiecte specifce anumitor
srbtori), ateliere de teatru (clasic, care de obicei
este specifc activitilor fcute n timpul activitilor
extracurriculare, dar i adaptare modern a unor piese
clasice de teatru), ateliere de creaie literar i
jurnalism (realizarea revistei colii, realizarea de
interviuri pentru monografa neofcial a comunei),
adunarea de folclor, ateliere de dans (populare,
contemporane), atelierul de meteorologie.
n timpul celor dou tabere de lucru metodele
folosite au fost: metode specifce educaiei prin
aventur, metoda improvizaiei pe o tem
dat, brainstormingul, lucrul n echipe mici,
animaia video.
Numrul copiilor implicai a variat, pe parcursul
celor trei ani de proiect, dat find faptul c unii au
absolvit cele 8 clase i au plecat la liceu.
sau ndeprtate sunt colile
din mediul rural de mediul
urban, dac profesorii
au participat la diferite
programe de formare, dac
n comunitile respective au
fost implementate proiecte de
ctre diferite alte organizaii
(n special organizaii
neguvernamentale).
Marea majoritate a
activitilor s-a bazat, aa cum
am menionat anterior, pe
resursele avute la dispoziie
de coal, proiectele locale
legndu-se foarte mult de
evenimentele anterioare pe
care coala le realizase, dar
cu accent pe deprinderea
de anumite abiliti. n
Marginea, de exemplu, copiii
implicai au nvat cum s
realizeze o machet, cum s
msoare viteza vntului i ce
nseamn s lucrezi la radioul
colii.
n cadrul programului coal i comunitate proiectele locale (din
perioada 2008 2009) s-au desfurat n preajma zilelor cu semnifcaie
istoric, religioas, cultural, sfritul anului colar. Ceea ce a fost comun
tuturor activitilor realizate de cele trei coli a fost axarea pe tradiiile locale:
nfinarea de suite de dansuri (la Glimboca), realizarea monografei neofciale
a comunei Marginea (i cu aceast ocazie a fost gsit o versiune a Mioriei,
legenda oalei de lut, care este de fapt legenda ceramicii negre de Marginea),
participarea la Fasching (Festivalul Cltitelor, festival ce dateaz din perioada
sailor, n Prejmer).
Odat cu trecerea la cluburile pentru copii i tineri, proiectele locale
au n continuare componente care fac legturi cu tradiia local (dansuri
populare, realizarea unui mini-muzeu de istorie a comunitii, participarea
38
39
la festivaluri de dansuri populare), dar i care sunt conectate la situaia
actual, folosesc tehnologii / metode noi (Facebook, dou dintre coli
vor folosi animaia video pentru a realiza scurte flmulee de promovare a
clubului, realizarea radioului colii).
n crearea acestor activiti, grupurile locale au lucrat ndeaproape cu
facilitatorul comunitar i cu coordonatorul de proiect. A urmat prezentarea
proiectului copiilor, de ctre profesori, dar i de ctre coordonatorul de
program, n urma cruia au fost invitai s se nscrie la una sau mai multe
dintre activitile din proiect (fecare activitate a avut responsabil cte un
profesor).
Pe lng acestea, coordonatorul de program s-a ntlnit cu copiii, n
grupuri mai mici, cu aceast ocazie putnd s discute cu ei despre situaia
lor, despre perspectiva lor, opinia lor despre ceea ce se ntmpl n coal,
ceea ce se ntmpl acas, ce tipuri de activiti i-ar dori s fac n cadrul
proiectului. Aceste ntlniri au fost fe individuale, fe n grupuri mici.
Proiectele locale au evoluat n cluburi locale pentru copii i tineri,
centre n cadrul crora se vor derula periodic ateliere de dansuri populare,
teatru, croitorie, jurnalism, etc. n derularea acestora fecare dintre cele
trei coli coopereaz fe cu coli din zon, fe cu ntreprinztori locali, fe cu
Asociaia Prinilor (n cazul colii din Prejmer).
5.5. Transferarea proiectului comunitii locale
Transferarea proiectului comunitii locale se va face, n principal,
ctre grupul local care va avea responsabilitatea, la nceput asistat de
Fundaia Soros, de a asigura funcionarea n continuare a proiectului (gsirea
resurselor fnanciare: prini i autoriti, pstrarea activitilor i adaptarea
lor n funcie de necesiti, activiti administrative).
Asistena Fundaiei va consta, n principal, n sprijinirea celor trei
grupuri locale n accesarea de fnanri pentru continuarea cluburilor.
La fnalul anului 2010, proiectele locale au luat forma unor cluburi
pentru copii i tineri, prin care se va realiza acest transfer. Pn la mijlocul
anului 2011 acestea vor benefcia i de un suport fnanciar din partea
fundaiei, urmnd ca acestea s fe continuate exclusiv de ctre coal i de
ctre autoritile locale, n funcie de comunitate.
6. Comunitile analizate
Capitolul prezint proiectele locale, aa cum au fost ele dezvoltate,
i rezultatele evalurii acestora, a impactului pe care l-au avut, probleme,
benefcii, aspecte de mbuntit. n continuarea celor trei comuniti n care
am implementat programul, urmeaz trei comuniti n care nu am intervenit,
find realizat o analiz comparativ, pentru a surprinde mai bine specifcul
programului coal i comunitate.
Metodologia cercetrii se gsete n seciunea Anexe.
Localiti n care s-a implementat programul coal i
comunitate
6.1. Glimboca
Eu nu folosesc foarte mult calculatorul, pentru c minile sunt
mainria mea de scris. (Maria, 10 ani, Glimboca) ne-a declarat o feti,
creia i place s scrie poezii, atunci cnd a fost ntrebat dac i place s
foloseasc un calculator. Mama ei este plecat n Italia, st cu sora ei mai
mare, elev n clasa a VI-a la aceeai coal i cu tatl ei i mama vitreg.
6.1.1. Descrierea proiectului local
Copiii n comunitate (proiect derulat n 2008 2009)
Scopul proiectului local de la Glimboca este acela de a atrage i
implica copiii afai n situaie de risc n activiti extracurriculare creative i
de dezvoltare a spiritului de echip n vederea reducerii efectelor negative la
care sunt expui.
Proiectul Copiii n comunitate a fost structurat pe ase ateliere
(dansuri populare, teatru, cerc de pictur, atelier de creaie, cerc de lectur i
educaie sanitar); proiectul a avut numeroase activiti care au fost evaluate
rnd pe rnd, prin serbri, expoziii, festivaluri, baluri i apreciate att de
elevii neimplicai, ct i de ntreaga comunitate.
Am pornit de la identifcarea unei nevoi a comunitii i ne-am axat, n
mod special, pe cooptarea elevilor ai cror prini erau plecai n strintate.
Am mers pe ideea de integrare, implicndu-i i pe ceilali elevi ai colii,
stimulndu-i astfel s participe cu interes i devotament alturi de grupul
int la activitile extracolare derulate n cadrul proiectului.
Activitatea Dansuri populare a fost ntmpinat cu interes
de ntreaga comunitate, prin aceasta promovndu-se obiceiuri i tradiii
specifce localitii Glimboca: Brul lui Toma, Ardeleana lui Aflon. Primria
i Consiliul Local s-au implicat n mod special, asigurnd spaiul necesar i
40
41
punnd la dispoziie dotarea tehnic de care a fost nevoie. Prinii elevilor
s-au preocupat de obinerea costumelor populare tradiionale btrneti.
Dansurile populare au avut un real succes, prin participarea la Festivalul
Internaional de Folclor Aflon Lacu i Ion Munteanu (de la Timioara) i
la toate serbrile colare. Ca urmare, aceast activitate i-a continuat drumul
i n urmtorul an colar, ansamblul participnd la Festivalul de tradiii i
obiceiuri de pe Valea Bistrei.
Activitatea de teatru s-a mbinat foarte bine cu activitile desfurate
n cadrul atelierului de creaie, al celui de lectur i pictur totodat.
Dup identifcarea piesei de teatru, n cadrul atelierului de lectur, s-a trecut
la selectarea elevilor pentru interpretarea rolurilor.
Atelierul de creaie s-a axat pe confecionarea ppuilor marionete
i a costumaiei acestora. Materialele folosite au fost reciclate, cei implicai
contientiznd faptul c pot f valorifcate i deeurile. Elevii de la atelierul de
pictur au pictat o mare parte din elementele de decor.
Piesele de teatru (Turtia i Fulg de nea) au fost jucate cu prilejul
serbrilor colare i au avut un impact emoional puternic asupra elevilor
interprei, spectatori i a prinilor. Aplauzele venite din partea publicului au
recompensat munca echipei, aceasta find stimulat prin distincii.
Expoziiile organizate cu ocazia srbtoririi Marii Uniri, au scos la
iveal talentul deosebit al elevilor de la atelierul de pictur. Acetia au realizat
picturi pe lemn, piatr i sticl, care au putut f admirate i, apoi, expuse n
coal.
Activitile desfurate n cadrul proiectului Copiii n comunitate au
optimizat relaionarea dintre coal, familie i comunitate, fcnd posibil
desfurarea unor activiti extracolare, cu caracter trans-disciplinar, care
n alt context nu ar f putut avea loc. S-a diminuat rata abandonului colar,
prin crearea acestor oportuniti de tip educaie non-formal pentru grupul
int i nu numai. Prin atragerea i implicarea copiilor afai n situaie de risc,
s-a dezvoltat spiritul de echip, evideniind creativitatea i buna colaborare
cu ceilali.
Clubul de juniori Glimboceanul (iniiat la fnalul anului 2010)
Ideea de a iniia un Club pentru elevi a fost un real succes n Glimboca.
Att elevii, ct i prinii au fost dornici de se implica n activitile derulate:
dansuri populare tradiionale btrneti, atelier de creaie (croitorie,
pictur, teatru de ppui, lectur) i mini-club de englez. Cu siguran,
acest lucru s-a ntmplat datorit experienei anterioare, a proiectului
precedent Copiii n comunitate, derulat n anul colar 2008 2009, ntruct
nainte de a ncepe noul proiect, elevii ntrebau mereu: Cnd ncepem o
nou pies de teatru?, Cnd confecionm marionete?, Cnd mai facem
dansuri?. Acest lucru a motivat i a ncurajat grupul de lucru s continue
activitile odat ncepute.
S-a pornit cu dorina de a implica n activiti extracolare elevii cu
prini plecai n strintate, ns au fost inclui i cei care provin din centrul
de plasament sau cu venituri materiale reduse , obiectiv care a fost ndeplinit.
La cercul de pictur s-au nscris 32 de elevi, cu vrste cuprinse ntre
7-14 ani (elevi de clasele I-VIII). Activitile s-au desfurat sptmnal, sub
ndrumarea doamnei nvtoare Flavia Bistrian. Pentru serbarea de Crciun,
elevii au pictat felicitri de iarn, diploma moului, peisaje de iarn, apoi
mrioare i felicitri pentru mama. La cercul de pictur s-au nscris elevi
care la cursuri nu ddeau dovad de seriozitate, n schimb, la pictur aveau
rbdare, participnd cu plcere.
n cadrul atelierului de creaie-croitorie, s-au nscris 15 eleve
cu vrste cuprinse ntre 11 15 ani. Au realizat decoraiuni de Crciun, apoi
pentru 8 Martie au confecionat pernue de ace pentru mamele i profesoarele
lor i tablouri decorative din plci de polistiren cu aplicaii de erveele.
Elevele au dat dovad de rbdare, meticulozitate, responsabilitate deplin.
La nceput li s-a prut greu, apoi tot mai uor. Au avut curajul de a ncerca i
maina de cusut, iar unele dintre ele nu puseser mna pe ac n viaa lor. Au
fost ncntate de ceea ce au realizat ,find ncurajate de doamna nvtoare
Marioara epi, cea care le-a atras i le-a coordonat totodat.
Dansurile populare reprezint cea mai apreciat activitate, n
special de prini i de ceilali membri ai comunitii. Trind la sat, sunt
dornici n a duce mai departe tradiia jocului i portului tradiional btrnesc.
aisprezece perechi de dansatori (32 elevi) au reprezentat comuna noastr la
festivalurile i serbrile din zon, urmnd ca Festivalul de Tradiii i obiceiuri
pe Valea Bistrei s fe organizat la Glimboca, n luna mai 2011.
La teatrul de ppui au activat 10 actori, cei care au creat o pies
nou, repetnd rolurile, nregistrnd vocile etc., iar elevii de la creaie au
confecionat marionetele; cei de la cercul de pictur au realizat decorul. Acum
vorbim despre o ntreptrundere a mai multor activiti, un gen de activitate
trans-disciplinar, o activitate ndrgit i n cadrul creia se coopereaz
foarte mult. Dac la nceput elevii interprei au fost cuprini de emoii, ulterior
le-au nvins, abia ateptnd s urce pe scen.
Mini-clubul de englez a luat natere din dorina elevilor care sunt
n primul an de studiu de a nva limba englez. Mini-clubul s-a realizat n
42
43
parteneriat cu grupul Sunshine Singers, un grup de copii peruani, din Otelul
Rou, care erau nsoii de profesoara lor. De la coala din Glimboca s-au
nscris 15 elevi cu vrste cuprinse ntre 11-12 ani (clasa a V-a), majoritatea cu
prini plecai n strintate.
ntrunirile, pe diverse tematici, s-au desfurat de dou ori pe lun i
au avut ca scop ncurajarea dialogului i mbogirea vocabularului n limba
englez; invitaii speciali au interacionat cu elevii, n limba englez i au
desfurat activiti interactive (jocuri, cntece, scenete simple, concursuri
cu premii, discuii pe marginea diferitelor materiale care au fost proiectate).
Rezultatele ateptate au fost: nvarea limbii engleze; contactul
direct cu ali copii de o alt naionalitate, n vederea promovrii dialogului
intercultural, a acceptrii diversitii; realizarea unor produse fnale n limba
englez (felicitri, proiecte, scrisori etc.); progres n abilitatea de conversaie
pe diverse teme n limba englez pentru elevii cu cunotine medii.
Cunoscnd copii care vorbesc limba englez aa cum vorbesc ei
limba romn, i-a ambiionat s nvee i ei mai mult, pe lng ce fac la
coal. mpreun cu profesoara lor au creat un imn al lor, Be the best, care
este i denumirea clubului, lucrnd apoi la deschiderea unui blog pentru
popularizarea mini-clubului.
6.1.2. Evaluarea impactului proiectului local
Comunitatea din Glimboca i problemele ei
Comuna Glimboca are n componen un singur sat, Glimboca, i este
situat n partea de nord-est a judeului Cara Severin, ntre oraul Oelul
Rou i comuna Obreja. Glimboca are o populaie de aproximativ 1900 de
locuitori i este o comun compact, casele find aezate unele lng altele n
stil ssesc.
Ca imagine de ansamblu, locuitorii comunei sunt primitori,
prietenoi, receptivi la nou i la idei care s conduc la dezvoltarea comunei.
Principala problem cu care se confrunt localnicii este lipsa locurilor de
munc i implicit a resurselor materiale care s le ofere siguran i confort.
Dependena economic a comunei Glimboca de oraele Caransebe i Oelul
Rou a condus la scderea nivelului de trai n plan local. Mai mult, nchiderea
fabricilor ce furnizau n mod constant locuri de munc a determinat o parte
dintre locuitorii comunei Glimboca s plece la munc n strintate. Acest
fenomen a fost amplifcat i de faptul c locurile de munc existente pe pia
sunt prost pltite i nu acoper nevoile de consum ale localnicilor.
Migraia pentru munc n strintate reprezint o problem asumat
i important n viziunea locuitorilor din Glimboca. Neglijarea copiilor
rmai acas este considerat o problem grav i foarte grav ntr-o msur
mai mic. Alte probleme sociale frecvent semnalate de ctre localnici au fost
srcia, problemele familiale, criminalitatea i relaiile confictuale dintre
membrii comunitii. Posibilitile sczute de loisir pentru copii, abandonul
colar sau calitatea sczut a educaiei au fost de asemenea menionate ca
probleme ale comunitii, ns mai puin importante.
Tabel 2 - Probleme ale comunitii din Glimboca n viziunea membrilor comunitii
Lipsa locurilor de munc, a oportunitilor de angajare n localitate sau n zon 68
Migraia oamenilor n strintate pentru munc 53
Srcia, nivelul de trai sczut 32
Violena domestic, problemele familiale 28
Furturile, criminalitatea 22
Confictele ntre diferite grupuri sau persoane 17
Posibilitile sczute de petrecerea timpului liber pentru copii 15
Neglijarea copiilor rmai acas 13
Abandonul colar al copiilor 9
Calitatea sczut a educaiei 7
Infrastructura public: iluminat, canalizare, ap etc. 6
Transportul (inclusiv cel pentru copii la coal) 4
Serviciile medicale 4
Not: frecvene obinute prin cumularea rspunsurilor de tip e o problem grav / e o problem
foarte grav
coala
Prinii sunt n general mulumii de coala din Glimboca. De
asemenea, pentru copii coala reprezint un element pozitiv, find interesai
de activitile educative de orice gen. Nemulumirile sunt legate de lipsa
de fonduri, de materialele didactice necesare aprofundrii coninuturilor
disciplinelor de studiu.
44
45
Dei se apreciaz c sunt destul de puine cazurile de abandon colar,
la nivelul comunitii acesta este contientizat ca problem mpreun cu
calitatea sczut a educaiei. De altfel, conducerea colii apreciaz c situaia
nu este la fel de bun cum era n trecut, n principal datorit deteriorrii
legturii familiilor cu coala.
Cel mai des invocate probleme ale copiilor din Glimboca se plaseaz
la nivelul familiei: srcia familiei, lipsa supravegherii i educaiei din partea
prinilor. Celelalte probleme care in de aria de responsabilitate a colii sau
a autoritilor publice sunt mai rar menionate.
Tabel 3 - Probleme ale copiilor din Glimboca n viziunea membrilor comunitii*
Lipsa condiiilor materiale din partea familiei 24
Lipsa supravegherii /educaiei din partea prinilor 7
Lipsa educaiei de calitate la coal 7
Lipsa activitilor extracolare 6
Lipsa spaiilor de petrecere a timpului liber, parcuri, localuri, terenuri de sport etc. 5
*rspunsuri spontane la ntrebare deschis, recodifcate ulterior pe aceste categorii
Migraia n strintate
Pe fondul lipsei locurilor de munc n zon, dup 1990, locuitorii
au nceput s mearg la munc n strintate, constituindu-se n timp
reele migratorii, n special n Germania. De altfel, migraia temporar a
fost identifcat ca una din principalele probleme ale comunitii. Numrul
emigranilor este greu de estimat deoarece plecrile sunt pentru perioade
scurte, pendulatorii, i au adesea caracter spontan, nu planifcat (pleac
atunci cnd se ivete o oportunitate de munc) se duc pe o lun-dou, vin
napoi pn afu io c o plecat cutare printe, poate s se i ntoarc. Sunt
o grmad de familii care se duc n Germania i dac nu-i primete btrnul
sau btrna unde lucreaz, nu-i place mutra sau nu tie limba bine l trimite
napoi retur (asistent social).
Copiii rmai acas reprezint o problem de importan relativ
sczut pentru comunitate. ntr-o localitate de dimensiuni reduse cum
este Glimboca, controlul social este ridicat, presiunea pentru auto-reglarea
relaiilor sociale este activ, astfel nct cu greu se poate vorbi de apariia
unor fenomene negative care s persiste, precum neglijarea copiilor. Totui,
plecarea unuia sau a ambilor prini poate genera carene la nivel emoional,
find semnalate unele cazuri de copii cu un comportament mai agresiv i
probleme de relaionare: Agresivitatea e cea mai mare problem a copiilor
rmai verbal i fzic a zice eu (profesor).
Impactul proiectului local derulat n cadrul Programului coal i
comunitate
Proiectul Fundaiei Soros este bine cunoscut de ctre persoanele
direct implicate: elevii de la coala din Glimboca, cadrele didactice i prinii
elevilor implicai n proiect. Aa cum era de ateptat, n restul comunitii
informaiile privind existena acestui proiect, dei larg cunoscute, sunt mai
vagi, fr date exacte n legtur cu toate activitile cuprinse n proiect.
n ceea ce privete implicarea direct n realizarea activitilor
proiectului, actorii principali din rndul instituiilor au fost coala i
Primria (cu sprijinul antreprenorilor locali n unele situaii). De altfel, i la
nivel subiectiv, cele mai pozitive aprecieri le-au obinut profesorii i elevii
cei doi parteneri care au desfurat efectiv activitile. Autoritile locale au
nregistrat de asemenea o medie ridicat.
Tabel 4 - Aprecierea implicrii n proiect a partenerilor (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5)
Media Numr de respondeni
Profesori 4,89 79
Elevi 4,82 79
Autoritile locale 4,59 74
Cabinetul medical 4,38 69
Familii 4,2 79
Conducerea colii 4,13 77
Oamenii din comun n general 3,59 74
Antreprenorii locali 3,13 60
Activitile cu cea mai mare vizibilitate n comunitate i, totodat,
cu cel mai mare succes n rndul elevilor au fost dansurile populare
Glimboceanul, cercul de pictur Micul pictor i echipa de teatru Micul
actor. Toate activitile au obinut medii evaluative ridicate.
Tabel 5 - Evaluarea activitilor proiectului (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5)
Media Numrul de respondeni
Dansuri populare GLIMBOCEANUL 4,82 78
Cercul de pictura Micul pictor 4,45 76
Teatru Micul actor 4,19 75
S trim sntos 4,14 76
ndemn la lectur 4 76
Atelier de creaie Creez, deci m dezvolt 3,86 72
46
47
Este de remarcat entuziasmul manifestat n relatrile participanilor
la studiu referitor la activitile organizate n cadrul proiectului. Pe de o parte,
tinerii s-au dovedit extrem de receptivi n a participa la activiti cu caracter
artistic, pe de alt parte, prinii au apreciat pozitiv aceast implicare i
datorit faptului c, prini ntr-o activitate constructiv, care le face plcere,
n care se simt valorizai, devin mai puin expui infuenelor negative i
riscurilor vrstei.
Astfel, putem afrma c implementarea proiectului Fundaiei Soros
la nivelul comunei Glimboca a avut un impact general pozitiv: rezultate
benefce din toate punctele de vedere (profesor).
cel mai impresionant a fost faptul c i-a fcut s gseasc n ei
resurse pe care nu tiau c le au, () le-a dat aa din spate un imbold s se
gndeasc la lucruri care pn atuncea (printe, Glimboca).
Tabel 6 - Aprecierea impactului proiectului (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5)
Media Numrul de respondeni
Asupra copiilor benefciari 4,74 78
Asupra profesorilor i colii 4,74 78
Asupra familiilor 4,49 78
Asupra comunitii n general 4,34 73
Impactul pozitiv a fost semnifcativ asupra copiilor, oferindu-le
ocazia de a-i dezvolta o serie de aptitudini i abiliti: spiritul de echip,
disponibilitatea de a se implica, curiozitatea, interesul pentru cultur i o mai
bun relaionare cu profesorii. Proiectul a pus comunitatea din Glimboca n
situaia de a acorda atenie educaiei i dezvoltrii armonioase a tinerilor.
Nevoi i perspective de continuare a proiectului
Toi cei investigai consider benefc i necesar continuarea
proiectului. Au fost menionate mai multe idei de continuare a proiectului:
organizarea de schimburi de experien, deplasarea copiilor n centre de
agrement, implementarea unui sistem after-school special pentru elevii
care au difculti de nvare sau pentru cei care din diferite motive nu pot
benefcia de sprijinul prinilor un program de activiti dup coal s-i
pregteasc leciile ntruct, v-am spus sunt prini plecai n strintate,
bunici care nu mai tiu s-i ajute (profesor).
6.2. Marginea
n comunitatea local, majoritatea elevilor sunt supravegheai de
un singur printe sau chiar doar de rude. Din aceast cauz problemele de
eec i abandonul colar i gsesc o motivaie n supravegherea insufcient
a elevilor. Faptul c i eu sunt unul dintre aceti elevi care triesc cu bunicii,
care m-au ncurajat s nv, mi-am promis s ncurajez i s sprijin copiii
care nu au aceast motivaie din familie a declarat un elev n clasa a VI-a ,
implicat n programul coal i Comunitate.
Scopul principal al proiectului local este acela de a a-i sprijini pe
copiii i adolescenii afai n situaie de risc s i dezvolte abiliti n plan
personal i social, prin implicarea n activiti care presupun interaciunea,
colaborarea cu alii.
Obiectivele proiectului sunt: implicarea elevilor cu prinii plecai
n strintate n viaa scolii, dezvoltarea abilitilor de comunicare social a
elevilor, responsabilizarea elevilor fa de propriile aciuni prin asumarea de
roluri n activitile proiectului.
Marginea vzut prin ochi de copil (2008 2009)
Proiectul a constat n organizarea urmtoarelor activiti:
Activitatea 1 Mediul de via al comunei Marginea sub-
activitile desfurate au fost urmtoarele: deplasri n zone diferite ale
comunei n vederea recunoaterii terenului i pentru a vedea diversitatea
forei i vegetaiei; colectarea de plante i insecte; determinri ale calitii
apei din fntnile proprii.
Activitatea 2 Istorie i tradiii locale sub-activitile desfurate
au fost urmtoarele: confecionarea obiectelor ceramice la atelierul lui
Magop Gheorghe din comuna Marginea; mpletirea nuielelor.
Activitatea 3 Obiceiuri i tradiii locale sub-activitile
desfurate au fost urmtoarele: culegerea din comun, de ctre copii, de
texte literare pe care le-au ncadrat n gen i specie (balade, legende, basme,
proverbe, ghicitori, doine); culegerea de credine i superstiii specifce
mrginenilor (i nu numai); obiceiuri locale au elaborat chestionare pentru
obiceiurile calendaristice i pentru obiceiurile din viaa de familie; au cules un
material consistent i foarte bine structurat n ceea ce privete evenimentele
fundamentale din viaa omului: natere, nunt i nmormntare: cntece de
48
49
leagn, doine, descntece, cntece de joc, cntece de nunt, strigturi, bocete.
Activitatea 4 Marginea fr margini au realizat traduceri din
romn n englez a materialelor furnizate de celelalte grupe afate n proiect
(pentru monografa neofcial a comunei).
Activitatea 5 Marginea n miniatur sub-activitile desfurate
au fost urmtoarele: familiarizarea elevilor cu tehnica reducerii la scar, a
realizrii machetelor; colectarea datelor topografce ale comunei; realizarea
machetei comunei.
Activitatea 6 Redactarea de materiale publicitare cu ajutorul
calculatorului elevii au realizat pliantele de prezentare a proiectului pe
activiti; au redactat monografa comunei.
Activitatea 7 S socializm prin sport au fost realizate i pregtite
echipele de fotbal, handbal biei, handbal fete, atletism i majorete pentru
competiii.
Clubul de tineret EFFECT (iniiat la sfritul anului 2010)
Activitile proiectului:
Activitatea 1 Mass media n coal
Activitatea i-a propus realizarea unui pachet media prin care s ofere
tuturor partenerilor (elevi, prini, cadre didactice, comunitatea local .a.)
informaii despre activiti. Informaiile au fost nsoite de fotografi sau
imagini video realizate de ctre elevii colii.
Pachetul mass-media propus a cuprins: un site web, un blog i un
forum, fecare din ele avnd rolul su n dezvoltarea procesului de comunicare.
Cele 3 forme de comunicare propuse au fost create de ctre elevi sub
ndrumarea profesorului coordonator, pentru nceput apelnd la serviciile de
hosting gratuit.
Site-ul i blogul colar ofer celor interesai informaii despre viaa n
coal sau n afara ei i ofer posibilitatea promovrii manifestrilor artistice,
sportive sau a unor hobby-uri ale elevilor colii. Forumul de discuii este o
provocare att pentru utilizatori, ct i pentru administratori n ceea ce
privete comunicarea.
Am intenionat s punem n practic o idee mai veche legat de
comunicarea cu prinii elevilor afai la munc n strintate. Acetia pot
contacta reprezentanii colii, diriginii sau nvtorii pentru a afa detalii cu
privire la activitatea propriilor copii. Comunicarea informaiilor confdeniale
de natur colar se va realiza prin mesaje personale (PM) prin intermediului
forumului.
Sub-activitile care au avut loc n cadrul Mass-media n coal:
Promovarea proiectului i informarea elevilor cu privire la
activitile propuse prin realizarea unui poster de informare;
Constituirea echipei de redacie din 12 20 elevi din clasele VI-X,
cu prioritate elevi ai cror prini sunt plecai n strintate;
Stabilirea modului de lucru, a frecvenei ntlnirilor, locul/data/
ora;
Lansarea unei invitaii concurs pentru realizarea paginii web a
colii (design i structur web). Ctigtorul desemnat va face parte
din echipa care va rspunde de grafca site-ului;
Stabilirea formatului, a rubricilor permanente i a responsabililor
cu actualizarea permanent a datelor;
Realizarea unui regulament cu privire la materialele care vor f
postate n fecare rubric a site-ului i a blogului;
Culegerea informaiilor, realizarea fotografilor i a flmelor n
vederea editrii i publicrii acestora pe blogul i site-ul colii, n
vederea inaugurrii acestuia;
ntlnirea lunar a echipei redacionale n vederea actualizrii
informaiilor.
Rezultate ateptate au fost:
crearea unui grup de elevi cu preocupri extracolare comune;
dezvoltarea abilitii de lucru n echip;
ncurajarea asumrii rspunderii pentru articolele publicate;
dobndirea de noi cunotine i abiliti cu privire la realizarea unei
pagini web;
dezvoltarea spiritului critic i a celui estetic.
Activitatea 2 Pe calea undelor nfinarea unui post de radio colar
Acest proiect s-a nscut din nevoia de informare permanent a
elevilor. Are drept scop mbuntirea nivelului de via, a strii de sntate,
a relaiilor dintre elevi, dintre elevi i profesori, precum i cultivarea gustului
pentru frumos i aprecierea adevratelor valori locale i naionale.
Obiectivul acestei activiti l-a reprezentat nfinarea unui post de
radio colar care s funcioneze pe parcursul ntregii zile.
Elevii, sprijinii i coordonai de ctre echipa de proiect, s-au ocupat de
procurarea mijloacelor i instrumentelor de realizare a acestui vis, au alctuit
50
51
programul radio n colaborare, au contribuit la realizarea a tot ce presupune
nfinarea i gestionarea unui post de radio.
O asemenea activitate nu are precedent n coal, i este necesar
nfinarea unui astfel de post de radio, avnd n vedere lipsa de informare a
elevilor, incapacitatea unora de a selecta valoarea de nonvaloare, neputina
unora de a socializa, mediul ostil educaiei din care provin muli dintre elevii
colii, precum i lipsa de informare care se resimte n rndul comunitii. Prin
acest post de radio s-a dorit, de asemenea, mbuntirea nivelului de trai i
a comunicrii n rndul elevilor i nu numai, mbuntirea comunicrii elev-
profesor, elev-elev, precum i familiarizarea elevilor cu tehnica modern.
Colectivul redacional este format din:
5 echipe a cate 6 elevi (30 elevi) care se vor preocupa de culegerea i
de starea materialului ce urmeaz a f difuzat zilnic;
25 de colaboratori din rndul elevilor;
6 profesori i nvtori;
voluntari care doresc s-i exerseze abilitile de comunicare i
gata oricnd s asigure nlocuirea unuia dintre membri grupului
redacional (atunci cnd acesta nu se af n localitate).
n urma implementrii proiectului, elevii pot benefcia de o surs
permanent de informare, de mediatizare a unor ncercri pozitive din partea
colegilor lor, de a intra n contact cu nume importante din jurnalism, de a
lucra cu tehnica modern, de a se orienta ctre adevratele valori i de a
respinge nonvaloarea.
Principalele sub-activiti sunt: organizarea echipei de redacie;
formarea echipei; achiziionarea echipamentului; elaborarea grilei de
programe; lansarea postului de radio colar;
Rezultate ateptate au fost:
dezvoltarea abilitilor de comunicare ale elevilor implicai i a
capacitii acestora de socializare, prin intermediul muncii n
echip, a interacionrii cu membri ai comunitii (atunci cnd vor
merge pe teren pentru a aduna material pentru tiri);
deschidere i comunicare din partea principalelor instituii ale
comunitii rurale, colaborarea acestora i implicarea lor n
rezolvarea unor probleme sociale;
informarea permanent a elevilor;
mediatizarea unor proiecte sau mici iniiative locale;
redescoperirea folclorului local i naional;
mbuntirea strii de sntate i prevenirea unor incidente, prin
informarea elevilor n legtur cu alimentaia corect, bolile de
sezon, cu bolile transmisibile i modul de transmitere a acestora, cu
tratamentele naturiste;
informarea permanent a elevilor privind reuitele colare
ale colegilor lor, nouti/schimbri n sistemul de nvmnt
romnesc;
trezirea interesului fa de problemele unor familii afate n
difcultate;
realizarea unei surse constante de informare, mediatizare, muzic
pentru pauzele din timpul programului colar;
mbuntirea comunicrii dintre elevi i conducere;
formarea unei culturi muzicale.
Activitatea 3 Promovare prin animaia video
Prin aceast activitate ne-am propus iniierea elevilor n domeniul
animaiei video. Prin realizarea flmelor de animaie video, acetia pot s
promoveze coala ntr-un mod plcut, atractiv, deosebit. Elevii nva care
sunt etapele realizrii animaiei, selecia imaginii, corelarea imaginii cu
mesajul transmis. Prin folosirea acestei metode se stimuleaz imaginaia,
creativitatea fecrui elev participant, mbuntirea comunicrii prin
imagini, familiarizarea elevilor cu tehnici noi de lucru.
Echipa de animaie video este format din 12 elevi: 6 din clasa a VIII-a,
4 din clasa a VII-a, 2 din clasa a V-a.
Sub-activitile sunt: popularizarea proiectului cu ajutorul flmului
de animaie; formarea echipei i achiziionarea echipamentului; asimilarea
noiunilor i tehnicilor de baz n animaie; realizarea flmelor de animaie
pentru blogul colii; realizarea unui concurs pentru cel mai bun flm de
animaie video; prezentarea proiectului cu ajutorul animaiei video.
Comuna Marginea este situat n partea de nord a judeului Suceava
i este compus dintr-un singur sat. La recensmntul din 2002, populaia
comunei era de 9511 persoane, aproape n totalitate de naionalitate romn.
n prezent, conform primriei, se gsesc 11000 de locuitori.
Activitile ocupaionale din Marginea cuprind pe lng agricultur
i munca n domeniul construciilor, prelucrrii lemnului i construciei
de mobilier, existnd n zon fabrici cu acest specifc. Oportunitile de
52
53
angajare sunt ns i n aceste condiii puine, situaie comun n mediul
rural. Ca urmare, lipsa locurilor de munc reprezint principala problem
pentru mrgineni. Cu toate acestea, nivelul de trai nu e apreciat de mrgineni
ca find o problem grav, n parte i datorit muncii n strintate, care
rezolv problema srciei, dar creeaz altele noi. Astfel c migraia pentru
munc n strintate reprezint o problem destul de important n viziunea
locuitorilor. Lipsa prinilor plecai, compensat ns de prezena altor rude
(bunici etc.) este considerat o problem ntr-o msur mai mic. Locuitorii
apreciaz c aceti copii pot avea benefcii fnanciare peste cele ale altor
copii, ceea ce explic absena unei poziii radicale atunci cnd sunt rugai s
aprecieze dac neglijarea copiilor constituie o problem n comunitate.
Tabel 7 - Probleme ale comunitii din Marginea n viziunea membrilor comunitii
foarte grav
Infrastructura reprezint o problem pentru mrgineni atunci cnd
amintesc de canalizare, acest aspect find ntlnit i n cadrul colii, prin lipsa
unor spaii sanitare corespunztoare. Furturile i criminalitatea nu reprezint
o problem n localitate, iar confictele ntre persoane, atunci cnd apar, se
petrec ntre cei tineri, n cadrul ntlnirilor. Accesul la servicii medicale e
apreciat ca find neproblematic, precum i transportul n localitate.
Problemele copiilor n comun sunt n general legate de aspectele
materiale: lipsa unui spaiu de joac, a unui parc mai extins i cu amenajri
pentru copii (comuna dispune de un parc situat central, lng primrie, ns
de dimensiuni reduse).
Tabel 8 - Probleme ale copiilor din Marginea n viziunea membrilor comunitii*
Lipsa supravegherii/educaiei din partea prinilor 9
Lipsa condiiilor materiale ale colii 2
Lipsa mijloacelor de transport 2
Ca soluie general la problemele comunitii este menionat
dezvoltarea turistic. Potenialul turistic ridicat este vzut ca generator de
noi locuri de munc, avnd astfel un rol important n dezvoltarea local pe
termen lung, nemaifind necesar o migrare a forei de munc n Italia sau
Spania.
coala
Pe teritoriul comunei funcioneaz trei uniti colare, ntre care
cea care constituie obiectul proiectului este cea mai mare, cu un numr de
862 de elevi de clase I-X (dintre care aproximativ 600 n ciclurile primar i
gimnazial), 15 nvtori, 28 de profesori i 7 maitri.
De curnd, cldirile colii au fost reabilitate i s-a introdus nclzirea
central. Unitile sanitare ale colii sunt ns precare i se gsesc n afara
corpului central. De asemenea, igiena acestora este problematic, pentru
c nu exist ap curent pentru ntreinerea lor. Aceasta este una dintre
problemele colii, menionat de toate cadrele didactice cu care am discutat
pentru evaluarea programului Fundaiei Soros.
Migraia n strintate
Fenomenul migraiei este destul de dezvoltat n Marginea, iar primria
comunei apreciaz c aproximativ 3000 de persoane au plecat s munceasc
n strintate ncepnd cu anii 1998 1999. Destinaia principal este Italia,
mrginenii concentrndu-se mai ales n regiunea Torino.
Primria apreciaz c numrul celor plecai n strintate tinde s
scad. Fa de anii anteriori, oamenii se ntorc acas. Pe msur ce trece
54
55
timpul mai puin pleac. Adic vin i rmn aici, alii caut fel de fel de
joburi sau deschid frme n comun sau pur i simplu alii nu mai au ce
face, nu mai au de lucru. (primar). n schimb, vrsta la care se pleac este tot
mai sczut. Tinerii pleac la vrste tot mai fragede avnd suportul familiei
sau al rudelor care muncesc n Italia. n special tinerii care mplinesc la
noi vrsta de 18 ani, prind paaportul, pleac Da, majoritatea celor care
pleac sunt tineri, pn-n 40 de ani. Bun, c nici angajatorii n strintate
nu te ia dac ai o vrst, nu. Nu, nu eti rentabil
Dei recunosc c muli dintre ei sunt plecai, locuitorii nu vd fenomenul
migraiei ca afectnd comunitatea sau viaa lor. Remarcile sunt mai degrab
pozitive, centrate pe sublinierea benefciilor materiale care sunt implicate. n
privina copiilor rmai acas, prerile sunt mai degrab mprite. Cei fr
copii consider c neglijarea copiilor nu reprezint o problem, acetia find
lsai n grija bunicilor. Respondenii cu copii consider ns c bunicii nu pot
substitui prezena prinilor i c neglijarea lor ar putea constitui o problem
destul de grav.
coala i bunicii se substituie parial rolului prinilor plecai n
strintate, profesorii i nvtorii confruntndu-se uneori cu situaii
confictuale sau suprapunere de roluri (rolul de educare, rolul de confdent
i de suport moral). Profesorii la dirigenie fac astfel de ore, s se apropie
de copil, s descopere care sunt nemulumirile, durerile lui. Am afat din
spusele lor, durerea lor e c nu sunt acas. Fetiele mai ales. Eram la clas,
a sunat telefonul unei eleve, nu este permis cu telefonul. M-a rugat: lsai-
m este mama, n-am vorbit cu ea demult, nu am vzut-o de 10 ani. A venit
i apoi am stat de vorb cu ea (director coal).
Impactul proiectului local derulat n cadrul Programului
coal i comunitate
Percepia celor implicai n proiect cu privire la vizibilitatea proiectului,
este c acesta este cunoscut de ctre ntreaga comunitate. Ca argument, se
indic promovarea prin televiziune sau transmiterea pe ci informale, de la
copii la prini, la bunici, la vecini etc.
Imposibil s nu se tie de proiect. Imposibil. Pentru c toat
activitatea noastr a fost dat succesiv pe postul local. (nvtoare)
Cei ce ne-au ajutat au fost televiziunea prin cablu, care a dat
pe cteva ore aciunea fnal. Din pcate n rest, din munca
desfurat pe parcurs, nu prea au avut acces la informaie s tie
ce facem noi dect prin copiii care povesteau colegilor i familiilor
ce fac(nvtor)
Exist ns o discrepan cu privire la vizibilitatea proiectului n
comunitate, ntre datele colectate prin interviuri, de la participani sau
colaboratorii proiectului, i datele culese prin chestionare de la membrii
comunitii n general. Astfel, datele din anchet ne sugereaz un nivel extrem
de redus al contientizrii proiectului n comunitatea mai larg. Respondenii
care tiau scopul proiectului i activitile acestora erau fe copii implicai n
proiect, fe prini ai acestora, fe cadre didactice de la coala implicat sau de
la alte coli din comun. Din 100 de chestionare aplicate, numai n 16 cazuri
de respondeni au avut informaii despre proiect i l-au putut evalua.
Cei 16 respondeni care cunoteau proiectul au fcut aprecieri pozitive
cu privire la toate activitile proiectului.
Tabel 9 - Evaluarea activitilor proiectului (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5)
Media
Numr de
respondeni
Marginea n miniatur: macheta comunei Marginea, colaje cu
materiale din natur
4,44 16
Monografa comunei Marginea fr margini 4,38 16
Competiii sportive S socializm prin sport 4,33 15
Mini-muzeul comunei (istorie, obiceiuri i tradiii locale) 4,31 16
Mediul de via al comunei Marginea (activiti ce in de
meteorologie, geografe, botanic, ecologie)
3,93 15
i n interviuri aprecierile cu privire la proiect se reduc la evaluri
generale i pozitive, marcate de dorina de repetare a unor astfel de proiecte
i programe. Evaluarea specifc, pe fecare activitate, a fost difcil de
realizat. Datorit faptului c proiectul a fost mprit n mai multe activiti,
cunoaterea acestora a fost limitat doar la cei care au fost implicai. Cei mai
muli dintre participani nu au putut rspunde atunci cnd au fost ntrebai
ce au fcut colegii lor n alte activiti.
Proiectul Soros nu pare s f ntmpinat obstacole de natur relaional
sau instituional, ci mai degrab piedici materiale. n general, problemele
indicate sunt de natur fnanciar: resurse insufciente pentru unele activiti.
Gestionarea problemelor fnanciare a fost efcient i s-a bazat pe colaborarea
ntre actorii instituionali implicai n proiect, n principal primria i coala
responsabil. Nu par s f existat probleme ce in de lipsa de implicare sau
reticena de a participa.
Doamna directoare a colaborat cu noi i ne-a spus mereu
problemele, de exemplu au avut probleme de transport, sau cu
56
57
cazrile. Am reuit s colaborm i s rezolvam aceste probleme
fr intervenii din alt parte sau fr s punem familiile, copiii s
i cheltuie banii lor pentru asta. Deci ne-am implicat, s-o rezolvat
ntre coal i primrie i ceilali actori care sunt implicai n
proiect. (primar)
O problem specifc indicat de mai muli intervievai a fost
imposibilitatea gsirii unui spaiu pentru desfurarea activitilor
proiectului, altul dect coala dup orele de curs.
Era destul de greu s se fac dans n sala de clas, spaiul nu e mare.
Dar acetia sunt nite factori pe care noi nu i putem schimba. Ne
lovim de nite chestii care nu depindeau nici de conducerea colii.
Pn la urm eram bucuroi c era spaiu pentru repetiii. Atunci
cnd eti implicat te strduieti s faci totul ct mai bine. (printe)
Ca i obstacole, mici obstacole, au fost tot cele legate de spaiu.
Vedei, noi lucrm pe dou schimburi, cred c un pic altfel ar f fost
activitatea dac dispuneam de spaiu, dac materialele nu eram
obligai s le strngem, s le depozitam. Asta a fost, cel puin la
mine i cred c i la ceilali colegi, un obstacol. Faptul c nu am
avut o sal n care chiar s putem desfura dou-trei activiti n
acelai timp. (director coal)
Datorit faptului c toate activitile s-au desfurat n cadrul colii,
e posibil ca asta s f contribuit la nivel comunitar la asocierea exclusiv a
colii cu proiectul, percepia implicrii altor actori, externi (Fundaia Soros)
i interni (primria) comunitii, find redus.
n cadrul cercetrii cantitative, cei 16 respondeni care cunoteau
proiectul au fcut aprecieri pozitive cu privire la implicarea partenerilor
n proiect, cele mai bune evaluri avndu-le coala (att profesorii, ct i
conducerea colii) i elevii, adic cele dou pri direct implicate n activitile
concrete. Oamenii din comun n general i cabinetul medical nregistreaz
aprecieri mai degrab negative ale implicrii.
Tabel 10 - Aprecierea implicrii n proiect a partenerilor (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5)
Media
Numr
respondeni
Profesorii 4,73 15
Conducerea colii 4,6 15
Elevii 4,25 16
Antreprenori locali 3,85 13
Autoritile locale 3,5 14
Familiile 3,2 15
Oamenii din comun n general 2,8 15
Cabinetul medical 1,75 12
Conform datelor din chestionare, putem aprecia c impactul proiectului
a fost semnifcativ n special asupra copiilor i asupra profesorilor, i mai
puin asupra familiilor sau comunitii n general. De altfel i din interviuri
a reieit c proiectul nu a produs schimbri semnifcative n comunitate n
general.
Tabel 11 - Aprecierea impactului proiectului (medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5)
Media
Numr
respondeni
La nivelul principalilor benefciari, profesorii i copiii, printre cele mai
importante benefcii ale proiectului au fost menionate:
activizarea copiilor, motivarea lor s se implice n activiti
extracurriculare;
integrarea copiilor ntr-un colectiv i susinerea unui cadru de
munc bazat pe activitatea n echipa: Au schimbat puin pe copii,
felul lor de a gndi, felul lor de a se comporta. O crescut curajul,
iniiativa, spiritul organizatoric, comunicarea n grup, pentru
c sta nu e un proiect de o singur persoan sau dou, deci n
grup, n colectiv, trebuia s se armonizeze, s tie s discute, s
participe, toi fceau unitar. E ceva n plus fa de coal. Aicea se
nva s lucreze colectiv, la coal e pe note i individual, dar aici
era o sarcin colectiv i un tot unitar(printe);
58
59
crearea unei relaii mai apropiate ntre cadre didactice i copii: i
ceea ce cred eu c e important ce se ntmpl de doi ani de zile e
faptul c ne-am apropiat mai mult de ei, sau ei de noi. Deci elevul
l vede pe profesor din perspectiva celui de sus. Aici am lucrat cu
ei, ne-am mzglit cu ei, n tabr chiar am fost cu ei. (director
coal);
crearea unei legturi mai strnse ntre familii, copii i reprezentanii
colii sau coala ca instituie: deci att prinii ct i copiii au fost
foarte receptivi i au fost dornici s intre n acest proiect i s
desfoare activiti, adic s nvee ceva. i s-a stabilit i o relaie
ntre conducerea colii i familii. Prinii au venit i au vzut c
copiii, n afara orelor de program, mai au i alte preocupri i
vor s nvee ceva, au spus da, aa da, ne bucuram i i-o lsat
i nu, nu i-au mai controlat c tiau c ei rmn la coal, sunt
supravegheai i desfoar nite activiti benefce pentru ei i
familiile lor. (primar)
Discursul critic, centrat pe mbuntirea proiectului sau pe conturarea
punctelor slabe, este mai puin prezent, cei mai muli dintre cei intervievai
indicnd avantajele. Nu cred ca au avut puncte slabe, sunt numai puncte
foarte bune. Pentru c cine a lucrat la ghidul de implementare a acestui
proiect a tiut, o fost meseria, nu are fsuri Este perfect, dac va continua
aa, va avea rezultate i mai bune n viitor (primar). Motivele unui astfel de
discurs sunt probabil fe teama c o eventual critic ar putea atrage dup
sine o sistare a proiectului sau a unor viitoare proiecte, fe imposibilitatea
nuanrii evalurii datorat necunoaterii n detaliu a activitilor proiectului
Dac impactul asupra copiilor i asupra relaiei lor cu profesorii a
fost apreciat ca unul important i pozitiv, efectele asupra comunitii sunt
mai puin vizibile. Dei recunosc implicarea unor membri ai comunitii n
unele activiti, se apreciaz c proiectul nu a produs o schimbare la nivelul
comunitii.
Continuarea proiectului este dorit de toat lumea. Se simte nevoia
implicrii mai multor copii dect a fost posibil n cadrul proiectului pilot,
se dorete organizarea mai multor tabere cu profl educaional pentru copii,
rolul acestor tabere find unul accentuat n dezvoltarea capacitilor copiilor.
O direcie relativ comun menionat de cei intervievai pentru proiecte
viitoare este accentuarea specifcului tradiional al comunitii Marginea,
nevoia de a pstra integral activiti precum prelucrarea ceramicii sau
dansurile populare.
Nu exist o accentuare a responsabilitii personale n demararea
unui viitor proiect, tendina find mai degrab de a formula expectane fa de
actori externi. Orice mi se cere eu fac, orice mi se sugereaz, orice ajutor eu
dau (bibliotecar coal). Numai cei cu responsabiliti mai extinse n cadrul
proiectului Fundaiei Soros au observat importana continurii unor astfel
de activiti din proprie iniiativ (profesoara de limba romn, de exemplu).
Disponibilitatea spre aciune exist totui, dar se oprete la nivel
proiectiv: dac membrilor li se va solicita s fac ceva, ei o vor face. Iniiativa
ns mai degrab lipsete. Atunci cnd sunt ns ntrebai ce anume ar face
pe viitor, puini sunt cei care pot da un rspuns concret, elaborat. Este
important, pentru sustenabilitate, dezvoltarea iniiativelor n planifcarea i
gestionarea proiectului.
6.3. Prejmer
Micu de statur, ct un purice, Irina, colega mea de banc, este
modelul pe care eu vreau s-l urmez. Cu ochii ei cprui i prul precum
castanele, ea se mbrac modest, din cauza lipsurilor. Prinii ei sunt
desprii. Mama ei e plecat n strintate, iar tatl las de dorit.
Locuiete cu bunicii si cu doi frai mai mici, c tatl s-a recstorit. Acesta
st la doar cteva case distan. n fecare zi trece prin faa porii, ns
beat. Pe Irina o doare foarte mult s-l vad n starea aceasta (). Toate
aceste necazuri ar trebui s o fac pe Irina s abandoneze coala, cum se
ntmpl cu muli ali copii n situaia ei, dar nu se ntmpl aa. Dimpotriv
este cea mai bun din clas. Are note foarte mari. Bnuii pe care i primete
de la bunica ei care este foarte btrn i foarte bolnav, avnd cancer, i
duce la un orfelinat. Chiar dac suma nu este prea mare, tie c va produce
bucurie copiilor care o primesc. Seara, cnd ajunge acas de la coal,
nainte de a se apuca de teme, trebuie s pregteasc cina i s fac baie
frailor ei. Fiecare zi este pentru Irina o nou lupt. Orict de greu i este i
oricte probleme ar avea, nu i arat niciodat tristeea n faa colegilor.
Ea are mereu zmbetul pe buze Avem multe de nvat de la ea. n primul
rnd s ne preuim prinii. Iat de ce Irina este modelul pe care eu vreau
s-l urmez. (articol aprut n Familia de la coal Revista literar a colii
Generale Prejmer, ianuarie 2009).
60
61
Scopul proiectului local este s ofere i s coordoneze activiti
extracolare prin care s fe valorifcat timpul liber al elevilor afectai de
fenomenul migraiei i de situaia fnanciar precar, cu scopul de a dezvolta
competene de comunicare, de integrare n grup i artistice.
coal i comunitate (2008 2010)
coala General Prejmer a fost implicat i este n continuare n
programul coal i comunitate nc din anul 2008. Acest proiect i-a dorit
s aduc activiti extracolare pentru ocuparea timpului liber al copiilor cu
situaii familiale difcile, n special cei cu prini plecai peste hotare i cei
din familii monoparentale. n 2008, au fost 23 de elevi n situaie de risc la
clasele V-VIII i toi au fost implicai n activitile cuprinse n proiect. n
primul an de fnanare din partea Fundaiei Soros Romnia, activitile au
fost numeroase, cuprinznd:
formarea echipei de teatru Discipolii lui Shakespeare;
relansarea revistei literare a colii;
competiii sportive;
ntlniri ale prinilor sub deviza coala prinilor;
o sptmn a toleranei, dat find faptul c 25% din elevii colii
sunt rromi;
stabilirea unei echipe de artizanat, care se descurc foarte bine la
realizarea costumelor necesare pieselor de teatru.
Elevii implicai au fost motivai s participe n numr ct mai mare
la toate competiiile, printr-o bun mediatizare n cadrul colii a proiectului.
Chiar i cei mai puin activi au fost implicai n construirea decorurilor pentru
piesele de teatru, n redactarea paginilor de revist, n jurizarea ntrecerilor
sportive, n pregtirea diseminrilor din coal.
Pentru echipa de teatru Discipolii lui Shakespeare, operele autorului
au fost o adevrat provocare pentru profesorul coordonator i pentru elevii
dornici s se afrme pe scen. Au trebuit depite unele prejudeci despre
difcultatea de a pune n scen un asemenea autor i despre necunoaterea
operei sale. Astfel c pentru a-i atrage asupra frumuseii unui dramaturg
nemuritor, elevii au fost invitai s ncerce recitarea versurilor din Macbeth
pe o melodie actual a formaiei Paraziii. Rezultatul a fost ndrgit n coal
de Haloween, ntr-o comun vecin de Festivalul cltitelor, numit Fasching,
i de o echip de profesori din UK, care au reuit s stabileasc un contact cu
elevii datorit acestui proiect.
Fasching-ul, festivalul amintit mai sus, a oferit n fecare lun
februarie un prilej de a etala munca din atelierul de artizanat, elevii costumai
find mereu rugai de cei prezeni s se lase fotografai, iar pentru echipele
de teatru s urce pe scen i s-i foloseasc emoiile n mod constructiv. Pe
lng echipa care joac Shakespeare, coala are o alta care joac scenete din
autorul romn Ion Luca Caragiale. Elevii care au urcat pe scen au demonstrat
mai mult curaj n timpul prezentrilor de la lecii, s-au apropiat mai mult de
cultur, n special dup ce au fost la spectacolul de teatru D-ale carnavalului
din Braov. Dup aceast ieire la teatru, inclus n partea a doua a proiectului
cu Fundaia Soros, s-au remarcat urmtoarele:
un mai mare interes pentru realizarea unor costume fdele descrierii
din piese;
renunarea la spiritul introvertit;
o mai bun comunicare cu psihologul colii, ntre colegi, cu
profesorii;
un mai bun spirit de echip;
note mai mari la educaie tehnologic i la disciplinele care necesitau
prezentri orale.
S-a observat, cu ajutorul psihologului, c elevii afai n situaie de risc
de abandon colar erau introvertii sau debordau de o energie care i plasa n
topul celor mai nzdrvani elevi ai colii. Prin activitile din proiect aceti
elevi au reuit s se cunoasc mai bine i s recunoasc n primul rnd c au
nevoie de prinii lor. Am ncercat i continum cu acest demers s le oferim
o Familie de la coal (numele revistei literare), s-i facem s se exprime
artistic pe scen sau n atelierul de creaie vestimentar.
Pentru c aceste trei activiti au implicat, la un nivel mai mare, elevii
din grupul int, ele au rmas i pentru partea a doua a proiectului, care a luat
forma Clubului juniorilor prejmereni. Acum sunt doar 14 elevi cu prini
plecai i din familii monoparentale, numrul find mai mic datorit migrrii
familiilor cu tot cu copii. Prinii au realizat c este nevoie de prezena lor
n viaa copiilor, astfel c majoritatea i-au luat i copiii cu ei. Cei care mai
sunt n situaie de risc sunt la rude apropiate i au situaii fnanciare destul
de bune, doar emoional se descurc mai greu i cu motivaia de a nva. Cu
elevii care au preluat tafeta de la cei mari, am reuit s crem un cont pe
Facebook i un blog al clubului, pentru a prezenta activitile din proiect.
Cel mai mare impact pentru cei implicai n proiect au avut cursurile
pentru profesorii implicai i taberele pentru elevi, evenimente care au dus
la noi prietenii i la o mai bun comunicare ntre elevii colilor implicate
62
63
n proiect. Prinii i membrii din comunitate direct implicai au apreciat
n deosebi aceste lucruri. Pe viitor, unul dintre obiective este mai buna
mediatizare a activitilor proiectului, dar i implicarea mai multor membri
ai comunei.
Proiectul local coal i comunitate a inclus o serie de activiti
precum coala prinilor, Sptmna toleranei, Hai s facem teatru!, cu
sub-activitile: cercul de desen, competiii sportive, sptmna toleranei,
mirajul srbtorilor de iarn, cercul de literatur, cercul de teatru, reproducerea
costumele lui Shakespeare. Acesta s-a adresat copiilor cu prini plecai n
strintate i celor cu situaie material precar. Au benefciat direct 50 de
elevi i peste 200 n mod indirect. n urma desfurrii activitilor i sub-
activitilor, grupul de elevi implicat i-a dezvoltat abiliti de lucru n echip,
un grad mai mare de toleran, a manifestat un interes sporit fa de coal
i i-a promovat activitile i rezultatele n rndul membrilor comunitii. n
ce privete relaia cu comunitatea, aceasta s-a mbuntit prin participarea
unui numr nsemnat de membri ai acesteia la activitile derulate. Acestea
din urm au demonstrat necesitatea continurii unui astfel de proiect care
aduce n prim plan comunicarea strns ntre coal i comunitate.
Toate activitile, din cadrul clubului, urmresc i dezvoltarea
spiritului antreprenorial, care deschide oportuniti pentru autofnanarea
unor proiecte viitoare.
Conform Recensmntului populaiei i al locuinelor din 2002,
comuna Prejmer are 8.316 locuitori, dimensiunea localitii find n cretere
se pare n ultimii ani: la 1 ianuarie 2010, conform INS DJS Braov comuna
nregistra 9.237 locuitori, find eterogen etnic, pe lng majoritate romni
existnd i rromi, maghiari, germani. Oamenii sunt ocupai n industrie,
agricultur i alte activiti (servicii publice, nvmnt, sntate, transport,
comer etc.), dar o mare parte sunt omeri (conform datelor primriei, exist
1.200, aproximativ un sfert din populaia activ a comunei).
La nivelul simului comun, nivelul de trai este unul mediu spre sczut,
dei oamenii manifestau o mndrie care i mpiedica s recunoasc pe deplin
acest lucru: A fost fabric de scaune aici, mobil S-a dus. A fost Postavul,
a fost colectivul, a fost IAS-ul, fabric de salam, brnzeturi, ce n-a fost aici
n comuna asta, pstrv, lapte i miere (printe).
La nivel subiectiv, cele mai grave probleme cu care se confrunt
comunitatea din Prejmer sunt legate de lipsa oportunitilor de angajare,
infrastructura defcitar i nivelul de trai sczut. Posibilitile de recreere
pentru copii sunt de asemenea apreciate ca lacunare. Migraia la munc n
strintate nu este o problem att de grav.
Tabel 12 - Probleme ale comunitii din Prejmer n viziunea membrilor comunitii
foarte grav
Copiii din Prejmer nu par s se confrunte cu o situaie difcil,
principala lacun find lipsa oportunitilor de recreere. Srcia familiilor a
fost de asemenea indicat ca problem, ns ntr-o msur mai mic. Celelalte
lipsuri sau difculti sunt rar menionate i putem aprecia c nu reprezint n
fond probleme la nivelul comunitii.
Tabel 13 - Probleme ale copiilor din Prejmer n viziunea membrilor comunitii*
Lipsa condiiilor materiale ale scolii 2
64
65
coala
Este foarte apreciat i perceput pozitiv la nivelul ntregii comuniti:
Este o coal care produce valori. Copiii notri s-au dus la cele mai bune
licee din jude i au avut ulterior performane. (psiholog colar);
A fost menionat ns o tendin de abandon colar sau nefrecventare
a colii, n special n rndul rromilor. Cstoria i sarcina precoce n cazul
fetelor i munca (n activiti agricole n special) n cazul bieilor sunt
principalele motive care conduc la eecul colar.
e etnia rrom care prezint probleme n ceea ce privete frecvena
i nvtura i atitudinea fa de coal, cam 25% n coal ca
pondere. Problemele de disciplin cele mai mari din rndul elevilor
de etnie rrom provin (profesor director adjunct n perioada
implementrii proiectului);
exist pericol de abandon colar mai ales n rndul populaiei
rrome. Fetele de pe la clasa a aptea ncep s se mrite i chiar
dac nu se mrit legal, pleac de acas i la biei mai sunt
cazuri n care, cnd prinii lucreaz, i trimit pe ei, mai ales
toamna, la munca cmpului. Avem perioade, luna octombrie,
cnd nu vin, i apoi din noiembrie ncep s vin. Era foarte bun
chestia cu alocaia. Cu alocaia, cnd se ddea alocaia prin coal
noi reueam s i aducem la coal. (director coal).
coala reprezint adesea o sursa de confict ntre rromi i romni. Muli
prini prefer s i trimit copiii la coala general din Lunca Clnicului, alt
sat component al comunei Prejmer, pentru c acolo nu sunt rromi deloc.
Copii de romni nu i accept pe rromi; astea sunt pe fa. Copiii
nu tiu s ascund (mediator colar);
coala pierde, pentru c foarte muli prini, foarte multe familii
de etnie romn i dau copiii la alte coli din Braov (profesor).
coala din Prejmer este o instituie slab conectat la viaa comunitii.
Legturile sale cu autoritile locale i cu familiile sunt mai degrab defcitare.
Implicarea autoritilor locale se limiteaz la asigurarea anumitor aspecte
materiale colii sau la decontarea transportului fr s colaboreze i n alte
direcii cu implicaii educaionale.
Primria tie de toate proiectele noastre dar ei zic: directorul tie
ce are de fcut n coal, noi nu ne amestecm. Ne-a sprijinit material i
avem condiiile pe care le avem i asta e un lucru extraordinar. Dar cnd a
fost vorba de un proiect, s mai cerem noi bani, pe lng fnanri, nici nu
se punea problema, ne-au spus: pi pltim utilitile, v decontm naveta,
ceea ce nu se ntmpl la alte coli, avem buget mic. (profesor).
Relaia cu familia este practic inexistent, dovad find i eecul
colii prinilor, una din componentele proiectului local iniiat n cadrul
programului Fundaiei Soros:
iniial am invitat toi prinii copiilor din ciclul gimnazial. La
aceast invitaie nu au venit dect 6 prini din aproape 200
invitai. Ulterior am avut am desfurat aceast activitate o
dat pe lun doar cu 3 prini care i-au manifestat interesul de a
participa pe tot parcursul proiectului. (psiholog colar);
coala prinilor n-a avut succes. Acesta e un punct slab al
proiectului, care nu s-a realizat. La prima ntlnire au venit cinci
sau ase. La a doua ntlnire au fost vreo doi, trei, ca pe urm s
nu mai vin. (director coal).
Prinii par s lase totul n grija colii, iar copiii confrm acest lucru,
spunnd c se ocup singuri de teme, se ngrijesc singuri (unii chiar spuneau
c gtesc sau au grij de frai, dei prinii nu erau plecai nicieri). Sunt
excepii, de obicei printre mamele care stau acas, dar nu numai, i sunt, n
principiu, prinii celor cu rezultate bune i foarte bune. Nici prinii, nici
copiii nu privesc cele dou instituii (coala i familia) ca find conectate n
realitate, nu pot defni relaia care ar trebui s existe ntre ele. Rspunsurile
prinilor se opresc la nivel formal, dezirabil social: Familia ar trebui s fe
aproape (printe,); Deci prima dat i prima dat conteaz educaia unui
copil de acas. (printe).
Educaia este valorizat pentru benefciile n special de ordin material
pe care le aduce. Cei mai muli dintre copii vor s fac facultate, unii chiar
i master (dei unii nici nu tiau ce e un master) ca s ajung cineva, acest
lucru nsemnnd un salariu de 2000 lei. Pe de alt parte, prinii au preri
mprite: unii susin ct mai mult coal, cu cel puin 12 clase, dar de preferat
studii superioare (nu poate s ocupe un loc de munc dac n-are facultate,
trebuie s fac o facultate. (printe)), n timp ce alii spun c 10 clase sunt
sufciente, considernd c e nevoie de oameni pentru muncile agricole sau
coli profesionale unde s nvee lucruri practice din care chiar s se ntrein:
Prerea mea, la timpurile de acum, toat lumea vrea s aib o facultate, s
fe doctor docent, s fe psiholog, s fe medic, s fe dar Trebuie trebuie
s mai se gndeasc c e nevoie i de un muncitor de rnd, de un tractorist, de
un tmplar.; toi i doresc s aib facultate i master i dup atta coal,
servicii nu ci mai muli ani de coal, dar la ce folosesc? (printe).
66
67
coala perfect pentru copii este una mai uoar, cu mai puin
materie i cu profesori indulgeni. Pentru prini, coala perfect ar trebui s
conin o puternic component aplicat coala s se mbine cu practica.
(printe) i reclam n sistemul actual cantitatea prea mare de informaii.
Prinii estimeaz c autoritatea profesorilor este n declin, considernd-o o
problem important pentru lipsa de interes a copiilor pentru coal.
Migraia n strintate
n ceea ce privete migraia, este greu de precizat numrul copiilor
rmai fr prini, acesta variind de la 18 la 100, conform estimrilor
autoritilor intervievate. Majoritatea celor investigai apreciaz ns c
fenomenul este n scdere, pe fondul crizei economice care a afectat i rile
de destinaie, nemaiavnd aceleai oportuniti de munc.
Aa cum am artat anterior, migraia nu este considerat o problem
att de grav n comunitate i cu att mai puin neglijarea copiilor rmai
acas. Din interviurile ntreprinse rezult ns c familiile cu un membru
sau mai muli plecai au probleme cu copiii, dar mai degrab de natur
emoional. De asemenea, se pare c exist i probleme la nivelul structurii
de autoritate n familie, bunicii sau printele rmas singur avnd difculti
n a se impune n faa copiilor. Astfel copiii devin neasculttori, mai greu de
controlat: i cam iau lumea n cap odat ce le pleac prinii, bunicilor le e
mai greu s i struneasc (profesor).
Impactul proiectului local derulat n cadrul Programului
coal i comunitate
Proiectul este cunoscut numai de ctre cei direct implicai. n rest,
nici prinii, nici elevii, nici mcar ali profesori din coal nu tiu despre
existena unui proiect al Fundaiei Soros n comunitate. n realitate, multe
dintre activitile proiectului sunt cunoscute, dar sunt asociate exclusiv cu
coala. Fundaia Soros nu este n niciun fel prezent la nivelul opiniei publice.
Problema este cu att mai grav cu ct nu este contientizat. O parte a celor
implicai, n special dintre autoriti, consider c proiectul este cunoscut
i sufcient popularizat, poate i din precauie, din teama de a se sista
continuarea sa.
Pi n comunitate, cel puin innd cont de ce am fcut noi
n cadrul activitilor, proiectul este cunoscut, pentru c am
mediatizat, am popularizat Faptul c am desfurat activitile
n perimetrul comunei, deja face s fe cunoscut. Faptul c noi
am avut i activiti de popularizare, iari. (profesor director
adjunct n perioada implementrii proiectului)
Pe de alt parte, se admite c puini prini sunt cu adevrat interesai
de proiect, n condiiile n care problemele curente sunt presante.
Proiectul coal i comunitate a vizat n primul rnd copii i
familii cu situaie delicat fnanciar i material. Acela cnd
n-are ce mnca, este foarte puin interesat. El zice da, e ok, este
excelent c este un proiect, copilul meu e acolo, e bun, dar el are
alte griji. Dac o s l ntreb eu mai mult despre proiect, nu o s
mi poat s-mi zic mare lucru. (profesor director adjunct n
perioada implementrii proiectului).
Discuiile cu prinii au indicat faptul c n fond cunoteau anumite
activiti ale proiectului, dar nu tiau de vreo implicare a unei alte entiti
n afar de coal: tot ce se ntmpl la coal e organizat de coal, sub
umbrela colii.
Principalii actori implicai n proiect sunt Primria i prinii i, ntr-o
mai mic msur, Centrul de zi. Favorabil sunt vzute implicarea colii, a
copiilor care au intrat n joc i a fundaiei:
sincer s fu, mi-a f dorit ca cei din primrie s se implice mai
mult. Noi, nspre fnalul proiectului, ne-am i dus, mpreun cu
Denisa, i am propus o continuare a acestui proiect. Era exact prin
perioada martie, cnd se fceau bugetele pentru anul n curs. i
ne-au spus c se vor gndi, dar s nu ne facem sperane mari c
nu se poate. (psiholog colar);
fundaia a dat foarte mult. ntotdeauna ne-au tratat aa, foarte
bine, i la cursuri i pe unde am fost i cu copiii, deci a fost excelent.
Din partea noastr, prinii puteau da mai mult (profesor).
n ceea ce privete succesul activitilor, lsnd la o parte coala
Prinilor, celelalte sunt foarte apreciate:
o coleg a scos revista colii n cadrul acestui proiect i a implicat
copiii care nu credeau niciodat ca vor participa la aa ceva. Pe
urm ceea ce a fcut colega care a fcut teatru, n care iari a
atras copiii care aveau caliti artistice i care poate erau nclinai
spre a nu veni mereu la coal, dar find prini n astfel de activiti
au venit. (director coal);
copiilor le place s joace teatru, s-i exprime sentimentele ntr-un
anumit fel. i de-asta s-au implicat foarte mult. A fost o modalitate
prin care ei s-au afrmat i au artat c pot s fac i altceva i pot
s fac bine lucrul acesta. (psiholog colar);
Au avut succes activitile sportive pentru c le i ofer copiilor
posibilitatea de a-i valorifca energia, spiritul de competiie, i
68
69
nva s relaioneze. n acelai timp i trupa de teatru le-a oferit
posibilitatea s se manifeste. Ei au participat i au fost interesai.
(profesor director adjunct n perioada implementrii proiectului);
Am vzut c le-a plcut la sptmna toleranei. Atunci au fost
foarte muli, din mai multe clase implicai i au fost foarte activi.
La mirajul srbtorilor de iarn, aproape toate clasele au avut
cte ceva de fcut [] la sport toi s-au ngrmdit, acolo le-a
plcut. (profesor).
Impactul general asupra comunitii este mai degrab limitat. Nu au
existat niciun fel de efecte negative, dar nici nu au fost sesizate schimbri
semnifcative n comunitate. Benefciile la nivelul copiilor sunt ns
numeroase.
pe unii dintre acetia i-a unit, i-a fcut s fe mai deschii unii cu
ceilali (psiholog colar);
i nva s relaioneze mai bine n cadrul colii, n cadrul
comunei. i nva s se manifeste, s se exprime, i asta zic c este
un ctig (profesor director adjunct n perioada implementrii
proiectului);
Deci se vede foarte clar, cei care au fost n proiect sunt mai unii,
cei care au fost n tabr cu un profesor deja altfel l vd pe acel
profesor. Sau au lucrat cu el, dup ore nu mai e acea reticen
(profesor);
Experiene noi pentru copii. Socializare. (printe).
Exist, se pare, cazuri la care implicarea n proiect a contribuit la
rezolvarea unor probleme specifce care in de sfera vieii personale: o fat
care n urma proiectului comunic mai bine cu mama ei (care a participat la
coala Prinilor), un biat care acum frecventeaz coala, dei era n risc de
abandon, ca urmare a implicrii n activitatea de teatru, combinnd teatrul cu
muzica lui preferat, Paraziii.
De asemenea, se menioneaz c un avantaj major al proiectului
la nivelul familiilor l constituie chiar supravegherea copiilor, prinii
declarndu-se mulumii c nu i mai tiu copiii pe strad, ci antrenai n
activiti educative.
La nivelul profesorilor, proiectul a adus benefcii importante pentru
formarea lor continu, dar i pentru dezvoltarea lor personal.
Da, pentru mine, personal, la portofoliul de evaluare anual a
fost un punct n plus, o bil alb. (profesor director adjunct n
perioada implementrii proiectului);
ne-am promovat, prin intermediul acestui proiect. Avnd n
vedere c a existat colaborarea cu celelalte dou comuniti din
ar, am fcut un schimb, s-i spun, intercultural, a fost chiar
benefc, pentru c cele trei cursuri care s-au desfurat, s-au
desfurat unul aici, unul la Marginea i unul la Glimboca i a fost
un real avantaj. i eu l consider, de asemenea, ca un real avantaj,
ultimul curs, cel de management de proiect. (psiholog colar);
mi amintesc de un curs de la Suceava, de la Marginea, cnd ne-
au pus s ne caracterizm noi pe ceilali, i toi m-au caracterizat
c sunt foarte introvertit, c nu vorbesc, ca sunt aa, eu pentru
mine i att i atunci le-am dat posibilitatea s m vad altfel, n
timpul acestui curs i n timpul proiectului. (profesor).
n ceea ce privete evaluarea rezultatelor de pn n prezent, opiniile
sunt, de asemenea, pozitive:
Destul de bune. Pentru c ne-am implicat noi, s-au implicat
copiii, coala a fost promovat, doar c nu am reuit n rndul
comunitii, al familiilor, al prinilor, s i facem pe acetia s
neleag c rolul lor trebuie s fe mai activ. (psiholog colar);
Evoluia a fost una pozitiv. Eu am fost sceptic la nceputul
proiectului.[] dup aceea am vzut c, pe parcurs, lucrurile
au mers bine i c merit. Dovad faptul c ne-am interesat s
continum colaborarea. (profesor director adjunct n perioada
implementrii proiectului).
Din interviurile i focus grupurile realizate, punctele tari ale proiectului
ar f: creterea stimei de sine i a ncrederii n forele proprii pentru copii,
formarea profesorilor prin cursurile de management de proiect, experiena
lucrului n echip att pentru copii, ct i pentru profesori sau chiar prini.
Puncte slabe ale proiectului ar f: lipsa de informare i promovare
la nivelul comunitii, lipsa de succes a activitii coala Prinilor i n
general slaba implicare n proiect a prinilor, comunicarea slab ntre
prile implicate. Cea mai important lacun este reprezentat de lipsa de
vizibilitate a proiectului la nivelul comunitii. Cei care deineau informaii
sunt preponderent cei direct implicai: profesorii i copiii.
70
71
Lipsa spaiilor de petrecere a timpului liber reprezint cu siguran
principala problem a copiilor din Prejmer. Copiii nu au parcuri, terenuri
de sport sau locuri de loisir precum de exemplu o cofetrie. Aa cum am
artat, datele din chestionare au indicat faptul c petrecerea timpului liber
a fost considerat cea mai grav problem a copiilor de ctre toi membrii
comunitii, la diferene foarte mari de alte probleme.
Toi cei investigai consider benefc i chiar necesar continuarea
proiectului. A fost sugerat accentuarea dimensiunii practice, din care copii
s nvee ceva i reducerea numrului copiilor implicai pentru a putea lucra
personalizat cu fecare n parte. A fost lansat i sugestia unei motivaii
fnanciare a profesorilor participani n proiect. Conducerea colii s-a artat
interesat de asemenea de perspectiva nfinrii unui radio n coal.
6.4. Probleme ale comunitilor i evaluarea proiectelor de
tip coal i Comunitate
Lipsa locurilor de munc reprezint problema principal a
comunitilor studiate, care a generat de altfel i cea de-a doua problem ca
importan migraia n strintate pentru munc.
n privina copiilor, cea mai rspndit problem a lor este
reprezentat de lipsa oportunitilor de petrecere a timpului liber, a spaiilor
i a activitilor recreative. Cea de-a doua problem este legat de familie:
lipsa condiiilor materiale necesare pentru dezvoltarea lor armonioas.
Evalurile de ansamblu ale proiectului n toate cele 3 localiti n
care s-a implementat sunt pozitive. n privina participrii, cele mai bune
evaluri le dein prile direct implicate: profesorii i elevii. Medii ridicate
nregistreaz autoritile locale i n secundar conducerea colii.
Tabel 14 - Aprecierea implicrii partenerilor n proiecte (pe ansamblu,
n toate cele 3 comuniti). Medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5
Media Numr respondeni
Conducerii scolii 4,22 94
Profesorilor 4,86 96
Elevilor 4,71 97
Familiilor 4,03 96
Autoritilor locale 4,42 89
Facilitatorului comunitar 3,98 62
Cabinetului medical 3,99 81
Antreprenorilor locali 3,26 73
Oamenilor din comun n general 3,43 91
72
73
Se consider c proiectul a avut cel mai mare impact asupra
profesorilor i colii i asupra copiilor benefciari, impactul find mai sczut
asupra familiilor sau comunitii n general.
Tabel 15 - Aprecierea impactului proiectelor (pe ansamblu,
n toate cele 3 comuniti). Medie pe o scal de la 1 la 5
Media Numr respondeni
Conform cercetrii cantitative, analiznd datele pe ansamblu,
aprecierile impactului proiectului i la nivelul comunitii rmn pozitive
dei, aa cum am artat, el este destul de puin cunoscut. Evalurile pozitive
i la acest nivel indic n acelai timp i o dorin de a continua proiectul i
sustenabilitatea n cadrul comunitii.
6.5. Concluzii
Cunoaterea i vizibilitatea proiectului n comunitate
Pe ansamblul celor 3 comuniti, proiectul n sine este cunoscut mai
degrab de ctre cei direct implicai i mai puin de ctre ceilali membri ai
comunitii. Att interviurile, ct i datele din anchet ne sugereaz un nivel
destul de redus al contientizrii proiectului n comunitatea mai larg.
Totui, nivelul de vizibilitate este diferit n cadrul fecrei comuniti.
n Glimboca, chiar dac nu este cunoscut numele proiectului n sine,
activitile ntreprinse au avut o vizibilitate nalt i n cadrul comunitii
mai largi. n Prejmer, situaia este total opus foarte puini indivizi din cei
chestionai aveau informaii despre activitile din cadrul proiectului, chiar i
autoritile locale aveau cunotine vagi. n Marginea situaia este undeva la
mijloc, proiectul neavnd o vizibilitate ridicat n comunitate, dar find bine
cunoscut n rndul elevilor, profesorilor colii participante i a autoritilor
locale.
Lipsa de vizibilitate se datoreaz asocierii activitilor proiectului cu
coala, cu ciclul activitilor obinuite din cadrul colii. Astfel, exist doi factori
principali care au contribuit la crearea acestei opinii la nivelul comunitii:
Lipsa de promovare a proiectului n sine, ca iniiativ specifc i
diferit de activitile curente ale colii i lipsa de promovare a
Fundaiei Soros ca fnanator al acestui proiect;
Desfurrii activitilor n cadrul colii, n spaiile colii.
Aprecierile asupra proiectului
Aprecierile cu privire la proiect se reduc la evaluri generale i pozitive.
Evaluarea specifc, defalcat pe activiti a fost difcil, chiar i pentru cei
direct implicai. Cei mai muli dintre participani nu puteau rspunde atunci
cnd au fost ntrebai ce au fcut colegii lor n alte activiti.
Discursul critic, centrat pe mbuntirea proiectului sau pe conturarea
punctelor slabe, este mai puin prezent, cei mai muli dintre cei intervievai
indicnd avantajele. Motivele unui astfel de discurs sunt probabil fe teama c
o analiz critic ar putea conduce la scderea oportunitilor pentru proiecte
viitoare, fe imposibilitatea nuanrii evalurii datorat necunoaterii n
detaliu a tuturor activitilor proiectului.
Aspecte de mbuntit
Exist trei elementele problematice comune identifcate n toate cele
trei comuniti:
Slaba implicare n proiect a prinilor
Dac profesorii i copiii au fost extrem de entuziasmai de activitile
desfurate, familiile au participat mai puin n cadrul lor. Exist desigur i
prini (n Glimboca de exemplu, participarea prinilor a fost ridicat) care
au participat activ, ns pe ansamblu legtura cu familia a fost mai degrab
slab. De amintit numai cazul comunitii din Prejmer n care chiar activitatea
coala prinilor a reprezentat un eec.
Comunicare slab ntre prile implicate
Autoritile locale nu cunosc multe dintre activiti, personalul din
cabinetul medical are informaii mai degrab vagi despre proiect, uneori
chiar profesorii participani au cunotine difuze despre activitile care nu
au intrat n responsabilitatea lor.
Lipsa contientizrii proiectului n ansamblu
Avnd n vedere implementarea proiectului pe activiti distincte i
comunicarea defcitar ntre prile implicate, proiectul ajunge s nu mai fe
perceput n ansamblul su, dispare ca iniiativ unitar i este perceput mai
degrab fragmentat, prin prile componente. Acesta este un factor important
care explic i slaba cunoatere i vizibilitate la nivelul comunitii n general.
Dac activitile sunt cunoscute i apreciate, prea puini tiu c toate fac parte
dintr-un proiect mai amplu, unitar.
74
75
Obstacole ntmpinate
Implementarea proiectului nu pare s f ntmpinat obstacole de
natur instituional, ci mai degrab piedici materiale. n general, problemele
indicate sunt de natur fnanciar:
resurse insufciente pentru unele activiti;
lipsa spaiilor pentru desfurarea activitilor proiectului, altele
dect coala dup orele de curs.
Impactul proiectului
Dei impactul general asupra comunitii este limitat, impactul
a fost semnifcativ asupra benefciarilor direci, asupra copiilor i asupra
profesorilor.
Cele mai importante benefcii pentru copii au vizat:
activizarea copiilor, motivarea lor s se implice n activiti
extracurriculare;
integrarea copiilor ntr-un colectiv, dezvoltarea spiritului de echip
i experiena lucrului n echip;
creterea stimei de sine i a ncrederii n forele proprii;
dezvoltarea abilitilor de comunicare: i-a fcut s fe mai deschii,
s se exprime mai liber;
o mai bun relaionare cu profesorii, crearea unei legturi mai
apropiate i profunde ntre cadre didactice i copii;
creterea interesului pentru coal n general (prin activitile
extracolare care le-au stimulat interesul pentru cunoatere);
mbuntirea relaiei cu prinii;
crearea unei legturi mai strnse ntre familii, copii i reprezentanii
colii sau coala ca instituie;
supravegherea copiilor (benefciu accentuat n special de prini).
Cele mai importante benefcii ale profesorilor au fost:
cursurile de formare continu, dobndirea cunotinelor de
management de proiect;
schimburi de experien cu alte coli;
dezvoltarea spiritului de echip i experiena lucrului n echip;
o mai bun relaionare cu elevii;
mbuntirea relaiei cu familia, cel puin la nivelul copiilor
benefciari.
Continuarea proiectului
n toate cele trei comuniti a fost subliniat necesitatea continurii
proiectului, find propuse mai multe direcii de urmat.
n privina benefciarilor, a fost propus implicarea mai multor copii
dect a fost posibil n cadrul proiectului pilot.
n privina activitilor proiectului, a fost propus pe de o parte
reducerea numrului lor, acestea ocupnd prea mult timp pentru a putea lucra
personalizat cu fecare copil n parte i pe de alt accentuarea n continuare a
dimensiunii practice i accentuarea specifcului tradiional al comunitii. Ca
activiti concrete au fost propuse: implementarea unui sistem after-school i
dezvoltarea unor servicii de consiliere pentru copii, organizarea mai multor
tabere cu profl educaional.
Pentru creterea implicrii i o mai bun desfurare a activitilor
a fost propus i motivarea fnanciar a profesorilor participani n proiect.
Totui, responsabilitatea iniiativei unui viitor proiect a fost plasat n
exterior, indivizii find dispui s acioneze mai degrab la nivel executiv, n
urma solicitrilor.
Analiznd datele pe ansamblu, aprecierile pozitive i preponderent
necritice indic o dorin unanim de a continua proiectul i o larg
sustenabilitate n cadrul comunitii.
Localiti n care nu s-a implementat un program de tip
coal i comunitate
6.6. Obreja
Comunitatea din Obreja i problemele ei
Comuna Obreja, situat n nord-estul judeului Cara-Severin, la
distan de 9 km de Caransebe, este format din satele Obreja, Ciuta, Iaz i
Var. Ca i numr de locuitori, n 2002, acesta se ridica la 3287.
Migraia pentru munc reprezint conform datelor cantitative cea
mai important problem cu care se confrunt comunitatea din Obreja, dar
neglijarea copiilor nu este considerat la fel de grav. Alte probleme grave
menionate de locuitori sunt legate de lipsa locurilor de munc Principala
problem e cu reducerea salariilor, lipsa veniturilor i a locurilor de munc.
Probleme extraordinare nu-s (secretar primrie). Exist i probleme care
vizeaz copiii i coala: posibilitile sczute de petrecere a timpului liber
76
77
pentru copii (a treia ca frecven), calitatea sczut a educaiei i abandonul
colar.
Tabel 16 - Probleme ale comunitii din Obreja n viziunea membrilor comunitii
foarte grav
Corobornd datele din chestionare cu cele obinute din interviuri,
putem aprecia c problemele copiilor sunt legate n general de cele ale familiei:
prini plecai la munc n strintate, nivel de trai sczut, lipsa interesului
i implicrii prinilor n educaia copiilor lor care conduc la frecventarea
relativ sczut a copiilor la cursuri, violena i nivelul crescut de agresivitate
al unora dintre elevi.
Tabel 17 - Probleme ale copiilor din Obreja n viziunea membrilor comunitii*
Lipsa spaiilor de petrecere a timpului liber, parcuri, localuri, terenuri de sport 21
A fost ridicat i problema activitilor extracolare i a celor de
timp liber, pe fondul unui dezinteres pentru educaie n general: C de bine
de ru, la nivel de comun, exist o bibliotec s se duc s-i ia cri
s citeasc exist un Cmin Cultural unde ar putea s fac tot felul de
activiti (secretar primrie).
Dei nu la fel de rspndit, munca minorilor pare s reprezinte o
alt problem, find menionate situaii n care copiii sunt nevoii s deruleze
activiti lucrative pentru a completa veniturile familiei: Am situaii n care
elevii sunt nevoii s-i ctige propria existen sau, altfel spus, s-i aduc
aportul n familie ncepnd de la muncile agricole sau adun fer vechi i
ncearc s-l valorifce (director coal).
coala
Evaluarea de ansamblu a colii este una pozitiv, dar analiza unor
aspecte punctuale tinde s dezvluie dimensiuni problematice. Toate
persoanele intervievate au apreciat calitatea condiiilor de nvare din coal.
coala este aproape nou nou (profesorul de matematic). Renovat cu
trei ani n urm, aceasta dispune de central termic proprie, laboratoare de
studiu pe discipline, mobilier de calitate.
Exist ns mai degrab o stare de nemulumire legat de
performanele i comportamentul elevilor. Astfel, sunt semnalate o serie de
probleme: absenteism, abandon colar, eec colar, violena, lipsa de respect
fa de cadrele didactice, interes sczut pentru studiu: Da, ar f probleme de
ordinul abandonului colar sunt civa copii care au abandonat coala
foarte muli dintre ei ceresc i probleme comportamentale [sunt] pentru
c sunt n fecare clas doi, sau chiar trei cu probleme comportamentale.
(profesor).
O parte dintre prini consider prestaia cadrelor didactice
nesatisfctoare, pentru c nu fac demersuri constante, sistematice i
consistente pentru a implica familia n educaia copiilor, nu folosesc metode
adecvate pentru a gestiona confictele ntre elevi sau pentru a-i motiva n
legtur cu activitile colare. Mai mult, a fost ridicat i nemulumirea c o
parte dintre cadrele didactice nu sunt membri ai comunitii Obreja i nu ar
avea un interes real privind dezvoltarea comunei i n particular a copiilor.
Ali prini sunt de prere c sursa problemelor se gsete la nivelul
familiilor destrmate, fr posibiliti materiale i fr pregtire colar, care
nu acord atenie educaiei copiilor lor i nu colaboreaz cu cadrele didactice.
Acesta este punctul de vedere la care subscriu i o mare parte dintre profesori:
Relaiile familiei cu coala sunt rare i foarte rare (profesor).
Un alt fenomen semnalat de cteva cadre didactice este lipsa de
constan la nivelul tuturor elementelor procesului educativ: se schimb
programele colare, manualele, cadrele didactice aspecte care au
78
79
repercusiuni nedorite asupra elevilor. Pe de alt parte, profesorii menioneaz
i punctele lor tari, individual i ca echip: toi sunt califcai, exist bune relaii
de colaborare, dein informaii actualizate pe domeniile n care activeaz.
Ca puncte slabe sau nevralgice au fost menionate reducerile salariale, lipsa
de respect acordat profesorilor i neimplicarea comunitii, cu accent pe
aspectele lacunare ale parteneriatului familie-coal.
Copiii participani la focus grup sunt i ei nemulumii de ceea ce se
ntmpl la coal (nu le plac activitile, profesorii) i propun s se schimbe
toi profesorii (copil, focus grup), s existe mai mult democraie, (copil,
focus grup), mai multe activiti sportive i cultural-artistice organizate de
coal. Aprecierile acestora nu sunt relevante pentru ntreaga comunitate de
elevi, ntruct copiii recomandai pentru discuia de grup de ctre cadrele
didactice au fost majoritatea recomandai pe criteriul copil problem,
etichet pe care de altfel prinii au problematizat-o n discuiile de grup.
Exist se pare lista neagr, practic uzual a cadrelor didactice de a eticheta
anumii copii, conform unor comportamente inadecvate sau, i mai grav,
dup situaia material a copiilor, practic care se dovedete foarte efcient
n meninerea i ntrirea atitudinilor i manifestrilor neadecvate i deseori
distructive ale copiilor.
Migraia n strintate
Problemele cu care se confrunt familiile sunt lipsa banilor, a locurilor
de munc, confictele, divorul/separarea, dei acestea nu sunt considerate
a f nc foarte rspndite n comunitate. Familia ca instituie social pare
s piard teren pe dimensiunea ei formativ-educativ: Simt aa o lips
de comunicare ntre printe i copil motive sunt i mai multe: c-i lipsa
timpului, c-i la lucru, alii motiveaz c nu tiu s-i mai arate, alii din
lejeritate (nvtor). La rndul lor, copiii par s contientizeze i ei c sunt
probleme n comunicarea cu familia i ar dori s poat petrece mai mult timp
mpreun.
n ceea ce privete fenomenul migraiei, n lipsa unor statistici
ofciale, estimrile variaz ntre foarte multe familii (medic), aa i aa
Sunt oameni plecai dincolo, da nu foarte muli (secretar primrie) pn la
cazuri rare (profesor).
Ca tendin, evoluia fenomenului pare s fe descendent. n ultimul
an persoanele plecate la munc n strintate au nceput s se ntoarc, iar
deplasrile au devenit sezoniere pleac pentru cte trei luni n general n
perioada verii. Sunt puine situaii n care cei plecai aleg s se stabileasc n
ara unde lucreaz i i iau i familia cu ei.
Ca motivaii principale ale fuxului migrator au fost menionate:
nivelul de trai sczut i lipsa oportunitilor de munc. n general, familiile
afate n aceste situaii reuesc s se descurce destul de bine dup ce aleg s
lucreze n strintate i sprijin material ceilali membrii ai familiei, rmai
acas. De obicei ceilali membrii ai familiei primesc bani de la persoana
plecat n strintate (profesor).
n ceea ce privete impactul asupra copiilor rmai n grija bunicilor,
a unuia dintre prini sau n grija altor rude, majoritatea cadrelor didactice
consider c acetia dezvolt comportamente compensatorii inadecvate, sunt
mai violeni sau mai timizi i n general au performane colare mai sczute.
Neglijarea copiilor nu reprezint ns o problem n accepiunea locuitorilor
din Obreja, acetia considernd c elevii afai n aceast situaie benefciaz
de toat atenia persoanei n grija creia au rmas. Nu mi se pare c sunt
neglijai (doctor). n ceea ce privete iniiativele de sprijin, opinia general
este c nu au existat programe suport pentru aceast categorie de familii,
dar nici nu este neaprat o prioritate, pentru c exist categorii sociale cu
probleme mai mari, precum copiii din familii dezorganizate sau afate la
limita subzistenei.
Nevoi i perspective de implementare a unui proiect
Dei exist un acord general privind nevoia de programe de intervenie
n comunitate, soluiile identifcate rmn vagi, generale, la nivelul lui e bine
s se fac ceva. Att la nivelul autoritilor locale, ct i la nivelul comunitii,
au fost semnalate foarte puine soluii concrete de rezolvare sau ameliorare
ale problemelor identifcate.
Membrii comunitii investigai prin cercetarea cantitativ susin
c lipsesc oportunitile culturale i de loisir pentru tineri. ntre cele mai
importante nevoi ale copiilor sunt menionate cele legate de petrecerea
timpului liber i activiti extracolare.
Tabel 18 - Nevoi ale copiilor n viziunea membrilor comunitii
Crearea de locuri de petrecere a timpului liber 37
Asigurarea calitii nvmntului prin mbuntirea pregtirii/activitii extracolare 18
mbuntirea condiiilor de educaie n coal 14
Rezolvarea problemelor sociale (srcie, plecarea prinilor etc.) 13
Educaie din partea prinilor 3
Dezvoltarea infrastructurii din localitate (treceri de pietoni, mijloace de transport) 2
Suport material pentru coal 1
80
81
Copiii au semnalat ca nevoi:
locuri de distracie;
activiti extracolare culturale;
sal de muzic;
teren sportiv;
bibliotec (dei exist bibliotec, dar e puin cunoscut).
n urma interviurilor individuale i a focus grupurilor cu prini au
reieit ca prioriti:
accesul la o bibliotec/o sal de lectur (din nou este menionat,
dei n comun exist, simpla promovare a acesteia ar rezolva o
parte din nevoile tinerilor);
dezvoltarea unui serviciu de consiliere psihologic;
dezvoltarea unor activiti sportive precum nfinarea unei echipe
de volei;
asigurarea pazei n coal.
Cteva dintre acestea au fost propuse i de cadrele didactice: activiti
sportive, paz la coal. Unele dintre soluiile propuse de cadrele didactice
sunt mai puin adecvate i refect o slab cunoatere a potenialului i
nivelului de dezvoltare al comunitii. De exemplu, au fost sugerate activiti
mai complexe, care s combine nvarea unei limbi strine cu excursiile n
strintate, pentru motivarea implicrii copiilor i comunitii De exemplu,
a f de acord cu nvarea unei limbi strine n timpul liber, care s-ar fnaliza
cu o excursie n ara respectiv i atunci copiii ar avea un el (profesor).
Alte propuneri vizeaz problemele mai generale ale comunitii,
cu efect asupra copiilor prin impactul asupra familiilor lor: atragerea de
investitori, nfinarea de fabrici care s ofere locuri de munc membrilor
comunitii.
Ca actori care ar trebui s se implice n generarea de venituri sau
atragerea de fonduri pentru soluionarea tuturor acestor prioriti sunt
recomandai la nivel local: cadrele didactice, comunitatea, prinii, primria
i la nivel zonal, Consiliul Judeean.
Optimismul i disponibilitatea de a se implica nu reprezint puncte
forte ale membrilor comunitii Obreja: E mult pasivitate aici n comun
toat lumea e calm [ironic] (printe). Unii dintre respondeni sunt de
prere c ar putea exista un entuziasm din partea localnicilor n cazul n care
s-ar demara aciuni, dar acesta ar f lipsit de consisten, pasager: Ce s
v spun, la nceput toat lumea e bucuroas de noi activiti da apoi se
plictisesc [ar f efcient un program] pe termen scurt (secretar primrie).
Profesorii, poteniali actori cheie n eventualitatea implementrii unui
proiect, s-au artat rezervai n a-i declara disponibilitatea pentru activiti
extracolare, pe considerente care in de insatisfaciile salariale: Cred c ar
f mai puin implicare din partea cadrelor didactice mai ales acum cu criza
i lipsa banilor (profesor).
n ciuda opiniei generale privind lipsa de iniiativ i neimplicarea
comunitii, exist i semnale pozitive. n acest sens, am identifcat o
propunere de proiect pentru realizarea unui program after-school destinat
copiilor rromi.
6.7. Hrman
Comunitatea din Hrman i problemele ei
Comuna Hrman are 5200 de locuitori, cu o componen etnic
divers: pe lng majoritatea format din romni, exist aproximativ 200
de rromi i un procent mic de sai. Locuitorii lucreaz cu preponderen
n agricultur muli i-au deschis mici ferme agricole i zootehnice, n
industrie n comun sunt cteva fabrici (de textile, de pantof) i n servicii.
O alt resurs economic important este reprezentat de turism. Cetatea,
care este n administraia sailor rmai n Hrman nu are ns nici o funcie
cultural i nu este folosit n activitile educative ale copiilor.
Comun este descris ca find nstrit, satelit al Braovului,
dezvoltndu-se n timp o adevrat zon rezidenial pentru bogai multe
persoane din Braov i-au construit vile n localitate.
Migraia pentru munc a fost identifcat drept o problem grav de
numeroi respondeni, find n urma cercetrii cantitative a doua problem
dup cea a serviciilor medicale. Neglijarea copiilor rmai acas a fost
considerat drept o problem numai de ctre aproximativ un sfert dintre
subieci. Lipsa locurilor de munc, srcia reprezint de asemenea probleme
pentru comunitatea din Hrman, ca pentru toate comunitile studiate.
Din interviuri a rezultat n plus situaia problematic rromilor
nevoia lor de spaii de locuit, de locuri de munc ne-sezoniere.
82
83
Tabel 19 - Probleme ale comunitii din Hrman n viziunea membrilor comunitii
foarte grav
i copiii din Hrman par s se confrunte cu o situaie problematic,
peste o treime din subiecii investigai admind c abandonul colar, calitatea
sczut a educaiei i posibilitile sczute de petrecerea timpului liber pentru
copii reprezint probleme grave i foarte grave pentru comunitate.
ntrebai care sunt problemele copiilor, rspunsurile spontane ale
oamenilor au vizat n special lipsa oportunitilor de timp liber i activiti
extracolare.
Tabel 20 - Probleme ale copiilor din Hrman n viziunea membrilor comunitii*
Lipsa mijloacelor de transport 4
coala
coala din Hrman are o cldire nou, renovat recent printr-un
program al unei bnci, dar puini copii. Familiile cele mai nstrite i-au
nscris copiii la coal n Braov, astfel nct au fost desfinate mai multe
clase. n prezent deruleaz programe alternative: coal dup coal, pentru
rromi n special i A doua ans pentru cei care au abandonat coala.
coala din localitate este evaluat prin comparaie cu colile din
oraul Braov, unde cei mai nstrii dintre hrmneni i nscriu copiii. Din
rspunsurile primite a reieit c preferina pentru colile din Braov este
generat de doi factori principali: oportunitile mai variate (de exemplu, cele
legate de limb) i calitatea superioar a educaiei.
Noi am ales s mergem pe secia de german, nu puteam rmne
la Hrman avnd o asemenea alegere. (secretar primrie);
Copiii merg la ora din pricina unei caliti mai slabe a colii.
(director ONG local);
Probabil c n anii trecui s-a dus faima c nivelul este sczut. Au
fost i rezultate slabe la capacitate i atunci prinii nu au mai
avut ncredere s-i lase copiii. (secretar primrie);
Ce pot eu s spun este c destul de muli copiii pleac la Braov.
Clasele sunt tot mai puine, copiii tot mai puini i majoritatea de
etnie rrom. Am fetia n clasa a patra la Braov i nu se compar
condiiile pe care le avea aici cu ce are acum la Braov. (secretar
primrie).
Ca urmare a nscrierii copiilor la coli n Braov numrul de elevi de la
coala din comun este redus. de la ciclul primar marea majoritate au optat
pentru Braov. Aici a mai rmas o singur clasa de a ntia, dar cu copii
puini (secretar primrie). Copiii care rmn sunt n general cei din familii
mai srace i rrome, cu performane colare sczute, fapt care contribuie ca
un cerc vicios la erodarea n continuare a calitii colii.
Fiind foarte aproape de Braov, foarte muli copii cu pretenii
pleac n Braov. i atunci nivelul elevilor care rmn n urma
plecrilor nu este cel mai bun (Alexandru Bena).
Cea mai des menionat problem legat de coala din localitate este
dezinteresul copiilor pentru educaie:
Muli copii nu vin sau vin doar ca s-i ia alocaiile. Sunt
indifereni. i fac doar prezena unii, alii vin, i las ghiozdanele
i pleac. Este cazul celor care au situaii materiale proaste. Fie
c sunt rromi i nu-i intereseaz, fe prinii sunt plecai i stau cu
bunicii, iar bunicii nu se pot deplasa la coala. (profesor)
84
85
Exist abandon la persoanele de etnie rrom. La nceput nscriu
copiii la coal, mai ales pentru alocaii. Mai ales nainte cnd se
ddeau cecurile i dup aia nu mai mergeau. Eu vad la alocaia
complementar i monoparental. La nceput aduc adeverine,
dar pe parcursul anului nu mai aduc. Pentru c nu le mai d de la
coal, daca ei nu frecventeaz cursurile. (asistent social)
Profesorii sau consilierul local (care e mediator colar i e la curent
cu cazurile de copii cu probleme) apreciaz c familiile copiilor cu probleme
sunt i foarte dezinteresate i nu reacioneaz la iniiativele profesorilor de a
remedia situaia problematic a copiilor lor.
Relaia cu familia e inexistent, ce relaie s fe dac nu vin la
coal. Chiar dac sunt solicitai, nu vin, nu au timp. (profesor)
Migraia n strintate
Numrul estimativ al migranilor a variat destul de puternic, de la
cteva zeci la cteva sute. Cu certitudine ns evoluia fenomenului migraiei
are o tendin descendent, ca urmare a difcultii gsirii de locuri de munc
n strintate din ultima perioad. Numrul de copii rmai este destul de
sczut, ntruct o parte din familiile plecate au nceput s i ia i copiii cu ei.
Cel mai des indicat problem a familiilor care au membri la munc
n strintate a vizat lipsa de autoritate a bunicilor, care nu pot supraveghea
i controla copiii la fel de bine.
E o problem, nu vezi c i cu prinii i tot fac ceva, darmite cu
bunicii (printe)
Efectele pozitive ale plecrii prinilor la munc constau n
mbuntirea situaiei materiale a familiei i copilului au telefoane mobile
performante, muli bani de buzunar la coal etc. Aceste schimbri au avut
ns i impact negativ asupra copiilor: probleme de comportament, tendina
de a epata.
mai chiulesc de la coal, se mai golnesc, se apuc de fumat, de
but. (profesor);
ei se cred mecheri, acum c prinii le trimit bani, i iau telefoane
de ultim generaie, au telefoane mai bune dect al meu (director
coal).
Au fost semnalate de asemenea probleme de natur afectiv-emoional,
de relaionare cu ceilali:
Am avut un bieel acum eu vorbesc din punctul acela de vedere.
Sttea cu bunicii i cu tatl, tatl lucra de dimineaa pn seara i
aa mai departe, un copil foarte interiorizat, nu socializa cu restul,
iste, dar n acelai timp nici nu accepta ajutor de la oricine, deci
era destul de greu s comunici cu el. i din cnd n cnd, cnd
era forat, avea accese de agresivitate. Acum c era verbal sau
fzic, depindea de mprejurare. El se chinuia s vin la coal,
dar pentru c nu putea s comunice cu ceilali, pentru c vedea
clar diferenele dintre el i ceilali, avea o perioad de vreo 2-3
sptmni n care sttea acas, se izola iari, i iari venea la
coal i tot aa pendula. (psiholog);
sunt copii mai sensibili cei care au prini desprii, n care unul
din prini e plecat (printe).
Totui, trebuie subliniat faptul c familiile de migrani n sine nu au
fost considerate o problem pentru comunitate. n ciuda celor ctorva cazuri
problematice, fenomenul nu a avut un impact negativ semnifcativ asupra
comunitii.
Familiile de rromi par s constituie o problem mai acut dect
aceea a celor cu membri plecai n strintate, avnd un grad mare de abandon
colar n rndul copiilor. Copiii rromi sunt i cei care depind cel mai mult de
ajutorul social i care se ocup cu binia de foarte tineri. n comun, exist
o tendin de segregare rezidenial, majoritatea rromilor locuind la margine,
ntr-un loc care se cheam Groapa.
Soluiile propuse pentru rezolvarea problemelor acestor familii in de
nivelul macro crearea de locuri de munc, combaterea srciei. Pn acum
nu s-a fcut nimic pentru copiii din Hrman cu prini plecai la munc n
strintate. Pentru copiii rromi exist programul coal dup coal derulat
de un ONG din Bucureti prin fonduri structurale, n cadrul cruia copii
rmn dup coal s i fac temele i primesc o mas.
Cea mai important nevoie a copiilor din Hrman, la diferene
considerabile de restul, a fost identifcat ca find locurile de loisir.
Exist de asemenea multe nevoi legate de coal: mbuntirea calitii
nvmntului i desfurarea mai multor activiti extracolare,
mbuntirea condiiilor de la coal.
86
87
Tabel 21 - Nevoi ale copiilor din Hrman n viziunea membrilor comunitii*
Hrman
Asigurarea calitii nvmntului prin mbuntirea pregtirii/activitii
extracolare
17
mbuntirea condiiilor de educaie n coala 13
Educaie din partea prinilor 13
i datele obinute prin interviuri indic aceleai nevoi: nevoia de
petrecere a timpului n activiti extra-colare formatoare, educative i nevoia
unor spaii de joac special amenajate sau a unor terenuri de sport au fost cele
mai des menionate.
De la nivelul lor, vd probleme legate de coal, de educaie, care
le mnnc tot timpul. coala le ocup tot timpul. Au nevoie i de
alte activiti n afar de coal, numai aa se formeaz copiii
(director ONG local);
S participe, s se implice n activiti diverse. Important pentru
un copil este s lucreze, s fac i el ceva. Pn la urma i sufetului
lui se modeleaz pe lucrurile astea frumoase. E veselie, e frumusee
i coala induce tot o tristee de tip modern. (printe);
Din punctul meu de vedere, lipsa spaiilor de joac i a unui teren
de sport de fotbal, de volei, de baschet. (secretar primrie).
n ceea ce privete soluiile/ proiectele care s rezolve aceste nevoi, s-a
avansat ideea continurii i dezvoltrii programului coal dup coal, care
pe lng funcia de asisten i supraveghere, ar implica tinerii i n activiti
extracolare, culturale, formatoare, ar contribui la dezvoltarea personal i la
educaia mai general pentru via.
Poate c n-ar strica s se extind iniiativa unui after-school. Se
mai rezolva nite probleme, poate copilul cnd vine acas, nu e
nimeni s-i dea mncare, ca prinii s nu-l pun s-i fac o
lecie. i atunci extinznd sistemul sta, copilul s-ar simi altfel i
s-ar rezolva i alte probleme (printe).
De asemenea, primria are n vedere un proiect de amenajare a unui
parc pentru copiii din comun, ceea ce constituie o soluie pentru nevoia de
spaii de petrecere a timpului liber.
Noi ca autoritate local ar trebui s ne implicm mai mult n
crearea acestor spaii. Avem acum n curs de execuie amenajarea
unui parc n zona de intrare a localitii. (secretar primrie).
Ca actori cheie care s-ar putea implica n astfel de proiecte au fost
menionai coala i primria.
n ceea ce privete susinerea pe care ar avea-o un proiect din partea
comunitii, o parte din respondeni s-au declarat sceptici, n timp ce alii au
amintit c localnicii n Hrman s-au mai implicat i n alte proiecte, cum ar f
Lets Do It Romania, ct i n lucrri de conectare a unor zone la reelele de
ap i gaze ale comunei, la care au contribuit i localnicii, pe lng primrie.
6.8. Volov
Comunitatea din Volov i problemele ei
Volovul este o comun cu o populaie de 5300 de locuitori. Comuna
se af la doar 3 km distan de Rdui, iar n ultimii ani a devenit aproape un
cartier al oraului, dat find diminuarea terenului extravilan. S-a construit
foarte mult n ultimul timp, n special pe baza veniturilor acumulate de
locuitorii plecai s munceasc n strintate. Satul capt treptat aspectul
unei suburbii (case noi, garaj n locul hambarelor, gazon n curte).
Principalele ocupaii ale locuitorilor sunt cea de agricultori (agricultur
de subzisten, pentru consumul propriu) i cea de lucrtori n construcii
(dezvoltat recent). Pn de curnd industria principal din zon a fost aceea
a textilelor, chiar a broderiei, cu timpul ns aceste meserii i-au pierdut din
importan. Antreprenoriatul are dimensiuni reduse (cteva magazine mixte,
2 baruri, o cofetrie) pentru c oamenii i-au ngropat banii n case i n
maini n loc ca banul s aduc ali bani.
Ca n toate comunitile analizate, lipsa locurilor de munc reprezint
cea mai important problem. i din interviurile realizate a reieit c nimeni
nu lucreaz n Volov, n afar de coal i la Primrie. Nu tiu dac avem
5, 10 angajai vizavi de Rdui chiar i Marginea (administratorul colii),
toat lumea pare s accepte c aici nu este nici un fel de perspectiv. Singura
scpare, agricultura, nu mai este productiv, cernd costuri prea mari.
Primarul, pe de alt parte, spune c asociaiile agricole nu au cum s ia fin
findc oamenii nu doresc s i dea pmntul, datorit unui individualism
crescut n cadrul comunei.
88
89
Srcia este ntr-o mai mic msur o problem foarte grav n
comun, migraia n strintate furniznd gospodriilor resursele pentru un
trai decent. De altfel, n cercetarea cantitativ migraia este vzut a doua
problem grav a comunei. Oamenii din Volov se descriu ca find gospodari
(cu case noi, mari, curi lucrate) i descurcrei, cutnd mereu oportuniti
s le fe mai bine. Dup spusele celor din sat nu exist cas din care s nu
fe plecat la munc cineva, majoritatea find plecai n afara rii. Sunt n
acelai timp conservatori caut s se ntoarc acas, se concentreaz asupra
cminului, banii ctigai i folosesc pentru a-i face case i a-i mbunti
condiiile de via i nu pentru a investi n activiti economice. Creterea
nivelului de trai s-a bazat n principal pe creterea consumului i construcii
imobiliare i mai puin pe investiii n activiti economice care s asigure
locuitorilor comunei oportuniti de dezvoltare pe termen lung.
Tabel 22 - Probleme ale comunitii din Volov n viziunea membrilor comunitii
foarte grav
De asemenea au fost frecvent menionate probleme legate de
infrastructur sau de serviciile medicale. Lipsa canalizrii este problema cea
mai grav deoarece prin decantoarele montate de aproape toi locuitorii,
pnza freatic a fost puternic afectat. De asemenea drumurile reprezint
o problem, avnd o calitate ndoielnic (ce faci azi se stric peste 2 ani) i
find puternic afectate de inundaii. Lipsa trotuarelor a fost menionat ca o
lacun, avnd n vedere numrul mare al copiilor i n acelai timp numrul
tot mai mare al mainilor.
Pentru copiii din Volov cea mai important problem este de departe
cea a spaiilor de recreere.
Tabel 23 - Probleme ale copiilor din Volov n viziunea membrilor comunitii*
Din interviurile realizate a rezultat i o alt problem grav care pare
s afecteze mai profund viaa comunitii: lipsa solidaritii. O parte a celor
intervievai consider c unitatea, coeziunea specifc altdat comunitii
este n declin. i datorit muncii n afara comunitii, fe la ora, fe n
strintate, oamenii sunt tot mai puin implicai n viaa comunitii, nu mai
au o legtur strns cu vecinii, cu ceilali membrii ai comunitii. pi nu,
el se urc n autobuz sau pe biciclet, apoi vine acas i face treburile
oamenii de aici o mers la lucru 8 ore i nu o avut tangene cu comunitatea
acum toi aceia care au plecat la lucru n strintate (consilier local). Se
pare c exist de asemenea o slab comunicare cu reprezentanii locali. S-a
pierdut legtura cu autoritatea, care nu mai este consider legitim.
coala
Comuna are coal mare care gzduiete cam 600-700 de elevi. Sunt
n jur de 49 de persoane angajate, din care 43 de cadre didactice. Exist 3
corpuri: grdinia (modernizat cu ajutorul unei asociaii franceze), coala
veche de 100 de ani (la care s-a nceput un proiect de renovare ns nefnalizat,
aa nct ultimul etaj nu este funcional i sunt probleme i la celelalte clase)
i un corp renovat de curnd i funcional. Se nva dimineaa i dup-masa
n 2 schimburi pn la ora 17:00. Dimineaa de la 7 la 8 se face pregtire
pentru elevii de clasa a 8-a, gratuit (pentru examenul de capacitate).
coala este nfrit din 1995 cu o asociaie francez cu care colaboreaz
i n prezent. Aceasta a sprijinit o parte din baza material, derularea unor
proiecte sau realizarea unor festivaluri, excursii. Exist i un program de
schimburi ntre elevi o dat la 2 ani, schimburi ce dureaz 2 sptmni. coala
a benefciat de asemenea i de suportul unor asociaii sau companii private:
90
91
fond de carte, dotare cu calculatoare a laboratorului de informatic (Fundaia
Dinu Patriciu), ajutoare fnanciare (Coca Cola) i urmeaz s fe fnanat i
prin fonduri europene n cazul aprobrii proiectului crerii unui after-school.
Exist numeroase probleme legate de condiiile de lucru i dotrile
colii. Problema cea mai mare este lipsa spaiului, aa nct nu exist clase
fxe pentru I-VIII, elevii mutndu-se n funcie de or. Alte probleme sunt
legate de lipsa canalizrii problema toaletelor (problem la nivelul ntregii
comuniti, dar cu implicaii i la coal unde toaletele sunt n curte iar cele
din coal sunt ncuiate cu cheia, accesibile doar pentru cei mici sau personal),
lipsa unui teren de sport (orele se in pe toloac sau ntr-o sal mult prea mic,
lipsit de vestiare), calculatoarele sunt fe prea puine, fe prea vechi, slile de
curs nghesuite, fr mochet, cu mobilier vechi, fr prize n toate clasele.
Nu exist cabinet medical, n caz de urgen se merge la dispensarul comunei.
n slile de curs materialele didactice sunt fe realizate de proprii elevi sub
ndrumarea unui profesor, fe realizate sau donate de cadre didactice. De
altfel condiiile de coal au fost evaluate negativ de majoritatea prinilor
nu suntem prea mulumii cu condiiile pe care le avem n coal (printe).
n ceea ce privete calitatea educaiei, majoritatea localnicilor i chiar
i copii sunt mulumii: eu din punctul sta de vedere nu am dect laude,
credei-m, am terminat general aici, am continuat la Rdui, am terminat
o facultate la tefan cel Mare, la Geografe. Dar plecnd cu baza elementar
de la generala noastr, consider c avem nite profesori foarte bine pregtii
(actualul director al casei de cultur din sat).
Pe de alt parte, oamenii evalueaz calitatea educaiei raportnd-o
la aspiraii limitate, corespunztoare unei coli de sat. n coal se nva,
dar admit c exist un risc mare s te pierzi i asta n mare parte datorit
anturajului sau lipsei de competiie ntre copiii. Aspiraiile reduse fa de
coal sunt legate de sistemul valoric al locuitorilor, care a cunoscut puternice
modifcri odat cu migraia masiv a localnicilor. Ateptrile erau diferite
nainte erau mai smerii prinii, copiii mai cu respect fa de coal
ns acuma el n buzunar e mult mai bine dect un profesor, profesorul vine
cu ocazia la coal, el vine cu Mercedesul i nu mai respect coala el e
bucuros s termine opt clase. (administraia colii). Se apreciaz c interesul
fa de coal este n scdere. Copiii nu caut o anumit profesie, scopul este
s aib avere i s aib un cmin. A face coal nu mai reprezint o condiie
pentru a reui n via, existnd modaliti mai facile i chiar mai sigure, cum
ar f munca n afar.
Lipsa unei tradiii colare i a condiiilor (mereu lipsete strictul
necesar) este sugerat de cei care vin din alte pri (venetici) care dei
apreciaz ca find mulumii de nvmnt, i recunosc limitele. Se constat
de asemenea i c cei care pleac n strintate merg n special pe munci
necalifcate ba chiar, nu exist nici o continuitate n profesiile pe care le caut,
nu ncearc s se specializeze pe o anumit meserie.
coala este perceput ca find ceva neproftabil i care nu i asigur
un viitor, cei mai apreciai find profesorii dedicai care discut i i implic
pe copii n activiti practice sau activitile extracolare (cercuri, spectacole,
excursii, dans, muzic). Copii sunt totui interesai i de a nva, ns este
constant nevoie de practic: experimente n laborator, aplicaii n tiinele
naturii, excursii tematice.
Migraia n strintate
Numrul celor care pleac este n cretere de la an la an, n plus
munca n afar pare s se transmit din generaie n generaie. Dac la
nceput au plecat prini, n prezent pleac i fraii mai mari ai copiilor de
acum. Majoritatea tineretului din localitate este plecat au mai rmas
tia civa care avem servicii i btrnii mai mult (localnic). Vrsta la care
se pleac se micoreaz foarte mult, find muli care pleac imediat dup ce
fnalizeaz 8 clase unii pleac imediat cum termin coala i de la 16 ani
i mai devreme. (localnic). Motivul principal este lipsa alternativelor la liceu
pentru cei crora nu le place cartea. Singurele coli profesionale sunt n
Suceava, ns chiar i acelea nu par adecvate la piaa muncii actuale.
Un caz aparte l au familiile de penticostali, la care credina i practica
religioas sunt mult mai restrictive i n ceea ce privete educaia sexual a
tinerilor: la penticostali nu ai voie s te atingi de fat, la adolescen, s o
srui, pn cnd te-ai logodit, i atunci poi dar nu ai voie pn atunci,
pentru c aa spune Biblia i atunci tii c dac faci aa ai o ndejde
sta este scopul credinei (profesor). Astfel familiile se formeaz la vrste
foarte fragede, de regul imediat dup ce termin coala se cstoresc, iar ca
s i poat ntreine familia munca n afar e calea cea mai sigur.
Abandonul colar este foarte sczut, cu excepia copiilor de rromi
sau a copiilor din familii care au venituri mici, fr suport n comunitate.
n general, ns, exist absenteism sezonier cnd sunt munci la cmp,
momente n care nici prinii nu vin la edine.
Dac familiile din care nu pleac nici un membru al familiei se
confrunt cu difculti mari fnanciare, familiile de migrani se confrunt cu
scparea din fru a copiilor care devin mai rsfai, mai obraznici i cu
probleme mai mari de comunicare.
92
93
le lipsete dragostea de mam eu asta am vzut i la rude i la
o verioar vine copilul mami dar degeaba mai mult mama
e bunica i se vede ce mai e un copil mai retras parc nu
mai zmbete la fel i s-ar lipi poate de oriicine l-ar mngia
(printe);
Eu observ asta la bieelul meu cnd e plecat taic-su, e mai retras,
mai gnditor cu toate c tatl lui l sun aproape n fecare zi pe
telefon, cnd nu e el deja vd c ceva i lipsete (printe).
Conducerea colii i profesorii consider c prinii au ajuns s cear
tot mai puin de la copiii lor: le ofer suport material, ns pentru c nu sunt
lng ei nu le mai pot cere s i asculte, sau s se impun. n acelai timp
copiii sunt contieni c prinii fac totul pentru ei i i doresc s i urmeze:
n clasa a IV-a un copil mi spune pi eu s plec la fratele meu n Anglia,
nu mi trebuie eu am cas, domn profesor, nu mi trebuie mie coal
(profesor)
Cele mai importante nevoi ale copiilor vizeaz dezvoltarea
oportunitilor de timp liber i a activitilor extracolare precum i
mbuntirea condiiilor din coal. Exist ns i la nivelul familiei nevoi
neacoperite, care vizeaz nivelul de trai sczut, dar i de solidaritatea familial,
suportul afectiv i funcia educativ n declin.
Tabel 24 - Nevoi ale copiilor din Volov n viziunea membrilor comunitii*
mbuntirea condiiilor de educaie n coal 17
Asigurarea calitii nvmntului prin mbuntirea pregtirii/activiti extracolare 15
i n cadrul interviurilor lipsa oportunitilor de loisir i lipsa
condiiilor de la coal au fost cele mai frecvent menionate probleme. Aa
cum am artat anterior le lipsete minimul necesar: toaletele sunt ncuiate, nu
au ap curent, nu se pot spla, pe lng faptul c nu au sufciente materiale
didactice.
Lipsa activitilor n comun, a comunicrii, a unitii reprezint o
problem i n rndul copiilor, ca i n cadrul comunitii n general. Motivele
sunt legate de divizarea n confesiuni religioase i condiiile precare de la
coal. La orele de religie copii sunt mprii n 2 grupuri (penticostali i
ortodoci) i, n plus, exist uneori mici tensiuni (penticostalii nu particip
la toate spectacolele, serbrile, sunt unii care ncearc s i converteasc i pe
ceilali). Faptul c nu au o sal de curs permanent a lor, nu au locuri efectiv
n care s i petreac timpul (teren de sport, parc, loc de distracii) conduc la
o lipsa a solidaritii copiilor.
Exist, de asemenea, diferene de adaptare ntre cei ce au mai muli
membri plecai i cei ce nu au deloc. A fost sesizat lipsa cuiva cu care s
vorbeasc (ca urmare a fost propus soluia unui psiholog n comun) i lipsa
de ndrumare dup terminarea colii. Muli copii ar avea nevoie de un sprijin
la teme, cu att mai mult cu ct prinii sau fraii sunt plecai iar bunicii nu
i pot ajuta.
Copiii i doresc condiii mai bune la coal, dotri, activiti
extracolare:
Terenuri de sport, sala de sport
Laboratoare
Toalete
Sala de dansuri sala de arte c poi s faci i muzic i s
dansezi o sal cu multe oglinzi de exemplu unde s poi s
faci i balet O sal de chitare electrice sau un telescop
s mai facem excursii sau s explorm
o revist, o serbare de Haloween (focus grup copii)
Dup cum declar i prinii, copiii vor s vin la coal findc acolo
sunt nconjurai de colegi, de prieteni. Mai ales cei ai cror prini sunt plecai,
simt nevoia s fe prini n ct mai multe activiti. Pentru ei orice activitate
le-ar capta atenia i ar f un mijloc bun de a se apropia unii de alii.
A mai fost menionat i un dispensar nou, modern, pentru ca avem
acolo o locaie cam veche (membru al comunitii). Aceasta este n general
prerea tinerilor familii, cu copii mici, care se lovesc cel mai mult de problema
lipsei condiiilor. Pentru btrni sau copii mai mari dispensarul nu pune prea
multe probleme.
n concluzie, exist mai multe nevoi neacoperite ale copiilor care s-ar
putea rezolva prin dezvoltarea unui proiect integrat: activiti i spaii pentru
petrecere a timpului liber (parc, club al copiilor), after-school i nu n ultimul
rnd investiia n coal modernizare, teren/sala de sport, condiii mai
bune (spaiu, toalete, echipamente/materiale didactice).
94
95
Din focus grupuri i din interviuri a reieit c nu exist o implicare prea
mare a prinilor pentru rezolvarea problemelor copiilor. Cei care au rmas
s-ar implica findc toi i doresc pentru copii ceva mai bun uneori apare
i asta: n Italia aa este. n Germania aa este dar nimeni nu ar spune
cum ar f la noi aa n srcia noastr uite asta ar trebui (prinii).
Copii sunt ns bine ngrijii iar cnd e vorba despre serbri, nu se
pune problema confecionrii unor costume sau sprijin acordat. Din cnd n
cnd au mai pus toi umrul i au i vruit, chiar au construit un atelier de
meterit n cutea scolii. Dei nu este impus un fond strict al colii ca politic,
acesta se strnge la nivelul claselor cu acordul comitetului de prini pentru
achiziionarea unor bunuri necesare (imprimant) n jur de 20 de lei.
Problema pare a f c oamenii nu au ei iniiativ, fe pentru c nu
intr pe lista lor de prioriti: S-ar implica, dar n prim faz zice nu sunt
bani, nu avem bani. Vrem asta, vrem asta, dar nu sunt bani(primrie)
(profesor), fe pentru c nu exist o unitate ntre steni; O implicare din
partea mea prea mare nu poate s fe, findc eu am un statut aparte, la
de vinitur nu eti btina nu ai aceleai drepturi ca cei de aicea (preot).
Toi au admis ns c dac exist cineva s preia iniiativa i s motiveze
comunitatea, oamenii se vor implica: Cine s-ar implica? S-ar implica destui,
instituiile n special toate, mai mult ca sigur dac e benefciul nostru, de ce
nu? Eu a mediatiza garantat o chestie genul sta, i a mobiliza cteva zeci
de persoane, sau dac ar f vorba de mna de munc sau ceva. Dar toate
trebuie s aib o pornire, i pornirea aia (director cminul cultural)
6.9. Probleme ale comunitii, ale copiilor i nevoia de
proiect
Ca i n cadrul comunitilor cu proiect, lipsa locurilor de munc
reprezint problema principal a comunitilor studiate, care a generat i cea
de-a doua problem ca importan migraia n strintate pentru munc.
i n privina copiilor cele dou tipuri de comuniti sunt asemntoare:
cea mai rspndit problem a lor este reprezentat de lipsa oportunitilor
de petrecere a timpului liber, a spaiilor i a activitilor recreative, lipsa
condiiilor materiale ale familiei necesare pentru dezvoltarea lor armonioas
sau lipsa educaiei de calitate find de asemenea lacune importante.
96
97
Corespunztor nevoilor identifcate, cele mai importante soluii
vizeaz crearea unor locuri de petrecere a timpului liber, dezvoltarea unor
oportuniti educative extracolare i mbuntirea condiiilor de educaie
din coli. Un proiect integrat pe modelul coal i Comunitate implementat
n Marginea, Prejmer i Glimboca ar rspunde i n aceste localiti nevoilor
copiilor i ar conduce la mbuntirea situaiei lor i a comunitii n general.
6.10. Concluzii
Cea mai important problem a comunitilor studiate este lipsa
oportunitilor de munc, i nu doar n general pentru membrii activi ai
comunitii, ci i pentru copii, care se pregtesc n coal pentru aceasta. Lipsa
de perspective dezvolt atitudini prin care coala este tot mai puin valorizat,
nu mai este considerat ca util dect pentru acumularea informaiilor de
baz, rmnnd ca pentru munc i reuita n via s se n calcul alte variante.
Plecarea oamenilor n strintate rmne n acest context soluia facil i
legitim la care apeleaz tot mai muli dintre membrii comunitii, chiar dac
nu este neaprat valorizat, ci considerat mai degrab o necesitate pentru
supravieuire.
Evoluia fenomenului pare s fe uor descendent n toate cele trei
comuniti studiate. Pe de alt parte ns vrsta la care se pleac la munc
este tot mai sczut, munca n afar pare s se transmit din generaie n
generaie, pe lng prini find plecai n prezent i muli tineri, fraii mai
mari ai copiilor.
Dei conform datelor din cercetrile cantitative ntreprinse la
nivelul comunitilor migraia pentru munc reprezint una dintre cele mai
importante probleme (cea mai grav pentru Obreja i Hrman, a doua ca
importan pentru Volov), neglijarea copiilor nu este considerat o problem
la fel de grav. Exist ns numeroase probleme de natur emoional sau
comportamental ale copiilor. Familiile lor se confrunt adesea cu probleme
la nivelul structurii de autoritate, printele rmas sau celelalte rude avnd
difculti n a prelua responsabilitile dar i statusul printelui/prinilor
abseni.
Pe lng aceste consecine negative la nivel emoional i
comportamental asupra copiilor, migraia acioneaz i la nivel valoric,
afectnd atitudinea fa de coal i aspiraiile de realizare n via n general.
Copiii nu caut o anumit profesie, scopul este s aib avere i s aib un
cmin. A face coal nu mai reprezint o condiie pentru a reui n via.
Copiii sunt astfel nvai de mici drumul pe care ar trebui s-l urmeze n
via 8 clase, maxim 10 n Romnia, apoi munc n strintate, pe fondul
lipsei implicrii prinilor n educaie. Familia ca instituie este afectat n
funcia sa formativ-educativ.
coala este i n cazul acestor comuniti o instituie mai puin
conectat la viaa comunitii. Legturile sale cu autoritile locale i cu
familiile sunt mai degrab defcitare. Prinii i comunitatea n general
evalueaz pozitiv calitatea educaiei ns o raporteaz de regul la aspiraii
limitate, corespunztoare unei coli de sat. n colile din localitile studiate
se nva ct se poate nva ntr-o coal de sat i exist un risc mare s
te pierzi pe fondul problemelor menionate anterior i lipsei de competiie
ntre copiii.
Exist de altfel o stare general de nemulumire legat de performanele
i comportamentul elevilor: absenteism, violen, lipsa de respect fa de
cadrele didactice, interes sczut pentru studiu. Exist n unele cazuri i o
nemulumire fa de cadrele didactice: nu fac demersuri consistente pentru
a implica familia n educaia copiilor, nu folosesc metode adecvate pentru a
gestiona confictele ntre elevi, nu motiveaz elevii pentru activitile colare.
n acelai timp profesorii i conducerea colii apreciaz c problemele i au
originea la nivelul familiilor i fenomenelor negative cu care se confrunt:
dezorganizare, posibiliti materiale limitate, dezinteres pentru educaia
copiilor lor i lipsa de colaborare cu cadrele didactice.
98
99
n consecin, exist necesitatea unor programe i activiti
extracolare pentru copii i tineri n toate cele 3 comuniti. Cu toate c exist
un acord general privind nevoia de programe de intervenie n comunitate,
soluiile identifcate rmn vagi, generale, la nivelul lui e bine s se fac
ceva. i la nivelul autoritilor, i la nivelul comunitii au fost menionate
foarte puine soluii concrete de rezolvare sau ameliorare ale problemelor
identifcate
Cea mai acut nevoie a copiilor din comunitile studiate este
dezvoltarea facilitilor de timp liber, a activitilor formatoare extracolare.
Toate soluiile la problemele copiilor prezentate anterior au urmat aceast
direcie: activiti i spaii pentru petrecere a timpului liber (parc, terenuri
de sport, localuri etc.) implicarea n activiti extracurriculare, educative,
sportive, culturale (club al copiilor, after-school) i nu n ultimul rnd investiia
n coal modernizare, condiii mai bune (spaiu, toalete, echipamente/
materiale didactice). n condiiile n care confictul ntre generaii pare a
f defnit drept o problem (dei obiectiv este posibil s nu existe aceast
problem, ea va deveni o problem real prin consecinele ei) un serviciu de
consiliere psihologic ar f de asemenea indicat.
O stare general de nemulumire (nu sunt bani, nu sunt locuri de
munc, nu sunt oportuniti pentru tineri s se dezvolte) dublat de pasivitatea
sau indiferena membrilor comunitilor contureaz perspective neclare n
eventualitatea implementrii unui proiect. n ciuda acestor semnale negative,
pe fondul dorinei unanime de a face ceva putem aprecia c exist actori
i resurse (coala, profesorii, autoritile locale, o parte din prini) pentru
implementarea unui proiect, cu asumarea riscurilor implicite.
7. Proiectul coal i Comunitate un exemplu de
bune practici
Toate cele 6 comuniti studiate au un profl asemntor, n ciuda
localizrii geografce, dimensiunii sau structurii ocupaionale diferite.
Migraia pentru munc n strintate este fenomenul care a produs schimbri
semnifcative n viaa comunitilor i care le-a fcut s aib multe elemente
comune.
Cea mai important problem a tuturor comunitilor studiate este
lipsa oportunitilor de munc. Pe fondul lipsei locurilor de munc i implicit
a lipsei de perspective, migraia a devenit alegerea freasc pentru o via mai
bun pentru muli dintre locuitori, chiar dac nu este neaprat valorizat,
ci considerat mai degrab o necesitate pentru supravieuire. Pentru restul,
chiar dac nu reprezint o alegere de via, reprezint adesea un model
dezirabil sau mcar un factor de care trebuie inut cont.
Sistemul valoric al comunitii n general a cunoscut puternice
modifcri odat cu migraia masiv a localnicilor. Probabil i datorit muncii
n afara comunitii, oamenii sunt tot mai puin implicai n viaa comunitii,
ceea ce face difcil dezvoltarea unor proiecte de intervenie, perpetund
problemele.
Lipsa prinilor plecai la munc n viaa copiilor rmai acas nu este
considerat o problem prea grav n comunitile studiate. Familia extins
a preluat de regul responsabilitile prinilor, avnd grij de copiii rmai,
fapt care ns nu a exclus consecinele negative asupra lor: probleme de natur
afectiv-emoional, difculti de relaionare cu ceilali, comportamente
compensatorii inadecvate, performane colare sczute, scparea din fru,
n condiiile declinului de autoritate a bunicilor sau printelui rmas, care nu
mai pot supraveghea i controla copiii la fel de bine.
Legtura familiei cu coala este problematic, nu doar a familiei
copiilor de migrani, ci i a familiei cu nivel de trai sczut, destrmate sau de
rromi. De fapt, cercetarea a indicat faptul c nu copiii provenii din familii de
migrani sunt categoria cu riscul cel mai nalt, ci copiii sraci, confruntai cu
dezorganizare familial i social n general.
coala este n toate comunitile studiate o instituie care ncearc
s se implice mai mult n rezolvarea problemelor copiilor, fr a avea ns
rezultate spectaculoase. Colaborarea sa cu celelalte instituii se oprete adesea
la nivel formal. Pe de alt parte i participarea autoritilor locale este redus
la nivelul formal, de regul la asigurarea anumitor aspecte materiale colii,
fr implicarea direct n susinerea procesului educaional.
Exist de altfel mai multe fenomene negative asociate colii la un nivel
mai general, valoric, pentru care migraia n strintate este numai unul din
factorii generatori: lipsa de interes a copiilor pentru coal, valorizarea n
scdere a educaiei, n special pentru benefciile de ordin material pe care le
aduce, autoritatea n declin a profesorilor. Prinii i comunitatea n general
evalueaz pozitiv calitatea educaiei, dar o raporteaz de regul la aspiraii
limitate, corespunztoare unei coli de sat.
Datele cercetrii par s indice faptul c nu copiii rmai fr prini
constituie o problem pentru comunitile analizate, ci mai degrab copiii
i tinerii n general tind s reprezinte o categorie problematic. Tnra
generaie n sine este adus n dezbaterea public ntr-o not negativ, par s
100
101
existe destul de multe nemulumiri legate de valorile i de comportamentul
tinerilor. Lipsa oportunitilor de dezvoltare, de munc i prezena modelului
migratoriu de succes altereaz atitudinea lor fa de coal, fa de familie,
fa de comunitate i orientarea fa de reuita n via n general.
n consecin, n toate comunitile studiate exist necesitatea unor
programe i activiti extracolare pentru copii i tineri. Proiectul coal i
Comunitate implementat n trei din aceste comuniti a ncercat i, n parte,
a reuit s amelioreze unele din aceste tendine negative. n primul rnd a
produs schimbri importante la nivelul benefciarilor direci, copiii, iar n al
doilea rnd la nivelul colii, prin profesorii implicai.
Comparaia cu comunitile n care nu au fost desfurate proiecte de
tipul celui al Fundaiei Soros a scos n eviden rolul hotrtor pe care l-a avut
proiectul n viaa comunitii, chiar dac acesta a fost mai puin contientizat
de ctre membrii ei.
Programul Fundaiei Soros a contribuit la creterea interesului copiilor
pentru coal n general, prin activitile extracolare desfurate care au
stimulat interesul pentru cunoatere. n urma proiectului, copiii au nvat s
lucreze ntr-un colectiv, s i dezvolte spiritul de echip i experiena lucrului
n echip. Au devenit mai ncreztori n forele proprii, au nvat s comunice
mai bine, s fe mai deschii, s se exprime mai liber. Au dezvoltat n timp
abiliti mai bune de relaionare cu profesorii, au construit o legtur mai
apropiat i profund cu acetia. Pentru muli dintre ei chiar relaia cu prinii
a fost mbuntit. Dincolo de cazuri particulare problematice, proiectul a
contribuit la crearea unei legturi generale mai strnse ntre familii, copii i
coala ca instituie.
Pentru profesori, prin cursurile desfurate, proiectul a contribuit la
o mai bun formare pedagogic i la dobndirea abilitilor necesare pentru
managementul proiectelor. A dezvoltat i la nivelul cadrelor didactice spiritul
de echip i experiena lucrului n echip. Prin schimburile de experien cu
alte coli a condus la o mai bun colaborare instituional. i probabil cea mai
important contribuie a fost mbuntirea relaiei cu copiii i familiile lor.
Principalele aspecte care trebuie mbuntite in de vizibilitatea i
de contientizarea proiectului n comunitate. Acesta reprezint fr ndoial
punctul nevralgic proiectul este cunoscut doar de ctre copiii benefciari
i de ctre profesori i ntr-o mai mic msur de familiile lor, la nivelul
autoritilor existnd doar o cunoatere lacunar, iar la nivelul comunitii
una mai degrab vag.
Este de remarcat faptul c dei proiectul a vizat iniial copiii provenii
din familiile de migrani, s-a adresat n fnal tuturor copiilor din comunitate,
care n fond mprteau aceleai probleme. Proiectul a ameliorat nevoia de
activiti formatoare extracolare, de oportuniti de petrecere a timpului
liber pentru toi copiii din comunitile studiate, depind cu mult
inta iniial. n consecin, putem aprecia c cel puin pentru copii, ca
parte a comunitii, proiectul a adus mbuntiri considerabile, impactul
su find major.
Dei adresat copiilor din familiile de migrani, proiecte de tipul celui al
Fundaiei Soros coal i Comunitate rezolv multe din nevoile copiilor din
mediul rural n general, pe care toate studiile pe aceast tem i indic drept
un grup dezavantajat n ansele de reuit colar i profesional, chiar social
n general. Continuarea proiectului i dezvoltarea unora noi, la iniiativa i cu
participarea direct a comunitii devine n acest context necesitate.
Anexe
Anexa 1. Metodologia cercetrii
Cercetarea comunitilor din proiectul coal i Comunitate se
bazeaz pe o metodologie mixt, combinnd tehnici de cercetare cantitativ
i calitativ, pentru o imagine de ansamblu i n profunzime a impactului
proiectului. De asemenea, strategia a fost una de tip comparativ, pe lng
cele trei comuniti implicate Glimboca, Marginea i Prejmer selectndu-
se alte trei comuniti nvecinate cu profl asemntor Obreja, Volov i
Hrman n care proiectul nu s-a implementat, pentru a sesiza mai bine
eventualele schimbri produse la nivelul comunitilor.
Scopul cercetrii la nivelul comunitilor cu proiect a vizat
identifcarea impactului proiectului Fundaiei Soros asupra benefciarilor
direci copiii din familii de migrani i a copiilor n general dar i asupra
familiilor lor, profesorilor i colii, comunitii n ansamblul ei.
Obiectivele principale pot f rezumate la:
Problemele cu care se confrunt comunitile;
Problemele / nevoile copiilor din comunitile respective;
Gradul de contientizare i vizibilitatea proiectului la nivelul
comunitii;
Aprecierile subiective generale ale proiectului, dar i pe activitile
componente;
Punctele tari i punctele slabe ale proiectului;
Obstacolele ntmpinate;
Principalele benefcii ale proiectului;
102
103
Sustenabilitatea la nivelul comunitii i perspectivele de continuare
a proiectului.
Cercetarea calitativ a avut dou componente distincte:
interviuri cu membrii echipei de proiect (facilitatorul comunitar,
profesori, prini), precum i cu autoriti locale i alte persoane
cheie din comunitate (primar sau viceprimar, lucrtori SPAS,
medici, asistente de la cabinetul medical, reprezentani ai unor
ONG-uri, ntreprinztori locali, lideri formali sau informali n
comunitate) i
focus grupuri cu copii benefciari, prini i membri ai comunitii
n general.
Cercetarea cantitativ a constat n aplicarea a aproximativ 100 de
chestionare cu copii, prini, profesori i membri ai comunitii n general.
Datorit vizibilitii limitate a proiectului n cadrul comunitii, cercetarea
cantitativ nu a avut rezultatele scontate. Situaia cea mai bun din acest
punct de vedere este n Glimboca, unde peste dou treimi din subieci au putut
face evaluri ale proiectului. n consecin, pe ansamblu, datele cantitative
culese au vizat mai degrab problemele comunitii i ale copiilor i mai puin
impactul efectiv al proiectului.
Scopul cercetrii la nivelul comunitilor n care nu a fost implementat
proiectul a vizat identifcarea nevoii unui proiect similar i a analizei
comparative a situaiei copiilor din cele dou categorii de comuniti, pentru
a izola mai bine efectele proiectelor locale, derulate n cadrul programului
Fundaiei Soros.
Obiectivele principale pot f rezumate la:
Problemele cu care se confrunt comunitile;
Problemele / nevoile copiilor din comunitile respective;
Perspectivele de implementare a unui proiect similar i
sustenabilitatea la nivelul comunitii.
i n cadrul acestora au fost ntreprinse cele dou componente de
cercetare:
interviuri cu autoriti locale i alte persoane cheie din comunitate,
focus grupuri cu copii poteniali benefciari, prini i membri ai
comunitii n general;
chestionare cu copii, prini, profesori i membri ai comunitii n
general.
Echipele de teren au avut n componen cercettori cu experien n
domeniu. Culegerea datelor s-a desfurat n perioada octombrie-noiembrie 2010.
ANEXE
Anexa 2. Eseuri ale copiilor benefciari ai proiectului
Figura 6 - G.G. (eseu din 2009; actualmente are 17 ani)
104
105
Figura 7 - A.P. (fat, din Marginea; n 2009 avea 12 ani) Figura 8 - S.C. (elev din Marginea; n 2009 avea 15 ani)
106
107
refecie ncurajarea participanilor s refecteze asupra diferitelor
stiluri de via i atitudini, astfel nct s capete o nou perspectiv
asupra propriilor capaciti;
evaluare ncurajarea capacitii de analiz a participanilor i prin
aceasta dezvoltarea simului critic constructiv (de exemplu: prin
discuii individuale, discuii n grup i discuii de analiz).
Cteva dintre tehnicile recomandate a f aplicate sunt:
ntrebare-rspuns: este mult mai interesant dect prelegerea;
varietatea trebuie s existe o varietate n activiti, dar nu trebuie
s se nvee prea multe lucruri unul dup altul pentru c exist
riscul s se uite de unde s-a nceput.
Educaia prin aventur are ca principal atribut acela de a scoate
participanii din zona de confort i a-i determina s-i depeasc limitele, s
i doreasc s fe mai buni, tot timpul ntr-un cadru sigur; marea majoritate
a exerciiilor se desfoar n echip, pe principiul c n grup suntem mai
creativi, mai ndrznei, mai productivi.
Mai multe informaii despre educaia prin aventur n Manualul
de educaie nonformal Fundaia Noi Orizonturi, 2010
2. Atelierele de creaie i / artizanat. (prin creaie ne referim
n special la realizarea de diferite obiecte) pot f inserate n activitile
extracurriculare pentru c ofer ocazia copiilor de a mnui diferite materiale,
astfel nct s i dezvolte simul artistic, creaia, simul practic. Lucrul direct
cu obiectele poate f folosit cu succes ntr-o multitudine de contexte, avnd i
rol terapeutic. Mnuirea obiectelor ajut la dezvoltarea funciilor cognitive, la
mbuntirea capacitii de concentrare, relaxare. n acelai timp, n cadrul
acestor ateliere se pot obine rezultate imediate (un co fcut din mpletituri
de nuiele) i satisfacia lucrului palpabil este foarte mare.
Pe lng impactul direct asupra celor care particip la astfel de
ateliere, va avea loc i un impact asupra celor care vor veni n contact cu
aceste produse.
Pn la urm, societatea cere ct mai des i mai mult ca oamenii s
fe creativi, s fe capabili s aduc ceva nou, s se poat adapta inteligent i
creativ la schimbare.
3. Animaia video
Animaia video nu este specifc educaiei non-formale, dar poate f
folosit n proiecte de educaie non-formal, fe doar pentru a dezvolta un
sim artistic la copii, fe cu scopul de a le da copiilor o unealt prin care pot s
i exprime punctele de vedere, pot s-i promoveze aciunile.
coordonate:
formarea de aptitudini - dezvoltarea acelor aptitudini cu ajutorul
crora individul poate s desfoare competent i n siguran
deplin activiti ntr-un mediu natural (de exemplu: expediie,
escalad etc.);
efort expunerea participanilor la experiene solicitante care
i determin s i examineze reaciile proprii i s reacioneze
n situaii neateptate care necesit rspunsuri i luri de decizie
prompte (de exemplu: coborre cu coarda);
rezolvarea de probleme dezvoltarea unor posibiliti pentru
participani prin care ei trebuie s analizeze anumite situaii i s
gseasc o soluie (de exemplu: jocuri de iniiativ etc.);
serviciu termenul de serviciu (n cadrul proiectelor derulate
de Fundaia Noi Orizonturi) se refera la service learning, adic
derularea de proiecte n folosul comunitii (n cazul de fa de
ctre copii i tineri);
Copiii implicai n programul coal i comunitate au fost, la un
moment dat, invitai s-i spun punctul de vedere despre fenomenul
migraiei (fe c aveau prini plecai sau nu). Contientizarea unora dintre
efectele plecrii prinilor este puternic, n rndul acestora i se constat
mai mult o responsabilitate fa de propria persoan, fa de propriul destin,
dect o renunare i abandonare a luptei cu greutile vieii. Eseurile au fost
scrise n 2009 de ctre copii care au luat parte la proiectele locale dezvoltate
de coli.
Anexa 3. Cteva dintre metodele folosite n cadrul programului
1. Educaia prin aventur scopul ei principal este infuenarea
atitudinilor i abilitilor tinerilor de a dezvolta valori morale precum
solidaritatea, compasiunea i ncrederea, de a ajuta oamenii prin experiene
care i pun la ncercare n mprejurri neateptate, s-i descopere adevratul
potenial i respectul de sine, s-i respecte semenii i lumea care i nconjoar.
Principalul impact pe care l are educaia prin aventur este acela de a
combate, de a ameliora efectele apatiei civice, a gradului sczut de ncredere
care exist ntre oameni i s ajute la dezvoltarea unor atitudini pozitive.
Schimbrile care pot interveni prin aplicarea metodologiei specifce
nvrii prin experien sunt ca tinerii implicai s renune la pasivitatea
social i civic, s-i nsueasc anumite comportamente morale i s
acioneze pentru a se mbunti pe ei i comunitatea n care triesc.
Metodologia educaiei prin aventur se poate ncadra n urmtoarele
108
109
Noi am folosit-o n cadrul celei de-a doua tabere de lucru, unde copiii
au lucrat cu un expert FSR n animaia video, i au realizat trei clipuri de
animaie (fecare avnd maxim 4 minute) despre cluburile pe care urmau s
le nfineze.
Etapele construciei unui clip de animaie video.
nainte de a ncepe un clip de animaie video, trebuie s te gndeti la
cteva lucruri pe care TREBUIE s le ai pentru a face o treab bun. Aceste
lucruri sunt dintre cele mai diverse, de la echipament tehnic la lucruri ce in
de motivaie personal, scop etc. Presupunnd c avem toate cele necesare
din punct de vedere tehnic, o s ncercm s trecem prin alte elemente de
construcie ale unui clip de animaie video.
Motivul ca orice aciune pe care o facem trebuie s ne gndim DE
CE vrem s facem acel lucru. i animaia video trebuie s aib un motiv.
Aadar, nainte de a ncepe un clip de animaie trebuie s ne gndim care este
motivul pentru care l facem. i pentru acest lucru trebuie s ne punem cteva
ntrebri:
Ce vrem s realizm cu animaia video?
Pentru cine vrem s fe animaia?
Ct de lung trebuie s fe clipul, astfel nct s ne atingem obiectivul?
Ideea dac am reuit s rspundem la ntrebrile de mai sus nseamn
c am trecut de o etap foarte important n construcia unui clip de animaie
video. Nu nseamn, ns, c am i terminat! Nu, animaia video este departe
de a f gata. Dac acum tim motivul clipului, trebuie s gsim i o idee. O
idee att de bun nct s capteze atenia i s impresioneze. i, bineneles,
s ntruchipeze motivul pentru care facem animaia. Ca s ajungem la o idee
bun, trebuie s relum ntrebrile pe care ni le-am pus atunci cnd a trebuit
s identifcm motivul, numai c, de aceast dat, trebuie s rspundem mult
mai amnunit. Dac tim:
Ce am vrea s realizm cu animaia noastr (de ce) atunci ar
trebui s ne gndim la relaia dintre public i ceea ce vrem noi s
prezentm cu animaia noastr.
Publicul (pentru cine) atunci trebuie s tim ce vrst are ca s
tim ce i place, ce nu i place, care este atitudinea fa de subiectul
pe care vrem s l abordm. i place natura? i plac culorile? Ar vrea
mai mult micare i mai puin dialog sau invers? Trebuie s lum
n considerare o mulime de astfel de ntrebri mici, dar care ajut
crearea unui clip bun!
Ct vrem s in animaia atunci trebuie s ne gndim dac ideea
noastr este ndeajuns de concentrat pentru lungimea clipului.
Sau dac avem destul timp de prezentare. Sau dac nu cumva este
prea ncrcat cu alte semnifcaii care s ocupe prea mult timp.
Oricare ar f ideea pe care o gsii trebuie s reinei c produsul fnit
s-ar putea (80% dintre cazuri) s arate cu totul i cu totul diferit. Nu este
motiv de alarmare! Este ceva normal atunci cnd vine vorba de animaie
ceea ce avem noi n minte nu se poate reprezenta ntru totul cu materialele
alese pentru animaie. Mai mult dect att este o animaie, o nsufeire a
unor obiecte sau alte elemente s redea stri!
Modalitate dac tii ce vrei s facei, trebuie s v gndii CUM
trebuie s reprezentai ceea ce v-ai gndit. Animaia clasic ofer nenumrate
modaliti de lucru, dintre cele mai diverse. Lucrul i mai mbucurtor atunci
cnd lucrezi cu animaia este c poi combina diverse metode pentru a avea
un flm bun.
Iat doar cteva dintre metodele de animaie:
Animaie cu obiecte I v alegei obiecte (mai mici ca dimensiuni)
i care pot sta singure pe o plan sau n picioare, fr s aib
nevoie de ajutorul vostru. De asemenea, ar f indicat ca obiectele s
nu fe dintr-o singur bucat, ci semi-mobile: cu ncheieturi, care s
i mite anumite pri. (exemple: jucrii mici din Kinder, ppui,
mainue, Lego etc.)
Animaie cu obiecte II obiectele dintr-o singur bucat pot f
nsufeite cu puin ajutor (exemple: un cartof cruia s-i punei
ochi i o gur, o can cu plrie, o oset cu nasturi n loc de ochi,
un laptop vorbitor, un ghiveci cu fori etc.)
Animaie cu plastilin plastilina este foarte uor de modelat i
combinat cu alte elemente. Din plastilin se pot face orice fel de
obiecte, fguri, elemente de decor etc. Unul din inconveniente este
faptul c modelat de foarte multe ori nu mai are fermitate i ncepe
s se topeasc uor-uor.
Animaia cu desen sau animaia clasic. Filmele de desene
animate clasice Walt Disney sunt fcute cu desene! Pentru a atinge
acel nivel este nevoie de foarte mult talent (la desen), rbdare i un
alt fel de a privi lucrurile. Gndii-v doar la faptul c pentru orice
fel de animaie este nevoie de 24 de frames (imagini)/ secund
deci este nevoie de 24 de desene succesive pentru o singur secund
de flm, pentru a face o singur micare! Bineneles, nu nseamn
c nu putem face animaie cu desen putem desena orice, de la
110
111
fguri geometrice simple pe care s le micm pn la obiecte mai
complicate i mai complexe.
Animaie din colaje cu imagini decupate din diverse reviste sau
carton i care pot f animate n orice fel. Este una dintre modalitile
cele mai simple de animaie i care in foarte mult de creativitatea
autorului. Obiectele/personajele i aciunile pot f extraordinare!
Animaie cu oameni (pixelation) n loc de personaje desenate
sau fcute din plastilin v folosii de o persoan. Acea persoan
trebuie s se mite foarte, foarte ncet i pentru fecare micare
trebuie fcut o poz separat. Avantajele acestui tip de animaie
sunt c putei face o persoan real s dispar i s apar n alt
parte, se poate schimba instantaneu de haine, poate face srituri
spectaculoase sau poate intra ntr-o cutie de pantof!
Acestea sunt doar cteva dintre metodele de animaie, dintre cele mai
folosite. Pot f combinate n orice fel att timp ct produsul fnal i atinge
scopul i arat i bine!
Pasul urmtor ce trebuie fcut intr deja n partea de lucru efectiv la
animaie!
Storyboard
Se cheam STORYBOARD. Gndii-v la orice poveste, carte, flm
etc. Chiar dac are un nume englezesc, storyboard-ul nu este altceva dect
planul clipului de animaie video. Dac suntem obinuii de la coal s
facem un plan al unei aciuni, atunci nu poate f foarte difcil s facem i un
plan al animaiei.
Cel mai apropiat exemplu poate f planul unei poveti. De ce? Pentru c
i animaia noastr este, de fapt, o poveste. O poveste n imagini n micare. i
dac este o poveste, atunci ce poate conine planul acesteia dect momentele
principale ale oricrei poveti: introducere, cuprins (unde trebuie neaprat i
un punct culminant) i ncheiere.
Numai c pe lng frazele care construiesc fecare dintre aceste pri,
n storyboard toate aceste 3 puncte trebuie puse n imagini. Aceste imagini
sunt de foarte mare ajutor pentru c ajut animatorul s vizualizeze paii
clipului pe care urmeaz s l flmeze i s i cunoasc personajele.
Un storyboard nu trebuie s aib mai mult de 5-6 imagini cheie,
mprite proporional cu importana momentului prezentat. Pentru fecare
dintre cele 3 se fac, pe o foaie simpl (A4), chenare pentru prezentare.
Introducerea
n introducere nu trebuie s avem mai mult de 1 (maxim 2) chenare.
Introducerea ne aduce n poveste, ne prezint:
Locul
Personajele
Timpul (pe ct posibil, nu este necesar; se poate arta un ceas, sau
poate f iarn, sau sear, etc.)
O idee a aciunii ce urmeaz (poate aprea ntr-un col personajul
sau elementul negativ).
De ce este necesar s avem toate acestea? Pentru c animaia este o
modalitate simpl de prezentare, care trebuie s obinuiasc privitorul cu
ceea ce urmeaz s vizioneze.
Cuprinsul
Pentru cuprins avem nevoie de mai multe chenare (dar nu mai mult
de 3). Aici trebuie s construim aciunea propriu-zis:
Ce se ntmpl
Cine face aciunea
Cum face aciunea
Care sunt reaciile personajelor
Care este punctul culminant
Aici aciunea trebuie s fe mai detaliat. Trebuie s se vad
interaciunea personajelor, punctele forte ale fecrui personaj, felul n
care acioneaz. Unul dintre momentele cele mai importante este punctul
culminant ceea ce face povestea noastr interesant, s merite s fe spus
i, mai ales, ilustrat.
Un element distinctiv pentru storyboard este prim-planul. Adic din
chenarele pentru cuprins se face un prim-plan pe cteva puncte eseniale
din prezentare. Poate f un amnunt important n desfurarea aciunii, o
expresie facial, un obiect mic, dar important, un cuvnt spus de personaj
etc. n animaia fnal, prim-planul dureaz puin mai mult, pentru a atrage
atenia privitorului.
ncheierea
n ncheiere, pentru storyboard nu trebuie s avem mai mult de un
chenar. Trebuie s fe simpl, ca i cum dup acest chenar toat povestea a
fost spus i neleas i nu mai urmeaz nimic apoi.
112
113
ncheierea din storyboard nu trebuie s lase loc de interpretare sau
semne de ntrebare, pentru a nu semna cu un moment din cuprins altfel
povestea s-ar continua cu alte cadre.
Principiile de baz n animaia video
Contrast este unul dintre principiile care face animaia s fe
foarte dinamic i foarte amuzant n acelai timp. De exemplu,
nainte ca unul dintre personaje s fug dup un altul, trebuie
s se dea civa pai napoi (pentru avnt). Sau pentru a ntinde
mna s ia un pahar de pe mas, trebuie mai nti s duc mna
mai n spate sau s ridice mna. Orice micare fcut n animaie
trebuie contrastat mai nti de o alt micare. Aceast micare
dinaintea micrii propriu-zise poate s fe previzibil (de exemplu:
nainte s sari trebuie s te lai uor pe vine - i atunci se spune c
privitorul este pregtit pentru ce urmeaz), fe imprevizibil (de
exemplu pentru a lua un obiect afat pe o mas, n faa personajului,
acesta duce mna mult n dreapta i ia brusc obiectul, ca i cnd l-ar
smulge privitorul este surprins de o micare).
Intrrile personajelor personajele care apar n poveste
trebuie s i pstreze ntotdeauna intrrile din aceeai parte. De ce?
Pentru c privitorul trebuie s tie la ce s se atepte. n animaia
clasic, personajul negativ venea ntotdeauna din partea dreapt a
ecranului, iar cel pozitiv din stnga. Nu este neaprat nevoie s se
pstreze aceeai ordine, dar trebuie pstrat partea din care intr
personajul pentru prima dat, pentru a da cursivitate aciunii.
Exagerrile cele mai reuite cadre de desene animate sunt
cele n care un obiect ia proporii incredibile, pentru c n animaie
orice este posibil! S ai un deget de 3 ori mai mare dect capul
dup ce te-ai lovit cu ciocanul peste el (deget), sau s intri ntr-un
cort (din exterior) i n interior s fe un palat, sau o musc s se
ndrgosteasc de un cal, sau s scoi un tractor din buzunar. Cu
ct mai mare i mai neateptat este exagerarea, cu att mai reuit
este animaia.
O micare/imagine animaia este folosit pentru lucrurile
simple. O imagine nu poate f ncrcat de prea multe micri.
i pentru c animaia este o nsufeire a unui obiect sau a unei
imagini, atenia privitorului trebuie s fe concentrat doar pe un
obiect odat, pentru a contientiza micarea. n acelai timp, acest
principiu este i n avantajul animatorului: este foarte greu s te
concentrezi s miti mai multe obiecte n acelai timp, ntr-un
cadru foarte mic. Aa c un obiect pe rnd este sufcient. Se pot face
mai multe micri n acelai timp doar atunci cnd micrile ncep
ritmic (privitorul trebuie obinuit cu o micare; dup ce aceasta a
fost repetat de mai multe ori se poate introduce o nou micare)
ca o melodie: ncep tobele mai nti, in un ritm pentru cteva
secunde, apoi ncepe o chitar, apoi pianul i tot aa!
Repede vs. ncet sunt aciuni pe care trebuie s te concentrezi
i s detaliezi foarte mult. De aceea, totul trebuie s decurg foarte
ncet. Czturile, de exemplu, se petrec mult mai ncet, pentru a
surprinde reacia personajului, pentru a vedea cum se mic fecare
parte a corpului, cum i se mic prul sau cum i se mic hainele.
Dac este un drum foarte lung de parcurs, se poate merge ncet la
nceput i apoi poi sri cteva cadre, ca i cnd personajul a srit
sau s-a teleportat. Deci aciunile foarte importante se deruleaz mai
ncet, cele obinuite, frecvente, care au un anumit grad de repetare
trebuie s se deruleze mai repede. Este indicat ca un flm de animaie
s aib att momente rapide, ct i momente mai lente, pentru a nu
plictisi i pentru a implica privitorul mai mult n aciune.
Prim-plan cadrele importante trebuie s fe scoase n eviden.
Pe lng derularea mai lent a aciunii se folosesc i prim-planurile.
Sunt foarte importante mai ales pentru detalii importante: expresii
faciale, un element surpriz, un ceas, un calendar, o sprncean
care se ridic, un zmbet rutcios din care se vd dinii foarte
ascuii, frunzele dintr-un copac atunci cnd cad. Prim-planurile
sunt foarte importante n derularea activitii unei animaii.
Reprezint, de asemenea, i un moment de pauz n derularea
clipului de animaie. Atunci cnd se prezint un prim-plan trebuie
inut pentru cel puin 5 secunde, pentru a vedea detaliile necesare i
pentru a lsa privitorul s fac conexiunea ntre ce s-a ntmplat, ce
se vede n prim-plan i ce este posibil s se ntmple n continuare.
School and community
Model of intervention in the communities with children left behind
Model of intervention in the communities with children left behind
Program dedicated
to the children whose parents went to work abroad
Coordinators:
Denisa Ionescu program coordinator
Raluca Popescu research coordinator
Authors:
Alexandra Grigore (Chap. 6.3.2.)
Ana-Maria Suciu (Chap. 4)
Claudia Bocoiu (Chap. 6.1.2, Chap. 6.6)
Cria Curteanu (Chap. 6.7)
Cristina Schiel (Chap. 6.3.1)
Denisa Ionescu (Introduction, Chap. 1, Chap. 2, Chap. 3, Chap. 5, Chap. 7)
Felicia Palamar (Chap. 6.2.1)
Flavia Bistrian (Chap. 6.1.1)
Irina Boeru (Chap. 6.2.2)
Laura Tuf (Chap. 6.2.2)
Maria tefnescu (Chap. 6.8)
Melinda Dinc (Chap. 6.1.2, Chap. 6.6)
Mihaela Stoichescu (Chap. 6.1.1)
Oana Vieru (Appendix 3)
Raluca Popescu (Chap. 6.1.2, Chap. 6.2.2., Chap. 6.3.2., Chap. 6.4, Chap. 6.5,
Chap. 6.6, Chap. 6.7, Chap. 6.8, Chap. 6.9, Chap. 6.10, Chap. 7, Appendix 1)
Teodora Bulgaru (Chap. 6.1.2, Chap. 6.6)
Soros Foundation Romania promotes patterns for the advancement of a society
based on freedom, accountability and respect for diversity.
All rights reserved to Soros Foundation Romania.
No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of Soros Foundation Romania.
Soros Foundation Romania, 33 Cderea Bastiliei Street, Bucharest
Phone: (021) 212.11.01, Fax: (021) 212.10.32, E-mail: info@soros.ro
www.soros.ro
The content of this publication and/or opinions expressed therein do not necessarily refect
the views of the Soros Foundation Romania, but solely those of the author(s).
ISBN 978-973-0-11126-2
Model of intervention in the communities
with children left behind
May 2011
SOROS FOUNDATION
www.soros.ro
ROMANIA
SOROS FOUNDATION
www.soros.ro
ROMANIA
SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY Model of intervention in the communities with children left behind
1. BACkGROuND ................................................................................................................ 124
1.1. European Background ................................................................................................ 124
1.2. National Background.................................................................................................. 126
1.2.1. National Legislative Framework ............................................................................. 129
1.3. Conclusions................................................................................................................. 131
2. ThE JuSTIFICATION OF ThE IMPLEMENTATION OF SuCh A PROJECT ............. 132
3. Alternating Formal and Non-Formal Education
Realistic Version for the Improvement of the Situation of the Children at Risk............ 134
Project Related Training. used Methods......................................................................... 134
4. MIGRANTS RETuRN EFFECTS
ThE REINTEGRATION IN ThE EDuCATIONAL SySTEM OF ROMANIA ................ 136
4.1. What Do the headlines Say? ...................................................................................... 138
4.2. Identifcation of the Potential reintegration Issues .................................................. 140
4.3. Language Problems .................................................................................................... 141
4.4. Romanian School vs. host Country School ............................................................... 142
4.5. Complementary Aspects ........................................................................................... 143
4.6. Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................... 145
5. ThE INITIATIVE METhODOLOGy............................................................................... 146
5.1. Schools Choosing ........................................................................................................ 147
5.2. Communities Diagnosis ............................................................................................. 147
5.3. Local Workgroup Setup ............................................................................................. 148
5.4. Local Actions .............................................................................................................. 150
5.4.1. Local Projects Development Manner ...................................................................... 151
5.5. The Transfer of the Project to the Local Community ................................................ 154
6. ANALyzED COMMuNITIES .......................................................................................... 155
LOCALITIES WhERE COAL I COMuNITATE (SChOOL AND COMMuNITy)
PROGRAM WAS IMPLEMENTED ................................................................................. 155
6.1. Glimboca ..................................................................................................................... 155
6.1.1. Description of the Local Project .............................................................................. 155
6.1.2. Local Project Impact Assessment ........................................................................... 158
6.2. Marginea .................................................................................................................... 163
6.2.1. Description of the local project ............................................................................... 163
6.2.2. Assessing the Local Project Impact ........................................................................ 168
6.3. Prejmer ....................................................................................................................... 175
6.3.1. Description of the Local Project .............................................................................. 176
6.3.2. Assessing the Impact of the Local Project .............................................................. 179
Contents
6.4. Community problems and the assessment of projects
of the School and Community type .................................................................................. 187
6.5. Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 189
Localities where a School and Community Type of Programme
was not implemented ....................................................................................................... 193
6.6. Obreja ......................................................................................................................... 193
6.7. hrman ...................................................................................................................... 199
6.8. Volov ....................................................................................................................... 205
6.9. Problems of the community, of the children and the necessity of the project ......... 213
6.10. Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 215
7. SChOOL AND COMMuNITy PROJECT A GOOD PRACTICE ExAMPLE ............... 217
APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... 221
Appendix 1. Methodology of Research ............................................................................ 221
Appendix 2. Essays of the children benefciary of the project ........................................ 222
Appendix 3. Several methods used within the program ................................................. 226
121
Table 1- Analysis grid ............................................................................................................. 137
Table 2 - Problems of the community of Glimboca according
to the members of the community .......................................................................... 159
Table 3 - Problems of the children of Glimboca
according to the members of the community * ...................................................... 160
Table 4 - Assessment of the involvement of the partners in the project
(average on a scale of 1 to 5) ................................................................................... 161
Table 5 - Assessment of the activities of the project (average on a scale from 1 to 5) .......... 162
Table 6 - Assessment of the impact of the project (average on a scale from 1 to 5) .............. 162
Table 7 - Marginea Community Problems from the community point of view .................... 168
Table 8 - Marginea Childrens Problems from the community point of view* ..................... 169
Table 9 - Project Activities Assessment (average, on a scale from 1 to 5) ............................. 171
Table 10 - Appreciation of the Partners Involvement in the Project
(average on a scale from 1 to 5) ............................................................................. 173
Table 11 - Appreciation of the Project Impact (average on a scale from 1 to 5) .................... 173
Table 12 - Prejmer Community Problems from the community point of view ..................... 179
Table 8 - Prejmer Childrens Problems from the community point of view* ....................... 180
Table 14 - Assessment of the Partners Project Involvement
(overall, in all 3 communities). .............................................................................. 189
Table 15 - Assessment of the Project Impact (overall, in all 3 communities). ...................... 189
Table 16 - Obreja Community Problems from the community point of view ....................... 193
Table 17 - Obreja Childrens Problems from the community point of view* ........................ 194
Table 18 - Childrens needs in the vision of the members of the community ....................... 197
Table 19 - Problems of the community in hrman
in the vision of the members of the Community ................................................... 199
Table 20 - Problems of the children in hrman
in the vision of the members of the community* .................................................. 200
Table 21 - Needs of the children in hrman
in the vision of the members of the community* .................................................. 204
Table 22 - Problems oof the members of the community ..................................................... 206
Table 23 - Problems of the children in Volov in the vision of the members of the
Community* ........................................................................................................... 207
Table 24 - Needs of the children in Volov
in the vision of the members of the community * ................................................. 211
Image 1 - Problems of the Studied Communities .................................................................. 188
Image 2 - Childrens Problems in the Communities
with Developed Project from the community point of view ......................... 188
Image 3 - The three most serious problems of the studied communities ............................. 214
Image 4 - The three most acute problems of the children in the studies communities ....... 214
Image 5 - The three most important solutions / ideas of projects in the studies
communities .................................................................................................. 215
Image 6 - G.G. (essay from 2009; the author is currently 17 years old) ............................... 223
Image 7 - A.P. (front, from Marginea; in 2009, the author was 12 years old) ...................... 224
Image 8 - S.C. (pupil from Marginea; in 2009, the author was 15 years old) ....................... 225
Tables list Figures list
122
123
Introduction
This guide sums up the work experience of Soros Foundation Romania
in the rural communities which have to face the phenomenon of the children
left behind at home.
The School and Community program started from the results obtained
by SFR realizing two researches regarding the effects of migration, namely
that in Romania there are approximately 350,000 children left behind at
home and that the effects of migration, upon children mainly, are, most of
the times, negative.
The program was implemented in three communes of Romania:
Glimboca (Cara-Severin county), Marginea (Suceava county) and Prejmer
(Braov county).
This guide is addressed to the schools who work with children whose
parents left to work abroad, to the locale authorities of the communities with
a high migration incidence, to the parents but also to non-governmental
organizations and other actors interested in this phenomenon
The guide provides information about:
the European and national framework in which we can include
the phenomenon of the children left behind at home, the effects of
migration upon those left behind at home, the legislation in force,
other actors who take steps for the improvement of the situation of
the children left behind at home;
an analysis of the media materials regarding the situation of
the children who migrated together with their parents and who
returned to their native country; the analysis started from some of
the returned children cases we encountered in the communities in
which we intervened and we asked ourselves if their situation may
represent a refection topic, especially their reintegration in the
educational system (reintegration both at a formal as well as at an
informal level);
the methodology based on which the program unfolded, with
emphasis on the stages of the program and the manner in which
the projects were developed at local level, in the three rural
communities;
124
125
the results of the qualitative and quantitative research carried out
in November 2010, research which had as purpose the realization
of a comparative analysis between the three communities where
the Soros Foundation program was implemented and other three
similar communities where it was not implemented; the research
also intended to assess the impact upon the three communities,
upon the direct and indirect benefciaries.
Its performance would not have been possible without the contribution
of those who were part of the program, for a longer or shorter period of time,
of the partners with whom we collaborated during the program, of the three
involved schools (and especially the involved teachers) and, last but not least,
without the contribution of the children who were part of the program.
We want to thank the local project teams:
Glimboca: Mihaela Stoichescu, Flavia Bistrian, Marioara epi,
Camelia Popa, Diana Chersa, Mirabela Bogoevici, Tudor Popa
Marginea: Felicia Palamar, Cornel Grosariu, Mariana Ilinca, Cristina
Chelba, Cristina Mihalescu, Simona Derevlean, Ctlina herghelegiu, Elena
halus, Gabriela Evule
Prejmer: Iuliana Irimia, Cristina Schiel, Mircea Sorin, Mihaela
Moniagu, Ciprian Ghioi, Mariana Palamiuc, Georgeta Crciun, Mihaela
Neagoe, Roxana Mzgaciu
Last but not least we want to thank to our colleagues from the
Education Support Program, members of Open Society Foundations, for
the fnancial support and for offering expertise in developing the evaluation
methodology.
1. Background
1.1. European Background
The large framework in which the situation of the children of migrant
families can be included is regulated by several European regulations by
which it is acknowledged, frst of all, that they represent a vulnerable category,
disadvantaged either by the economic and social situation, by the measures of
integration of the country which they are in, according to the migration history
of one country or another, or by the infrastructure of the country where the
migrant family lives, the access to the social and educational services.
According to the study The Education of Migrant Children. An NGO
Guide to EU Policies and Actions carried out by the Education Support
Program (in 2010)
1
, The European agenda, regarding the education of
children and youth of migrant families, focuses on the following areas of
interest: fundamental rights, equality and anti-discrimination, integration,
social inclusion and cohesion; education and training.
The situation of the children who are left behind at home has been
mentioned for the frst time in the Resolution of the European Parliament
of March 12
th
, 2009 regarding migrants children, who are left behind in
their country of origin
2
, starting from the actual case of Romania. By this
resolution attention is drawn upon the situation of this category of children
and their families, mentioning that no special attention was paid to them,
and PE clearly requested to the European Commission and to the member
states to adopt measures which lead to the improvement of their social
and educational situation, to better information regarding the rights and
opportunities they have (especially the parents who migrate), to the analysis
of the real magnitude of the phenomenon at European level.
The requests which especially interest us, from the point of view of the
specifcity of the actions of SFR in the migration feld, are:
It requests to the Commission to perform a magnitude assessment
survey, at uE level, of the phenomenon represented by the migrants
children who are left behind in their country of origin and gather
data at uE level regarding this phenomenon;
It requests to the Member States to take measures for the
improvement of the situation of the of the children who are left
behind in their country of origin by their parents and guarantee
their normal development regarding their education and social life;
It requests to the Member States to supply better information to the
migrants regarding the rights they and their family members have
regarding free movement and regarding the information available
at national and European level regarding the living abroad and the
terms and conditions for the occupation of a job in another Member
State;
It requests to the Commission and to the Member States to actively
involve the social partners and NGOs in actions having as purpose
the improvement of the situation of the migrants children.
1
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/esp/articles_publications/publications/education-migrant-
children-20101130
2
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TExT+TA+P6-TA-2009-
0132+0+DOC+xML+V0//RO
126
127
The situation of the children of the migrant families of Romania
was also brought up during the meeting a SFR team had with the Special
Rapporteur for the unites Nations in the Migrants Rights feld, Jorge
Bustamante (on the occasion of the visit made in Romania in June 2009).
1.2. National Background
The situation of the children left behind at home, after their parents
leaving to work abroad, came to the attention of Soros Foundation of Romania
in 2007, when our experts noticed that the offcial numbers of that time
were very much understated (at the end of June 2007, the offcial numbers
supplied by the National Child Protection Authority indicated a total number
of 82,464 children whose parents left abroad.
3
).
After the research carried out in 2007 (Efectele migraiei. Copiii
rmai acas - Effects of Migration. Children Left at Home) and in 2008
(Efectele migraiei. Copiii rmai acas: riscuri i soluii
4
- Effects of
Migration. Children Left at Home. Risks and solutions), such research
showed the fact that in Romania there are approximately 350,000 who were
left behind at home.
Currently, the offcial data provided by ANPDC (currently included in
the National Authority for the Protection of Families and Childrens Rights,
under Government resolution 1385/November 26
th
, 2009
5
) do not indicate
any spectacular change, indicating, at the end of 2009, 85,605 children
left behind at home, 24,472 of them having both their parents abroad to work,
the rest having just one parent abroad.
In terms of the analysis of the phenomenon, of what happens with
this category of children or of the implementation of projects meant to
improve the situation of these children and the families affected by the
migration phenomenon, uNICEF, the Alternative Sociale Association
(Social Alternatives Association) and Save the Children Association are the
most important organizations which carry out various actions in this respect.
In 2008 uNICEF, together with the Alternative Sociale Association carried
out the research Analysis at national level regarding the phenomenon of the
children left behind at home after their parents leaving to work abroad.
3
Efectele migraiei. Copiii rmai acas FSR, 2007 (Effects of Migration. Children Left at home)
4
5
http://www.anpfdc.ro/content.aspx
As of 2010 Save the Children has been carrying out support activities
dedicated to the children and parents of migrant families, in 8 centers of the
country (Bucharest, Craiova, Mangalia, Petrila, Piteti, Reia, Trgovite,
Timioara).
Moreover, as of 2007 and until now, we noticed an increase of the
degree of preoccupation for the situation of the children left behind at
home, not only by means of the initiation of projects or the performance
of researches by the non-governmental sector, but also by the initiation of
discussions between the authorities and the civil society in order to analyze
this situation and fnd viable solutions for the prevention or improvement of
the negative effects. At the end of 2010 the debate called Costurile sociale ale
migraiei forei de munc din Romania (The Social Costs of the Migration of
the Work Force of Romania) was organized by the Senate Sub-Committee on
Population in cooperation with the uN Population Fund.
Some of the proposals launched after the debate are:
the optimization of the system of identifcation of the children
whose parents left to work abroad and the involvement of the
identifed children in psycho-social assistance services in order to
guarantee their normal development with respect to their education
and social life;
the development of support programs for the families who take care
of the children whose parents left to work abroad, who took over
certain parental responsibilities (relatives, grandparents etc.);
the development of parental education programs supported
by the authorities. The proposals are addressed especially to the
authorities empowered to carry out actions for the implementation
thereof in actual actions, but also to other actors working in the
feld.
Going back to the effects of migration, with strict reference to the
children left behind at home, the (aforementioned) research conducted by
SFR underlined the fact that the positive effects are related to the welfare of
the pupils whose parents left abroad. In most cases the parents migration
leads to an increase of the living standard of the child left behind at home.
The negative effects are noticeable at various levels: emotional, educational,
social (social interactions and adjustment). The school performance is the
frst aspect to be affected, and we also notice a prevalence of an antisocial
behavior. What is also interesting to underline is the fact that we can see a
deterioration of the relation the child has with the parent who remains at
home. The manifestation of these effects is also affected by other, such as
128
129
the situation of the migrants family: the nature of the relationship between
the two parents, the relation of the parents with the extended family, if the
grandparents are the ones left in charge with the children during the parents
absence.
We were nevertheless glad to see that there seemed to be no
connection between the absence of the parents and the worsening of the
health of the children. The differences between the migrants children and
the non-migrants children are relatively insignifcant in which deviant
behaviors are concerned, but the parents leaving represent nevertheless a
risk factor. The incidence of the consumption of substances forbidden to
minors (tobacco, alcohol) is slightly more elevated amongst the middle school
pupils whose both parents or whose mother left to work abroad. Moreover,
the data presents a higher school abandonment risk as well as poorer school
results in the case of the children whose parents left home to work abroad.
In general, the children whose parents left to work abroad have a profle
similar to those who live in single parent families, following the separation
of their parents or the death of one of them. This shows that, although the
parents leaving to work abroad is temporary, the effects upon their children
may be similar to those of a long term or fnal separation.
As mentioned above, the leaving of a parent or both parents abroad for
a longer period of time may lead to the occurrence of problems in the school
performance if the parents responsibilities are not taken over by someone
else (the parent who stays behind at home, the extended family, the person or
family under the care of whom the child was entrusted). On the other hand,
the familys resources and other factors related to the involvement of the
parents in the school activity are not the only factors which contribute to the
obtaining of good or poor school results. Other determining factors may be
related to characteristics of the child (mental ability, attitude towards school
and learning, interest and time spent for studying or doing homework), but
also to characteristics of the teachers and schools (the teachers quality, the
interest and help offered to each pupil, the school equipment), the infuence
of the friends of the same age (aspirations and behavior patterns) and of the
mentors or personalities admired by the child. Thus, it is possible for the
negative effects of a parents leaving abroad to be diminished by means of
the action of other factors such as the aforementioned ones, including the
positive effects of the leaving: such as the improvement of the standard of
living, increased chances for the child to travel abroad and come in contact
with a different culture.
A recent survey performed by SFR in 2010, Implicarea civic i politic
a tinerilor (The Civic and Political Involvement of the Youth), contributes to
the clarifcation of the relations between the work migration and the school
performance in Romania.
One of the conclusions of the survey is the fact that there are several
minor negative relations between the school performances of high school
pupils and migration when they are estimated by the presence or absence of
failed classes, school awards, general average and the presence or absence of
a general average below 7 (Bdescu, 2010)
6
. More signifcant effects can
be noticed regarding the intention to continue the studies after high school:
the pupils who have relatives who left abroad state more often than other
pupils that they will also leave to work abroad after high school and more
rarely that they are going to continue their studies.
1.2.1. National Legislative Framework
Currently, the legislative framework covers only part of what the
phenomenon of the children left behind at home entails, of the consequences
of migration upon the children and those who stay behind to care for them.
Law no. 272/2004 regulates the protection and promotion of
childrens rights but does not especially refer to children left behind at home.
As of 2006 the degree of interest for this category of children
increased, in the sense that on June 15
th
, 2006 Order no. 219 was issued by
Secretary of State of the National Childrens Rights Protection Authority for
the identifcation and monitoring of the children whose parents left to work
abroad.
One of the shortcomings of this order, which we faced in practice,
is that no mention is made about the collaboration of the SPAS (Social
Assistance Public Services) with the education units when it comes to
identifying and monitoring children whose parents left to work abroad. The
lack of the specifcation of the actual manner in which the two should interact
is an aspect that must be addressed with urgency.
In 2008, Strategia Naional pentru Aprarea Drepturilor Copilului
(The National Strategy for Childrens Rights Protection) 2008 2013 was
approved (being adopted on August 13
th
, 2008) in which the children left
behind at home were included as a category of vulnerable children: The
6
Implicarea civic i politic a tinerilor (The Civic and Political Involvement of the youth), Soros
Foundation Romania, 2010
http://www.soros.ro/ro/fsier_acord_publicatii.php?publicatie=114
130
131
children separated from their parents category also includes the children
whose parents left to work abroad. For some of them the separation from
their parents is even more serious as they are left under the care of some
members of their extended family or family acquaintances, not designated
as legal representatives of such children, fact which leads to the impossibility
of these children beneft from the rights they are entitled to, according to the
law, or upon their entering, as only alternative, the special protection system.
The improvements the strategy brings about are at the level of the
acknowledgement of the cooperation between various actors (institutions,
NGOs, other actors) for an effective implementation thereof. In the Planul
operaional pentru implementarea Strategiei naionale n domeniul
proteciei i promovrii drepturilor copilului 2008 2013 (Operational Plan
for the Implementation of the National Strategy in the Field of Childrens
Rights Protection and Promotion 2008 2013), regarding the situation
of children left behind at home, the operational objective is represented by
the Awareness of the population as well as of the authorities / institutions
of the importance of maintaining the relationships between children and
their parents in the case of the children temporarily separated from their
parents, and the activity by means of which this should be performed is the
development and approval of a work framework methodology for the SPASs
regarding the information and counseling of the parents who leave to work
abroad on their rights and obligations and the importance of maintaining
personal connections with their children who are left behind in the mother
country.
The entity/institution responsible for the implementation is ANPDC
(NAPCR - National Authority for the Protection of Childrens Rights (currently
ANPFDC - NAPFCR - National Authority for the Protection of Families and
Childrens Rights), in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Research,
youth and Sports, the SPASs (Social Assistance Public Services), the GDSACPs
(General Directorates for Social Assistance and Childs Protection), the non-
governmental sector. At local level the partnership may or may not work, as
this depends a lot on the specifcity of each community.
At formal level, the GDSACPs (General Direction for Social Assistance
and Children Protection) are subordinated to the County Councils, and to
the Local Councils of the districts of Bucharest municipality respectively, the
SPASs are subordinated to the County Councils, and to the General Council
of Bucharest Municipality respectively (for the social assistance public service
at counties level) or to the local councils (for the social assistance public
service at the level of the municipalities, towns and districts of Bucharest
municipality), this channeling of the responsibilities having the ability to
make the implementation of the plan diffcult, by the fact that none of these
structures are not subjected directly to ANPDC (ANPFDC). In this case we
can only hope for a good coordination between all these structures in order to
reach the objectives of the strategy.
Constraints, as named in the very text of the strategy, have been
identifed at several levels: the institutional system (e.g.: resistance to the
decentralization of administrative structures, up to the level of the local public
authorities, motivated by the latter's lack of experience in the management
and organization of the social services; or the lack of experience in the
involvement of the community, of the business environment and of the citizens
in social beneft actions; human resources (e.g.: the lack of attractiveness
of the services of the rural area to the qualifed personnel in the felds of
social assistance, psychology, kinetic-therapy etc.; or the lack of a coherent
continuous professional training system and the weak offer of the market
in this feld); fnancing (e.g.: the slow pace of the economic reforms, which
determines the maintaining of poverty and of the phenomenon of migration
abroad affecting families and children at elevates rates; the erroneous
perception of the external partners that the success level of Romania in the
feld of child protection overlaps the promotion and respect of childs rights
feld, which has already led to the decrease of the external funds).
The acknowledgement of the constraints does not necessarily lead
to fnding solutions thereof and the failure of the institutions with decision
power to clearly undertake the objectives included in the plan, the strategic
directions, decreases their chances of success.
1.3. Conclusions
We notice a weaker correlation between the reality on the feld and the
strategic proposals, which make us have a legal framework for the situation
presented in this case, but one which we will fnd diffcult or impossible to
implement.
The promotion of the partnership between the public sector and the
non-governmental sector is a good initiative, but when the efforts come only
from one direction, then the chances of success decrease dramatically.
For example, in practice (if we refer to the rural environment) we can
feel the effect of the constraints mentioned in the strategy: schools and the
132
133
social assistance public service may have different data on the same category
of children, about the same families, the assignment of a single person, as
social worker, leads to overcrowding, which in turn makes the identifcation
of the children left behind at home or their monitoring more diffcult (since
the draw-up of the social beneft fles comes frst), the top-down movement
of information, especially suggestions, leads to the loss of the motivation to
get more involved in special monitoring actions for one category of children/
families or another. In practice many results also depend on the degree of
cohesion between the members of a community and its size.
2. The Justifcation of the Implementation
of Such a Project
The SFR survey of 2008 showed the essential position of the schools
in addressing these issues. In addition to its traditional role, school is an
important element in providing social services to its pupils, even though
many times this happens more tacitly than explicitly. The role of school is
especially relevant for those whose parents (one or both) are working abroad.
however, in many schools lack two fundamental tools: the collaboration
with the social assistance system and a school psychologist. For the project
structure we started from the idea that community relations are already
established around school and, based on the current practice, a possible
solution would be to build a set of social and educational after-school services
which can be provided to children whose parents are temporarily abroad.
These services should focus on the help provided for the learning process,
on the development of skills to help them adjust better to the situation they
are in (through counseling and other activities designed to involve them in a
direct and constructive manner, thus providing them support regarding age-
specifc issues), home visits.
This type of approach is, at least in theory, generally valid for most of
the Romanian communities. Extending the range of social services offered by
the school in the community may have several benefcial effects: the offset of
some of the faws of the social assistance system; the provision of a certain
degree of fnancial sustainability to the school; the strengthening of the
link between community and school, thus contributing to the promotion of
decentralization.
Some of the main which make the application of this solution diffcult,
as mentioned above, are: the complicated system of links between various
public institutions in the feld of education and social assistance and of childs
rights protection, the lack of fnancial resources, the lack of vision at local level.
In the particular case of the communities in which a signifcant proportion of
the population is temporarily abroad, the frst of these problems - fnancing
- can be solved by families contributions, using money sent by those abroad.
This is an important opportunity that has been generally neglected.
In 2008, we initiated the coal i comunitate (School and
community) project, as a pilot project, representing the logical continuation
of our initiative, the translation of the conclusions after the two researches,
in an action model for the improvement of the situation of the children left
behind at home and of the families they come from.
Our intervention has been directed towards the communities of
rural areas: Glimboca (Caras-Severin county), Marginea (Suceava County);
Prejmer (Brasov county), having as main purpose the creation and
development, together with the community schools, of a set of social and
educational activities for the children in the target group, but also for their
families (parents who remained in the country, legal tutors) with the objective
of preventing or mitigating the negative effects mentioned above. Our goal
was also to improve the connection between school and the local community.
The migration phenomenon does not affect only children but also the parent
who remains at home (in the case of the families where only one parent
leaves), the grandparents, the relatives, since there is an increase in the
responsibilities which those remaining home to care for the home, the family
must undertake. We have also wanted to create a context in which school
may offer those social and educational services to the children left behind at
home after school hours by attracting other people of the community as well:
parents, local entrepreneurs, other key members.
Our initiative has focused very much on the reality of the communities
which we worked with, on the resources they have available, and we hope
that our work model is not too much of a novelty in order for it to be easily
taken up by the community or only by schools.
coal i comunitate (School and community) is a three-year span
initiative which will continue this year as well and which will be taken over
by the school by the development of three clubs for children and young
people (whose parents left to work abroad but also who come from other
disadvantaged categories, according to the specifcity of the community).
134
135
3. Alternating Formal and Non-Formal Education
Realistic Version for the Improvement of the
Situation of the Children at Risk
Project Related Training. Used Methods
The success of the education action lies in its complexity, in its
completeness and we feel that the formal - non-formal complementary
educational approach ensures a plus of value to the educational system.
The quick changes which occur in the society entail a high capacity
of adjustment and, usually, children and young people are the most affected
ones because they are going through a development stage when they build
their system of values, when they defne their skills and become aware of the
potential they have and of what they can do with it.
What we were interested in and what we believe that can replace, to
some extent, the absence of the methods of other felds (e.g. psychological
counseling for the children left behind at home, children at risk) are the
interactive dimension incorporated in the non-formal education and the civic
dimension. In the non-formal education the interaction with the others is
extremely important in the learning process. First of all because by actively
interacting with others we can make comparisons, correct some behaviors,
learn from examples, learn new ways to develop our skills, be aware of who
we are.
On the one hand, school capitalizes childrens frst non-formal
acquisitions, on the other hand, school must provide the basis that makes
education and lifelong learning possible in various contexts (Octavia Costea,
coord., 2009)
7
The use of non-formal education in schools entails an improvement
of the educational action, but the challenge of combining the two types of
education lies in the nature of the relationship between teachers and pupils
- as long as a power relationship exists we can only speak of attempts at the
methodological level.
Another category of challenges deals with the training of the teachers
for the integration and capitalization of non-formal education in educational
practices. The work coordinated by Octavia Costea (2009) also listed some of
these challenges and their causes: the vision change - thinking the schools
7
Educaia nonformal i informal: realiti i perspective n coala romneasc ( Non-Formal and
Informal Education: realities and persepctives n the Romanin school system) Octavia Costea (coord.),
Matei Cerkez, Ligia Sarivan, Bucharest: Didactic and Pedagogic Publiching house, 2009
mission in terms of the training of the pupils for life, by considering the
pupils non-school acquisitions and by going beyond thinking only in terms
of a phased and truncated training in order to access a higher level of the
education system or for the integration and performance in the professional
and social environment; taking into account that for achieving the school's
mission, the role of the teachers is also that of mediator between the formal
and non-formal educational environment; the training of the teachers for
the integrated approach of the teaching-learning methods and means in the
school environment and the methods specifc to learning in the educational
non-formal environments; the development and strengthening of the
partnerships between schools and cultural institutions, economic operators
and the community as a whole.
The conclusions arising from the existence of these challenges are the
following: there is a permanent need for teacher training so that they have
the ability to combine the methods of the formal and non-formal education
in order for the complexity of the education action to be ensured; the draw
up of the curriculum so that it allows the proper non-forced integration of the
non-formal methods, which does not interfere with the curriculum or hinder
the teachers activity.
In this program we used as basis, to a great extent, the resources the
schools had, both in terms of human resources as well as in terms of technical,
IT resources. Our goal was that of building something on what the school had
to offer by working closely with the people involved in the local work teams
(most of them being teachers of the three schools). What we managed to
build with these three schools were initiatives based primarily on non-formal
education (in terms of the activities for the children), a combination between
this and formal education, in order to attract more children to school, to
arouse their interest in the activities and products made for this purpose.
The non-formal activities are not meant to replace either the
assistance of a psychologist or the presence of a parent.
In the case of the children left behind at home, these two are very
important and when they are missing, their replacement with activities in
which they can invest their energy, be creative, valued, is one possible solution.
The specialized assistance, as complementary option, is unfortunately missing
from most of the Romanian schools of the rural areas and teachers recognize
how diffcult it is for them to take over the tasks of psychological assistance as
well (according to the time they have available and their skills).
136
137
however, since the valences? of non-formal education are multiple:
it helps in the capitalization of each persons potential;
is based more on experience and action, starting from the needs of
the benefciaries of the non-formal educational action;
it is based on the creation of life related skills;
it helps raise the awareness of ones own limits;
through its interactive nature, it allows those involved to be active,
to practice what they know in theory;
it sometimes increases the civic involvement of the participants.
We believe that the use of different methods of this type can bring
about signifcant improvements in the case of the direct benefciaries and
may help with the prevention of the occurrence of adverse effects or with the
improvement thereof. If ones efforts and skills are acknowledged and highly
praised, there is an increase in ones self-confdence. Channeling the energy
towards creative, active activities, learning from experience, which involves
different interactions with other people, have the power to construct and
relax. Non-formal education is associated with lifelong learning because they
both have a continuous and interactive nature.
4. Migrants Return Effects the Reintegration in
the Educational System of Romania
On the background of the global economic crisis a demographic
phenomenon occurred, namely that of the return of the emigrants from the
host countries to their countries of origin. The return of the emigrants produces
a series of obvious economic and social effects the diffculty of fnding a job,
lower wages than those obtained in the host countries, unfavorable working
conditions for employees, etc. While such effects are felt on a short and
medium term, the migrants return phenomenon also produces side effects
with complex social implications related to the reintegration of the returned
migrants into the society. Romanias accession to the European union in
2007 led to an increase of the migration rate, according to the OECD data.
The drastic drop of the remittances level as of 2009 shows that the return of
the Romanians who left to work abroad back home will make its effects felt.
The school age emigrants who are reintegrated into the Romanian
educational system after their return back home represent a special category
of returned emigrants who represents a potentially vulnerable group. By
2009 over 6000 students who had studied abroad for a certain period of time,
mainly in schools of Italy and Spain, had been reregistered in the Romanian
educational system. This analysis investigates the image that the Romanian
media gives to the return into the Romanian schools of those who have
studied in other countries as a result of the massive emigration of Romanians
between 2000 and 2008.
The specialized literature shows that in the cases of reintegration of
the migrants returned to their country of origin, women and children face the
greatest diffculties, and in the childrens case the effects are more powerful
for the school-age children and teenagers
8
. A study on the return of Italian
migrants from England to their country of origin shows that young people
who had started school in England and greater diffculties in adjusting in Italy
due to the study language but due to the social relationships built in the host
countries.
9
By using the media analysis and the content analysis we identifed
potential social and educational problems caused by the return of the
emigrants children back to Romania.
The analysis grid used for this purpose refers to the potential effects
of the reintegration of school-age emigrants in the Romanian educational
system, to the language issues - especially if the respective pupils started
school in the host country- and to the differences between the educational
system of Romania and the educational systems of the host countries.
Tabel 1 - Analysis grid
Variables Description
Newspaper Name of the publication
Date Date of the article
headline headline of the article
Visual What the visual element next to the articles represents
Type Journalistic genre of the material
No. of characters Number of characters of the material
Reintegration problems
What problems are the pupils reregistered in the Romanian
educational system faced with, according to the written media?
Differences
Assessments regarding the differences between the Romanian
educational system and the ones of host countries
Language problems Assessments regarding the language problems
key words key words in the text
used adjectives Adjectives used in the text
Discrimination Assessments regarding the discrimination issue
Return Identifcation of the reasons for the return to Romania
Reintegration bureaucracy
how diffcult is the reintegration from an administrative point of
view? Are there data, special projects for these children etc.?
8
Gmelch, George Return Migrants, Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 9 (1980), pp. 135-159
9
Gmelch, George Return Migrants, Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 9 (1980), pp. 135-159, p. 144
138
139
The table above represents the used analysis grid and the research
questions of the analysis with respect to the key dimensions. In terms of the
analysis units, articles of national or local newspapers were used, published
between 2008-2010. Most press articles on the reintegration of the emigrant
children in the Romanian educational system are news and in which the
number of characters is concerned the topic as usually granted a space of
4.000 characters.
In terms of the key dimensions, we identifed three types of issues:
general problems of school reintegration, the assessment of the differences
between the educational systems and language related problems. The
additional identifed issues are: the situation of the discrimination abroad,
the reason for the return back home and the degree of bureaucratization of
the procedure of re-registration in the Romanian schools.
The key words and predominant adjectives in the articles are analyzed
with respect to each dimension, as they are in fact what build the image and
map of this phenomenon in the collective mind.
4.1. What Do the Headlines Say?
From the analysis of headlines of the articles we notice three types
of approaches with respect to the situation of the emigrants children who
return to their home schools: the information approach, the educational
system differences approach and the economic approach.
Most of the headlines of the press articles regarding the integration
of emigrant pupils in the schools of Romania are rather informative: Copiii
plecai n strintate se ntorc la colile din Alba (Children Returned from
Abroad Go Back to the Schools of Alba), Inspectoratul colar Judeean
Galai echivaleaz studiile pentru copiii ntori din strintate (Galati
County School Inspectorate Validates the Studies of the Children Returned
from Abroad), Tot mai muli elevi romni din Italia revin n colile din
Romania (More and More Romanian Pupils of Italy Come Back to the
Schools of Romania), 74 de elevi s-au ntors din strintate pentru a-i
continua studiile n colile din Maramure (74 pupils returned from abroad
to continue their studies in the schools of Maramures). Thus, the overall
conclusion regarding the presentation of this topic in the written press is that
the approach is an informative objective rather simplistic one and in most
cases there is no analysis of the phenomenon from various perspectives.
There are few articles headlines that induce opinions regarding the
classical differences between the knowledge-based educational systems,
such as the one in Romania, and the educational systems based on skills and
abilities. In this respect, two distinct positions can be noticed: a position that
tends to dramatize the fate of the pupil who studied in other educational
systems (saying something like Fie coala ct de rea, tot mai bine-i n
ara mea - As bad as school may be, it is still better in my country
10
) and
a position that tends to demonize the Romanian educational system (e.g.
Copiii ieenilor din strintate i-au prins urechile n colile locale The
Children of the Citizens of Iasi Returned from Abroad Cant Find Their Way
in the Local Schools
11
). Thus, although in general the headlines of the articles
do not present major issues of this vulnerable group, in isolated cases the
Romania - West dichotomy is used to draw a picture of the inadaptability,
otherness, of the differences. The photos attached to the articles regarding
the re-registration of the students in the Romanian educational system do
not have a great visual impact, most of them presenting images of a class of
children.
A third type of approach, the economic approach poses the problem of
the reintegration of the children as a result of the global economic recession
- rather dealing with the reintegration as effect and not as a phenomenon
which will have, in turn, other effects (e.g. Repatriere forat de criz
Crisis Induced Repatriation
12
).
Thus, in which the headlines are concerned, the image generated
by the press of Romania is more informative - objective, based on actual
statistic facts. The words used in the headlines do not indicate, in most cases,
opinions and do not attach values to the news. Nevertheless, in some cases
we notice the use of certain stereotype words: the children of the aliens, the
children of the Strawberry pickers etc. - words which only deepen the idea
of difference between the children who studied abroad and the others, the
idea of belonging to a group different than the majority.
10
Jurnalul Naional, June 2nd, 2009, http://www.jurnalul.ro/special/special/fe-scoala-cat-de-rea-
tot-mai-bine-i-in-tara-mea-509855.html
11
ziarul de Iai, October 13th, 2010, http://www.ziaruldeiasi.ro/local/copiii-iesenilor-din-strainatate-
si-au-prins-urechile-in-scolile-locale~ni6oju
12
Monitorul de Alba, November 7th, 2008, http://www.monitorulab.ro/cms/site/m_ab/news/
repatriere_fortata_de_criza_51394.html
140
141
Identifcation of the Potential reintegration Issues
There are two categories of migrant children in relation to the
Romanian educational system: pupils who come back / return to a system
which they used to know and test
(case in which the adjustment is less
diffcult) and pupils who come into
contact with the Romanian school
for the frst time (in which case we
are actually dealing with a case of
effective integration rather than
adjustment).
Thus we can distinguish
between at least two sub-groups
which we can refer to when talking
about the adjustment to the educational system. The idea induced by the
analyzed articles is based on dichotomies: pupils who return to the schools in
their country of origin pass, without their fault, from one world to another.
For the frst category of pupils, who came into contact with the
education system of
Romania before their
leaving abroad, the main
concerns presented in
the press refer, on the
one hand, to the catching
up with the subjects of
study in order to reach
the study level of the class
they were distributed to
and, on the other hand,
to the repeating of a class
to catch up. Most articles
include opinions of
teachers regarding these
pupils: children return
to school with various
lacks of knowledge but
they are constantly
I lived in Italy with my parents
and brothers for 3 years. I studied
in Romania until the 3rd grade
and then I registered at a school of
Italy. In grades 4 and 5 I went to
school for 8 hours a day and had no
homework, while in grade 6 I went
to school for 6 hours a day and did
my homework by myself. When I
came back I had problems with
Romanian language and Math.
monitored and supported
13
. In most cases, teachers and school principals
say that, from a social perspective, there are no major problems. Moreover,
both teachers and pupils tend to declare that the return to school, despite
the problems of catching up with the subjects of study, is benefcial from
a psychological point of view for the
children who felt like aliens? in another
country and had social adjustment
diffculties.
The major problem identifed
by the national and local press refers
to adjustment. Both the pupils as well
as the teachers who were interviewed
admitted that the group of pupils
returned to their country of origin is a
vulnerable group which requires special
policies of integration into the Romanian educational system.
For the pupils who did not come into contact, prior to their departure,
with the Romanian education system, in addition to the adjustment problems
who are probably more serious due to the fact that they left the country
at a relatively young age - there are also problems of adjustment with the
Romanian language.
Another potential problem, arising from differences between the
educational systems, is the one regarding the schedules and curricula, the
adjustment to different subjects of study and teaching methods, which make
the transition from one system to another rather diffcult.
In which the keywords are concerned, the image is relatively consistent
- all the articles speak about the need for integration, the complexity of the
existing situations, the need of the pupils returning to their schools to catch
up with the subjects of study.
Language Problems
According to the analysis, one of the biggest problems of the pupils
returning to school in Romania, after having left other educational systems, is
the language problem. The major differences can also be divided according to
the two categories identifed above. We can very well say that the time spent in
a school of Romania prior to the departure abroad is a key factor with respect
to the degree of profciency in Romanian. There are situations in which some
13
http://www.infosomes.ro/fe-scoala-cat-de-grea-tot-mai-bine-n-tara-ta
The adjustment to the local educational
system is a true ordeal for the students
returning to Iasi. Here they have to wake
up bright and early each morning, wear
uniforms or cut their hair if it is too long.
Some of them remember that they used to call
their teachers by their name abroad, while
in Romania they are treated much more
formally, colder. The students who were born
and studied abroad face their biggest problems
in math but Romanian as well. The schedule,
curriculum, interior regulation and behavior
of the teachers in the classroom are the aspects
which confused pupils more than the fact that
they knew little or almost no Romanian. The
differences between the foreign education
system and the Romanian one must be dealt
with individually, by the efforts of the children
and on the expense of their parents.
Ziarul de Iai, October 13th, 2010
We studied the curricula
and noticed that they study
the same things as we do in
the primary school, with more
emphasis on applications. What
I found extremely interesting
there was that parents could
access the website of their
childrens class to see what their
children will learn, by subject,
every week and month.
142
143
pupils do not speak Romanian at all and
situations in which Romanian language
is used at a functional level, with
knowledge gaps in terms of grammar.
From the point of view of the
educational policies of Romania, there
was no question of denying the right to education due to the failure to know
Romanian. The teachers interviewed for the analyzed articles declared that
language problems arise in the case of the 7-8 years old children who were
born and lived in Italy and know very little Romanian and some of them
have never had contact with the Romanian school system and do not know
Romanian grammar, which entails the complexity of these situations of
transfer from a foreign school to a Romanian one.
Romanian School vs. Host Country School
As previously mentioned, most articles tend to compare the
Romanian educational system with the education systems of other countries.
The clearest distinction is the one regarding the level of training, but this is
another recognized general distinction: school is more diffcult in Romania!
The specifc differences between the educational systems based on the
accumulation of knowledge and the
educational systems based on the
development of abilities and practical
skills are repeated in most of the
analyzed articles. Thus, foreign schools
have less stuffy simpler curricula, the
teaching methods are attractive and rely
more on applications and the teacher
pupil relation is not based on fear and is less formal. In Romania it is easier
to get higher grades, breaks are shorter and the studied subjects are higher in
number and more diffcult.
These differences are not seen consistently in the analyzed articles.
Thus, in some articles, the system of Romania is perceived as much better,
school is more serious, teachers are better prepared and the colleagues are
friendlier. A special case is that of Italy, where Romanian children learn in
schools where special Romanian language, Romanian culture and civilization
classes are organized, taught by Romanian teachers.
Those who perceive foreign schools as being better are mainly older
pupils who performed well in the schools in the host country education
systems. The issues reported by the pupils refer to the teacher pupil
relationship, the transparency
of the scoring systems, the
equipment of the schools, but
also to the fact that they were
not asked for money for various
purchases made for the class:
We did not have to wear a
uniform in the school of Spain, there was no such thing. And the only money
we gave to our school was for school trips. Our parents did not have to pay
money for the arrangements made in the classroom, as it happens in our
schools. All classrooms were clean, well arranged and equipped there.
The differences between the systems are also felt at the level of the
school performance, under the same dichotomous note, but without a clear
direction - there are cases in which Romanian pupils performed excellently
in the foreign schools and cases in which the Romanians could not cope
with other educational systems, despite them being considered easier. The
explanation for this phenomenon may
very well be related, on the one hand,
to the age at which a child enters a new
education system, a younger age being
more likely to entail an easier integration
and adjustment. On the other hand, the
level of profciency in the language used
for teaching is also relevant, although on a
long-term the effect of this limitation may
be neutralized.
Complementary Aspects
Discrimination?
The discrimination experienced by immigrants, especially by school-
age children studying in host countries, could be one of the reasons for which
Romanian pupils return to the schools of Romania. Most of the analyzed
articles present discrimination as a cause of the failure of the Romanian pupils
The process of adjustment
in school is easier for the
pupils who already studied in
Romania for one year because
they already know Romanian.
There was a friendship relationship
between the teachers and the pupils
there. We called our teachers by their
frst name, we spoke to them openly, we
did not fear our teachers. Most of our
teachers of Romania are cold.
While abroad these
pupils were small stars due
to the level knowledge they
assimilated, back home many
of them fnd themselves a
step away from failing many
subjects of study, which affects
the self-image of the child,
and may decrease his/her
education related motivation,
negatively affecting the
catch-up process.
They are based on the
practical aspects, which is not
bad at all. My former pupil
told me various times that they
attend workshops, not classes.
In order to have a good results
theory must be combined wit
practice.
144
145
to adjust in the foreign schools. The pupils testimonies are various, but the
discrimination felt in the foreign schools is stronger in foreign countries with
an increased number of Romanian immigrants, namely Italy and Spain. Of
course, in some articles, the exaggeration of the discrimination situations is
obvious - especially in the case of the pupils who felt discriminated for not
knowing the language. Although the diffculty of the adjustment process is
questionable, the discrimination cases do not seem to be so serious, not even
in Italy and Spain, where special programs for migrant pupils have been
created in the Romanian communities.
There are also articles which present a much friendlier face of the
foreign schools, where colleagues are friendly, help each other and do not
discriminate based on nationality or ethnicity: My colleagues and teachers
were all ok. We are all alike. I for one felt like that.
Reasons for Returning to Romania
Most of the analyzed articles indicate the economic crisis and the lack
of fnancial stability in host countries as causes for the return of the emigrant
families back to Romania. Very few articles indicate the childrens failure to
adjust to the foreign educational systems as a reason for such return.
The Bureaucracy of the Return to the System
Most articles provide information on the documents required for the
re-registration of the pupils in the Romanian schools. The required documents
are: an application addressed to
the school inspector of the county
requesting the validation of the
studies (standard form application
available at the secretary offce
of the school inspectorates),
application approved by the
principal of the school where the
application will be submitted,
the academic situation prior to
the departure to a foreign school
if applicable, copy of the skills
exam certifcate or of the national
knowledge test certifcate - if
applicable, the foreign academic
results, by academic
years and passed
classes, showing the
studied subjects and the
obtained grades - copy of
the original and certifed
translation, except for
those issued in English,
French, Italian and
Spanish, a copy of the
passport, a copy of the
ID or birth certifcate
of the child and the
proof of payment of a
registration fee. The
composition of this
fle does not pose a big
problem for those who
enroll their children
in Romanian schools.
however, the diffculties
at bureaucratic level
may also be due to the
poor management of the
migrants return trend by the competent ministries. Thus, although there are
school inspectorates, which are decentralized institutions, the policy for the
settlement of such situations is still centralized, which may lead to delays in
the validation of the studies and the return to school.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Romanian mass media presents the cases of reintegration of the pupils
in the Romanian education system relatively objectively, so that the diversity
of the opinions on this topic is visible and assumed. Although the opinions
of the various interested factors (pupils, teachers, parents, school inspectors,
psychologists, etc.) are varied, there is one common denominator. Whether
school in Romania is better or worse than that in other countries, whether
the results o the pupils who studied abroad were good or bad, whether actual
discrimination situations occurred or not, reintegration is a real process.
During the breaks she barely
got out of her desk to go to the toilet.
Sometimes her new colleagues
touched her by mistake and then
wiped their clothes as if I had scabies
or the plague. It was then that she
became aware of the fact that those
children would never be able to
replace the colleagues she had left
behind in Romania. She cried every
day for two weeks. It was as if the
end of the world had come for end.
She was small, a second grader. And
she had no idea how to make friends
with children who said only nasty
words to her in their language.
We take the study documents fles of the
pupils who want to re-enroll in schools of
X County and we send them to the Ministry
of Education, Research and Youth, which
performs the assessment of the pupils and
decides in which class they must be enrolled.
Until the fnalization of the assessment, which
may take several months because there is
just one committee which analyzes the fles of
pupils across the whole country, children are
enrolled in the class closest to the age they
have, or, only at the request of their parents,
one ore more years behind. They are registered
in the class catalogue only provisionally, their
names being written in pencil, and only later
on is their school situation determined. We also
had cases in which the Ministry considered that
the pupil had to repeat a year or even two, and
even if the parents were dissatisfed with this
decision, we were not able to change it, because
this is beyond our responsibility. But parents
must be aware however that the best interest
of the pupil is taken into account and it does not
matter if one school year is lost if the child can
adjust better as a result.
ISJ representative.
146
147
Thus, the adjustment to a new system, which is more or less known, always
entails changes and adjustments (at least at the level of the behavior and
school performance). Of course, it is all about complex adjustment processes,
in which all involved factors should identify their roles and objectives. In an
ideal case, this process of reintegration should be supported by the system in
which the student is reintegrated. In Romania, most of the initiatives in this
respect are individual and sustained, from a fnancial point of view, by the
pupils parents and by the pupils themselves.
The recommendations on educational programs and policies
initiatives, which take into account this vulnerable group of pupils, concern
more the local level. Given that the return rate of pupils in the Romanian
educational system differs substantially from county to county, a national
policy may fail to use the fnancial resources according to the real needs. The
solutions should rather come from the County School Inspectorates, which
have information on the number of such situations as well as other additional
information - school performance in both systems, the language profciency
level, family status etc. Given the opportunities of the inspectorates to access
structural funds, we believe that this situation could be solved at county or
even at school level. After-school projects for this target group are desirable
only if they are implemented differentially, according to the actual needs.
The recommendations at central level refer to the validation of the
studies and refer more to the form rather than the substance of this issue: the
need for decentralization at this level of validation of pre-university studies,
would signifcantly shorten the period of validation and, at the same time,
would make county inspectorates responsible for the increase of the needs
analysis capacity. In the current situation, the inspectorates are only a channel
for the transmission of information from the local level to the central level.
5. The Initiative Methodology
The methodology of the project was built on the following steps: the
selection of the communities and, later on, of the schools, the diagnosis of the
communities, the establishment of the contact with the local authorities; the
set up of the local work group (consisting of teachers and a few parents); the
training of the three local work groups; the establishment of the activities to
be carried out (based strictly on the actual situation of every community); the
assessment of the activities.
5.1. Schools Choosing
The schools were chosen at the beginning of 2008, of the three
communities with a high migration rate.
The three schools are:
coala de Arte i Meserii Arts and Crafts School (Marginea
commune, Suceava county)
coala General Prejmer Prejmer Primary and Secondary School
(Prejmer commune, Braov county)
coala cu clasele I-VIII Glimboca - Glimboca Primary and Secondary
School (Glimboca commune, Cara-Severin county).
The schools are different both from a cultural point of view as well as
from the point of view of their size: 170 children in the school of Glimboca,
250 in the school of Prejmer and 700 children respectively in the school of
Marginea.
Since the research of the Foundation focused on middle school children
(10-14 years) and because this age group seemed to be the most affected by their
parents departure, the project activities were targeted more at this age group.
The project coordinator visited each of the three communities,
presenting to the school the system in question:
each school was to propose a local project targeting the children left
behind at home and, depending on the specifcity of the community,
other children of other disadvantaged groups;
the local project was to be implemented by the school, being partly
fnanced by Soros Foundation (depending on the size of local actions);
the amount of the grant per school did not exceed uSD 5,000.
5.2. Communities Diagnosis
In order to be able to discover the problems specifc to each community
and in order to adapt the project to the local needs we started with the detailed
research of each community. For the diagnosis, the Foundation's team
worked with a team of two sociologists. Moreover, as indicated by the feld
research and surveys, there are differences between the intensity of the various
consequences of migration according to the region of Romania where the school
is located. The community diagnosis allows the adjustment of such initiative
to the community, to the respective location and a greater acknowledgement of
the community project (and its continuation after the withdrawal of Soros
Foundation of Romania).
148
149
We carried out the following actions in each community:
interviews with the local decision entities (Mayor, Deputy Mayor),
with the social worker, the schools educational psychologist (only
Prejmer school has a permanent psychologist), with the doctor,
priest, school teachers;
focus groups with children (children with migrant parents / non-
migrant children).
The initial diagnosis was also used in the assessment of the project,
carried out in the second half of 2010 (which is the subject of another chapter
of this guide).
5.3. Local Workgroup Setup
Following the visits to the communities and the performed qualitative
research, we started to create a local group formed of teachers, mostly, but
also parents / relatives of the children, the school psychologist and social
worker, depending on the specifc needs of each community and the local
needs. The main function of the group was that of handling the project at
local level. We also wanted to activate the local community and to determine
it to react and get involved in the settlement of the community problems.
The set up of the local group was also meant to strengthen the
community relations and ensure a better cooperation between the local
institutions: schools, city hall, the social worker.
The local group participated in a series of seminars organized by
Soros Foundation and it was also the one which developed and implemented
the local actions.
In the frst year of intervention, the local groups also included a
community facilitator, who represented the glue between the community
and the Foundation, who supported the local group in the initiation of the
activities, and two of them even attended the training seminars (the facilitator
of Marginea commune and the facilitator of Prejmer commune). In Glimboca
commune the collaboration with the community facilitator was quite diffcult
because of lack of time of the facilitator, who was always involved in many
activities.
The conclusion we reached is that, although the community facilitator
is part of the area where the project is implemented, he/she must be available
for the project, and the fact that he/she takes part in several projects at the
same time is not always a good indicator of his/her community facilitator
skills.
The work group was set up after discussions with the project coordinator
and the community facilitator, and those present in the discussion had to
express their interest or lack of interest in the involvement in the project. The
involvement of the members of the work group was voluntary.
On average, 5 to 7 members were actively involved in the work groups:
four teachers (one of them being the educational counselor), a parent
and, during the frst year of operation, the commune doctor were
constantly involved in the Glimboca group; during the initiative
other teachers got involved as well, more or less sporadically;
during all this time, the group also benefted from the support of
the school principal and of the City hall;
Marginea group includes seven teachers who are constantly
involved in the activity but this group also works with the commune
families who work in pottery (Marginea commune is famous for her
black pottery) and with the families who work in wicker weaving
who contributed to project with materials and expertise (they
worked with the children for some project activities); the school
management also got highly involved in the project;
Prejmer group includes 5 teachers who are constantly involved in
the activity, and, from time to time, two parents also take part in
the activity (not amongst those who have family members working
abroad); the school management got highly involved in the project
and supported it in this case as well.
As previously mentioned, a community facilitator was also included in
our work groups during the frst part of our initiative.
Their main responsibilities were:
to organize meetings with the community members and the
representatives of the local authorities;
to provide support to the work group for the development of the
local actions;
to draw up a monthly report for the project coordinator.
During the second part of our initiative the local group no longer
worked with community facilitators, the group being used to work according
to the formula it started with. The monitoring was carried out directly by the
project coordinator.
150
151
5.4. Local Actions
Introduction
School has a certain tradition in the organization of events, has a
certain tradition in doing something else besides the curriculum and this can
not be disputed.
The community is used to the school doing all sorts of activities, it
expects the pupils to get involved in all sorts of educational initiatives in
order to develop, they fnd it normal for such activities to occur and, up to a
point, everything is perfectly justifed. School has remained the main pillar
of reference in terms of education and it is normal for everyone to look at it
expecting it to do the right thing in terms of children training.
Could it be that the school principals are right when they say (according
to the paper coala aa cum este School as it is written in 2010 by
uNICEF in partnership with Centrul Educaia 2000+ / Center Education
2000+), that most parents are only interested exclusively in the results of
their child without seeing or accepting the connection between the general
school background and such results; they often have a reactive behavior and
come to school only when there are problems; those parents who actually
get involved are very few, being actually the exceptions. Or could it be that
school principals do not see the beneft of having parents participate in the
decisions regarding the educational content and believe that parents do not
have the necessary skills for getting involved in such aspects according to
the same paper.
We often notice that parents and schools pass the responsibility of
educating a child back and forth between them and there is little concern for
the manner in which things happen inside the school.
The connection between school and the surrounding community
exists because parents know the area where their children go and it would be
almost absurd for anyone to believe that they do not know anything. What
they do not know, however, is the manner in which they could provide more
support, in which they could make the most of what they can offer and how
they could maximize their profts.
The coal i comunitate (School and Community) program made
schools take a stand by showing the community that in everything that they
do, both for those who beneft from an average/high standard of living, and
also for those who are disadvantaged, they need the attention of the members
of the community, they need their contribution.
Local Projects Development Manner
Each of the three schools received a grant to develop an action at school
level, frst of all, and then a community level action dedicated to the children
left behind at home and to their families. Everyone accepted nevertheless that
the other children in school could not be excluded, especially from leisure
time activities, in order not to place the children of the target group in a
suddenly negative light.
The established activities also took into account the opportunities
offered by the school and by the community and the possibilities of
implementing them (the equipment of the schools, the existence of the
necessary facilities, the teachers skills, the childrens talent for one activity
or another).
Several trips were made to the local communities in such respect
and local meetings were held with the members of the community, with the
representatives of the authorities and the parents of the pupils involved in
the project.
Categories of Activities:
Special Counseling for the Children
Child monitoring and special counseling in cases of problems in the
child's life. In the case of the Prejmer school the monitoring and counseling
activities were ensured by the school psychologist, who was also the
coordinator of the Prejmer action, but in the other two schools these tasks
were taken over by the teachers involved in the project, within the limit of
their time or skills.
Life Skills Development Activities
The activities were designed so as to supplement the school activity by
taking into account both the age of the children as well as their various skills
and preferences.
The activities were also designed according to the school history
in such projects, the teachers skills, the local tradition. One of the aspects
which everyone responded positively to, children being the
most enthusiastic about it, was represented by the tradition
capitalization activities, based on commune defning traditions.
All the types of activities made it possible to monitor children better
and fght against the negative effects caused by their parents absence -
loneliness, absence of a person to talk to, deviant behaviors, low school
performance by alienation from school and the decrease of the importance
given by children to school.
152
153
As mentioned earlier
on, all children of grades 5 to
8 participated in all activities
in order not to create a gap
between them and to allow
the monitoring of the other
children as well. As seen in
the research, the problems
that children whose parents
left to work abroad have are
similar to those of the children
with broken or single parent
families.
These local activities
were established by the
program coordinator together
with each team, but not before
the three groups attended a frst
seminar of introduction into
the philosophy of the project,
seminar also attended by the
expert on educational projects
from Centrul Educatia 2000 +,
the community development
expert of Soros Foundation and
by the sociology expert also of
Soros Foundation. This seminar took place in September 2008 and had as
topics: the introduction into the specifcity of the program; the performance
of educational projects; community development.
The other two training sessions took place in November 2008 (in
Marginea) and in May 2009 respectively (in Glimboca) and had as topics:
the improvement of the work of the local teams and the use of non-
formal in extracurricular projects;
project draw up and management.
In addition to these three training sessions, one teacher from each
team also participated in the two children camps. These camps were organized
during the summer holidays:
in 2008 in Straja Massif 45 children and 3 teachers participated
in the education by adventure camp, organized in partnership with
Noi Orizonturi Foundation;
in 2009 at Elevation Point 1400 20 children and 3 teachers
participated in work camp dedicated to the development of a club
for children and youth organized by SFR.
In addition to these seminars, the local teams always discussed with
the coordinator of the program, when needed but also during the visits in the
three communities.
In the rural area non-formal education activities opportunities are still
low. The comparative analysis conducted during the program (which can be
found at the end of this guide) shows the imperative need for extracurricular
activities: The most important needs of the children target the development
of leisure time opportunities and extracurricular activities as well as the
improvement of the school conditions.
In the rural environment, the extracurricular activities are focused
either on local / regional / national events (many of them have cultural,
historic connotations) or take place on special days (most of the times the
School Day) or are competitions which are organized either by someone from
the locality or by other. The activities are not limited to these ones, because the
type of the extracurricular activities also depends on how close or far schools
of the rural area are from the urban environment, if the teachers participated
in various training programs, if projects were implemented by various other
organizations (especially NGOs) in the respective communities. Most of the
activities were based, as mentioned above, on the resources made available
by the school, the local projects being very much linked to the previous school
events, but with emphasis on learning certain skills. In Marginea, for example,
the involved children learned how to make a model, how to measure the wind
speed and what it means to work at the school radio station.
Within coal i comunitate (School and Community) program
(between 2008 and 2009) the local projects were carried out around historical,
religious, cultural signifcance days or around the end of the school year. All
activities performed by the three schools had common their focus upon the
local traditions: the creation of dance groups (at Glimboca), the draw-up of
the informal monograph of Marginea commune (and on this occasion another
version of Miorita was found, the legend of the clay pot, which is actually
the legend of the black ceramics of Marginea), the participation in Fasching
(the Pancakes Festival which dates back to the Transylvanian Saxons time in
Prejmer).
Groups of children involved
The children involved in the program
over the three years participated in two major types
of activities: those implemented by their teachers, by
the local work teams, most often during the school
year, and those implemented during the work
camps, during the summer holidays in 2009 and
2010.
During the activities of the local actions
children: participated in arts and crafts workshops
(pottery, wicker baskets weaving, theatre play costumes
making, puppet show setting making, holidays specifc
objects making), theater workshops (classic , which
is usually specifc to the activities performed during
the extracurricular activities, but also modern
adaptation of certain classic plays), literary creation
and journalism workshops (making the school
magazine, conducting interviews for the informal
monograph of the commune), folklore items
collection, dance workshops (folk, contemporary),
meteorology workshop.
During the two work camps the used
methods included: specifc methods of education
through adventure, the method of improvisation on
a given topic, brainstorming, small teams working,
and video animation.
The number of children involved varied
over the three-year span of the project, since some of
the children graduated and went to high school.
154
155
Once with the passage to children and youth clubs, the local projects
continued to include components that are linked with the local
tradition (folk dances, the set up of a community history mini-museum,
the participation in folk dances festivals) but also components which are
connected to current situation, using new technologies / methods
(Facebook, two of the schools will use video animation to make short movies
for the promotion of the club, the set up of the school radio station).
For the creation of these activities the local groups worked closely
with the community facilitator and with the project coordinator. Next, the
teachers and the program coordinator presented the project to the children
inviting them to enroll in one or more of the project activities (each activity
being supervised by a teacher).
Moreover, the program coordinator met with the children, in smaller
groups, taking this opportunity to talk to them about their situation, about
their perspective and their point of view regarding what happens in school,
what happens at home, what types of activities they would like to carry out
within the project. These meetings were either individual or in small groups.
The local projects evolved into local clubs for children and youth,
centers in which regular folk dances workshops, drama, sewing and journalism
classes etc. will be carried out. For the development thereof each of the three
schools cooperate either with schools in the area or with local entrepreneurs
or with the Parents Association (in the case of the Prejmer school).
5.5. The Transfer of the Project to the Local Community
The transfer of the project to the local community will be performed
mainly towards the local group which will be responsible, in the beginning with
the assistance of Soros Foundation, for ensuring the continuity of the project
(fnding the fnancial resources: parents and authorities, maintenance of the
activities and the adjustment thereof according to the needs, administrative
activities).
The assistance provided by the Foundation will mainly consist in
the support provided to the three local groups for accessing funds for the
continuing of the clubs activity.
At the end of 2010, the local projects took the form of children and
youth clubs, by means of which such transfer will be performed. By mid
2011 they will also beneft from fnancial support from the Foundation, and
their activity will then be maintained exclusively by the schools and the local
authorities, according to each community.
6. Analyzed Communities
This chapter presents the local projects, as they were developed,
and results of their evaluation, the impact they had, the problems, benefts,
matters to improve. After these three communities where we implemented
the program we will present three other communities in which we havent
intervened, and we made a comparative analysis in order to better capture
the specifcity of coal i comunitate (School and Community) program.
The research methodology is presented in the Appendices section.
Localities Where coal i comunitate (School and
Community) Program Was Implemented
6.1. Glimboca
I do not use the computer very much because my hands are my type-
writing machine. (Maria, 10 years old, Glimboca) - a girl who likes to write
poems told us when asked if she liked to use the computer. her mother is
working in Italy and she is living with her older sister, a sixth-grader at the
same school and with her father and step mother.
6.1.1. Description of the Local Project
Copiii n comunitate (Children within the Community)
(project carried out between 2008 2009)
The purpose of the local project of Glimboca is that of attracting
children at risk and getting them involved in creative extracurricular activities
and to develop their team spirit, in order to reduce the impact of the negative
effects, they are subjected to.
Copiii n comunitate (Children within the Community) Project was
divided into six workshops (folk dances, theater, painting, creation, reading
and health care); the project included numerous activities that have been
evaluated in turn, through festivities, exhibitions, festivals, balls very much
appreciated both by the pupils who were not involved as well as by the entire
community.
We started from the identifcation of a community need and we focused
mainly on attracting pupils whose parents were working abroad. We based
our actions on the idea of integration, getting the other pupils of the school
involved as well, thus encouraging them to participate with great interest and
156
157
commitment, together with the target group, in the extracurricular activities
carried out within the project.
The entire community greeted the Folk Dances activity with
interest, as it promotes customs and traditions specifc to Glimboca locality:
Brul lui Toma, Ardeleana lui Aflon. The City hall and the City Council got
particularly involved, providing the necessary space and making available
the required technical equipment. The pupils parents took care of obtaining
traditional folk costumes. Folk dances had a real success, by participating in
the Festivalul Internaional de Folclor Aflon Lacu i Ion Munteanu (Aflon
Lacu i Ion Munteanu International Folklore Festival) (of Timioara) and
all school festivities. As a result, this activity continued during the following
school year as well, and the group participated in the Festivalul de tradiii i
obiceiuri de pe Valea Bistrei (Bistra Valley Traditions and Customs Festival).
The theater activity was very well combined with the activities
carried out during the creation, reading and painting workshops. After
the play was established, during the reading workshop, the selection of the
students for the interpretation of the roles was started.
The creation workshop focused on making the puppets and their
costumes. The used materials were recycled materials, those involved being
aware of the fact that waste too can be put to good use. The pupils of the
painting workshop painted a considerable part of the setting elements.
The plays (Turtia and Fulg de nea) were played on the occasion of
the school festivities and had a powerful emotional impact on the performing
pupils, audience and parents. The audiences applauses rewarded the work of
the team, which was stimulated by awards.
The exhibitions organized on the occasion of Marea unire (Great
union) holiday, revealed the special talent of the painting workshop pupils.
They made paintings on wood, stone and glass that could be admired and
then displayed in the school.
The activities carried out in the Copiii n comunitate (Children within
the Community) project improved the relationship between the school, family
and community, thus making possible the performance of extracurricular
cross-disciplinary activities which could not have been carried out otherwise.
The school dropout rate decreased due to the creation of these non-formal
education opportunities for the target group and others as well. By attracting
children at risk and getting them involved in various activities we managed to
develop their team spirit, emphasizing their creativity and good collaboration
with the others.
Glimboceanul Junior Club (set up at the end of 2010)
The idea to start a Club for pupils was a huge success in Glimboca.
Both pupils and their parents were eager to engage in the performed activities:
traditional folk dances, creation workshops (sewing, painting, puppet
theater, reading) and English mini-club. This certainly happened because
of the past experience, of the previous project Copiii n comunitate (Children
within the community), carried out in school year 2008 2009, since before
starting the new project pupils used to always ask: When are we going to
start preparing a new play?, When are we going to make puppets?,
When are we going to dance again?. This motivated and encouraged the
work group to continue its activities once started.
It all started from the desire to involve the pupils whose parents were
working abroad in extracurricular activities, but we also included pupils from
the orphanage or with limited incomes, a goal that was achieved.
32 pupils, aged 7 to 14 (grades 1-8) enrolled in the painting class.
The activities were carried out weekly under the guidance of teacher Flavia
Bistrian. For the Christmas festivities the pupils painted winter cards, Santas
diploma, winter landscapes, then March amulets and Mothers Day cards.
Pupils who did not prove to be studious in class enrolled in the painting
workshop, where they proved to be patient and participated with pleasure.
15 students aged 11 to 15 enrolled in the creation-sewing workshop.
They made Christmas decorations, and then, for Mothers Day, they made
pincushions for their mothers and their teachers and decorative paintings out
of polystyrene plates with applied napkins. The pupils proved to be patient,
meticulous and fully responsible. At frst they found things to be a little bit
diffcult but then it got easier. They had the courage to try the sewing machine
as well and some of them had never touched a needle in their lives. They were
delighted with what they made and all the while they were encouraged by
their teacher, Ms. Marioara epi, who arouse their interest and coordinated
them as well.
Folk dances are the activity which is most valued, by parents and
the other community members in particular. Since they are living in the
countryside, people are eager to carry on the folk dances tradition and the
traditional folk costume. Sixteen pairs of dancers (32 pupils) represented
our commune in the festivals and celebrations of the area, and in May 2011
Festivalul de Tradiii i obiceiuri pe Valea Bistrei (Valea Bistrei Traditions
and Customs Festival) will be held in Glimboca.
158
159
10 actors were involved in the puppet theater; they created a new
play, they repeated the parts, recorded the voices etc., the creation workshop
pupils made the puppets, and the painting workshop pupils made the scenery.
As we can see we are having a mixture of several activities, a sort of cross-
disciplinary activity, a cherished activity during which pupils cooperate a lot.
While at frst the pupils/actors experienced some stage fright, they managed
to get over it afterwards being very eager to get back on stage.
The English Mini-Club was created due to the desire of the pupils
who are in their frst academic year to learn English. The Mini-Club was set
up in partnership with Sunshine Singers group, a group of Peruvian children
of Otelul Rou accompanied by their teacher. 15 pupils aged between 11 to
12 years (grade 5) from Glimboca School, most of them having their parents
abroad, enrolled in this Mini-Club.
Meetings on various topics were held twice a month, having as goal to
encourage the dialogue and enrich the English vocabulary; the special guests
interacted with the pupils in English and performed interactive activities
(games, songs, simple plays, with prizes, discussions based on various
materials which were projected).
The expected results were: English language learning, direct contact
with other children of a different nationality to promote intercultural dialogue
and the acceptance of diversity; making of fnal products in English (greeting
cards, projects, letters, etc.); conversation skills progress regarding various
topics in English for students with average knowledge.
By getting to know children who speak English as they speak
Romanian, ambitioned the pupils to learn more than they learn in school.
Together with their teacher they created their own anthem, Be the best, which
is also the name of the club and then they worked on opening a blog for the
popularization of the mini-club.
6.1.2. Local Project Impact Assessment
Glimboca Community and Its Problems
Glimboca commune includes a single village, Glimboca, and is
located in the North-Eastern part of Caras Severin, between Oelul Rou town
and Obreja commune. Glimboca has a population of approximately 1,900
inhabitants and is a compact commune, all houses being placed one next to
other in the Saxon style.
In general, the inhabitants of the commune are hospitable, friendly,
open to new things and ideas that lead to the development of the commune.
The main problem the local people face is the lack of jobs and hence of material
resources that provide safety and comfort. The economic dependence of
Glimboca commune on Caransebes and Oelul Rou cities lead to the decrease
of the living standards at local level. Moreover, the closing of the factories,
which constantly provided jobs for the local community, led some of the
inhabitants of Glimboca commune to go to work abroad. This phenomenon
has been amplifed by the fact that the jobs on the market are poorly paid and
do not cover the consumption needs of the local people.
The migration abroad for work is an important acknowledged problem
according to the residents of Glimboca. The neglect of the children left behind
at home is considered a serious problem and a very serious one to a lesser
degree. Other social issues often signaled by the inhabitants were poverty,
family problems, crime and confict relations between community members.
The limited children leisure time spending opportunities, school dropout or the low
quality of education were also mentioned as problems of the community, but of a
lower importance.
Table 2 - Problems of the community of Glimboca according to the members of the
community
The lack of jobs, of employment opportunities in the locality or in the area 68
The migration of the people abroad for work 53
Poverty, low standard of living 32
Domestic violence, family issues 28
Theft, crime 22
Conficts between various groups or persons 17
Limited children leisure time spending opportunities 15
The neglect of the children left behind at home 13
Children school dropout 9
Low education quality 7
Public infrastructure: lighting, sewage, water etc. 6
Transport (including the transport of the children to school) 4
Medical services 4
Note: frequencies obtained by cumulating answers of the type its a serious issue / its a very serious issue
School
Parents are generally satisfed with the school of Glimboca. Moreover,
school is a positive element for children, as they are interested in educational
activities of any kind. The dissatisfactions are related to the lack of funds, the
160
161
lack of educational materials necessary to deepen the content of the subjects
of study.
Although it is assessed that there are only a few cases of early school
dropout, at the level of the community this is acknowledged as a problem
together with the low quality of education. Moreover, the school management
believes that that the situation is not as good as it was in the past, mainly due
to the deterioration of the relation between families and school.
The Glimboca childrens problems which are referred to most often
are family related problems: family poverty, lack of parental supervision and
education. Other issues that fall under the responsibility of the school or of
the public authorities are rarely mentioned.
Table 3 Problems of the children of Glimboca
according to the members of the community *
Lack of the familys material conditions 24
Lack of supervision /education from the parents 7
Lack of high quality education in school 7
Lack of extracurricular activities 6
Lack of leisure time spending spaces, parks, pubs, sports felds etc. 5
* spontaneous answers to an open end question, re-encoded subsequently by categories
Migration abroad
Due to the lack of jobs in the area after 1990, people began to go to
work abroad, especially to Germany, creating migration networks over time.
Temporary migration was actually identifed as one of the main problems of
the community. The number of emigrants is diffcult to estimate because the
departures are for short periods of time, pendular, and often spontaneous, not
planned (they leave when a job opportunity arises) they leave for a month
or two, come back... before I fnd out that a parent left such a parent may
already be back. There are a lot of families who go to Germany and if the old
man or woman does not accept him/her, does not like his/her face or if they
do not know the language well they send them back home (social worker).
Children left behind at home represent a relatively small problem
for the community. In a small town as Glimboca, social control is high, the
pressure for the self-regulation of the social relations is active, so we cannot
speak about the occurrence of persistent adverse events, such as child neglect.
Nevertheless, the departure of one or both parents may lead to emotional
issues, as certain cases of children with aggressive behavior and relationship
problems have been signaled: Aggressiveness is the biggest problem of
children left behind at home both verbal and physical aggressiveness
(teacher).
The Impact of the Local Project Carried Out in School and
Community Program
The project of Soros Foundation is well known by those who are
directly involved: the pupils of Glimboca school, the teachers and parents of
the pupils involved in the project. As expected, in the rest of the community
the information regarding the existence of this project, although widely
known, is vaguer, with no accurate data regarding all the activities within the
project.
Regarding the direct involvement in the performance of the project
activities, the main actors, among the institutions, have been the school and
the City hall (with the support of the local entrepreneurs in some situations).
In fact, and at a subjective level, the most positive feedback was obtained
by the teachers and pupils - the two partners who actually carried out the
activities. The local authorities also obtained a high average.
Table 4 Assessment of the involvement of the partners in the project
(average on a scale of 1 to 5)
Average
Number of
respondents
Teachers 4.89 79
Pupils 4.82 79
Local authorities 4.59 74
Doctors offce 4.38 69
Families 4.2 79
School management 4.13 77
Inhabitants of the commune in general 3.59 74
Local contractors 3.13 60
The activities with the highest level of visibility in the community and
with the highest rate of success amongst the pupils were Glimboceanul folk
dances, Micul pictor (Little painter) painting workshop and Micul actor
(Little actor) theater team. All the activities have obtained high evaluation
averages.
162
163
Table 5 - Assessment of the activities of the project (average on a scale from 1 to 5)
Average Number of respondents
Popular dances GLIMBOCEANUL 4.82 78
Micul pictor (Little painter) Painting Workshop 4.45 76
Micul actor (Little actor) Theater 4.19 75
S trim sntos (Lets live a healthy life) 4.14 76
ndemn la lectur (Incentive for Reading) 4 76
Creez, deci m dezvolt (I create, therefore I develop)
Creation Workshop
3.86 72
What is interesting to point out is the enthusiasm mentioned in the
statements of the participants in the survey on the activities organized during
the project. On the one hand, young people proved to be very eager to participate
in activities with an artistic character, and, on the other hand, parents also
appreciated this involvement due to the fact that, by being involved in a
constructive activity that makes them happy children feel valued and become
less exposed to negative infuences and the risks specifc to their age.
Thus, we can say that the implementation of Soros Foundation project
in Glimboca village had a generally positive impact: benefcial results from all
points of view (teacher).
the most impressive thing was that it made them fnd within
themselves resources they did not know they had, () it gave them an
incentive to think about things they had not thought of before (parent,
Glimboca).
Table 6 - Assessment of the impact of the project (average on a scale from 1 to 5)
Average Number of respondents
upon the children of the benefciaries
4,74 78
upon the professors and school
4,74 78
upon the families
4,49 78
upon the community in general
4,34 73
The positive impact was signifcant upon the children, giving them the
opportunity to develop various skills and abilities: team spirit, willingness to
get involved, curiosity, interest for culture and a better relationship with the
teachers. The project made the community of Glimboca pay attention to the
education and harmonious development of the youth.
Requirements and Perspectives for the Continuation of the
Project
All those who were asked considered the continuation of the project
as something benefcial and necessary. Several ideas have been presented
regarding the continuation of the project: organizing exchanges of experience,
the childrens visit to recreation centers, the implementation of an after-
school program especially for those pupils who have learning diffculties or
for those who for various reasons cannot receive the support of their parents
an after-school program for doing their homework because, I already
mentioned... their parents are abroad and their grandparents do not know
how to help them (teacher).
6.2. Marginea
In the local community, most pupils are taken care of and supervised
by only one parent or even by relatives alone. This is why the school failure and
abandonment problems can be considered rooted in the pupils insuffcient
supervision. Given the fact that I am also one of such children living with the
grandparents, who encouraged me to learn, I promised myself to encourage
and support the children who do not enjoy such motivation in the family,
stated a 6
th
grade pupil, involved in the School and Community programme.
6.2.1. Description of the local project
The local project mainly aims at supporting the children and teenagers
in risk situation in developing personal and social abilities by involving them
in activities implying interacting and collaborating with others.
The project objectives are: involving the pupils whose parents went
abroad in the school life, developing the pupils social communication
abilities, raising the pupils awareness to their own actions by having them
assume roles in the project activities.
Marginea seen through the eyes of a child (2008 2009)
The project consisted of organizing the following activities:
Activity 1 The Living Environment in the Marginea Commune
the following secondary activities were performed: traveling to various areas
in the commune in order to go on reconnaissance and acknowledge the fora
and vegetation diversity; collecting plants and insects; determining the water
quality in the own wells.
164
165
Activity 2 history and Local Traditions the following secondary
activities were performed: making pottery items by hand in Magopat
Gheorghes workshop in the Marginea commune; wattle plaiting.
Activity 3 Local Customs and Traditions the following secondary
activities were performed: having the children gathering literary texts from
the commune which they framed in genres and species (ballades, legends,
fairytales, sayings, riddles, doinas); gathering faiths and superstitions
specifc to the Marginea inhabitants (and not only); local customs they
prepared questionnaires regarding the customs over the year and the family
life customs; they gathered a consistent and very well structured material as
regards the basic events in mans life: birth, wedding and funeral: lullabies,
doinas, incantations and spells, dancing songs, wedding songs, folkdance
rhymes, laments.
Activity 4 Marginea without Borders they did Romanian to
English translations of the materials provided by the other groups involved in
the project (for the unoffcial commune monograph).
Activity 5 Marginea in Miniature the following secondary
activities were performed: getting the pupils used to the scale reduction
technique, to making scale models; gathering the commune topographic
data; making the commune scale model.
Activity 6 Preparation of Computer-Assisted Advertising Materials
the pupils made the fiers presenting the project on activities; they drew up
the commune monograph.
Activity 7 Lets Socialize through Sports! the football, boys
handball, girls handball, athletes and cheerleaders teams were made and
prepared for competitions.
The EFFECT Youth Club (established at the end of 2010)
Project Activities:
Activity 1 Mass Media in School
The activity proposed to prepare a media package offering activity-
related information to all the partners (pupils, parents, teaching personnel,
the local community, and others). The information was accompanied by
photographs or videos made by the school pupils.
The proposed mass-media package included: a website, a blog and
a forum, each of them playing its own role in the communication process
development.
The three proposed communication forms were created by the pupils
under the coordinating teachers guidance, for starters by resorting to the free
hosting services.
The school website and blog provide the interested persons with
information about the life within or outside the school and offer the possibility
of promoting the artistic and sports manifestations or some of the school
pupils hobbies. The discussion forum is a challenge both for the users, and
for the administrators as far as the communication is concerned.
We intended to put into practice an older idea related to the
communication with the pupils parents working abroad. They can contact
the school representatives, the form teachers or the Primary-school teachers
in order to fnd details regarding their childrens activity. The notifcation of
school-related confdential information will take place by means of personal
messages (PM) through the forum.
The secondary activities performed within the Mass-Media in School:
Promoting the project and informing the pupils regarding the
proposed activities by making an information poster;
Forming the editorial team out of 12 20 pupils in the 6
th
to 10
th

grade, giving priority to the pupils whose parents are away abroad;
Settling the working manner, the meeting frequency, the place/
date/time;
Launching a competition invitation for creating the school webpage
(design and web structure). The appointed winner will be a part of
the team responsible for the website graphics;
Establishing the format, the permanent columns and the
responsibilities regarding the permanent data up-dating;
Drawing-up a regulation regarding the materials to be posted in
every website and blog column;
Collecting information, taking photographs and making videos
with a view to having them edited and published on the school blog
and website, for inaugurating it;
having monthly meetings with the editorial team in order to up-
date the information.
The expected results were:
creating a group of pupils with common extracurricular interests;
developing the team work ability;
encouraging taking responsibility for the published articles;
acquiring new knowledge and abilities regarding the creation of a
webpage;
developing the critical and aesthetic spirit.
166
167
Activity 2 On the Air Establishing a School Radio Station
This project appeared out of the need for permanently informing
the pupils. It aims at improving the life style, the health condition, the
relationships between the pupils, between the pupils and the teachers, as
well as for cultivating the taste for beauty and appreciating the true local and
national values.
The objective of this activity was to set up a school radio station, which
should be operational during the entire day.
The pupils, supported and coordinated by the project team, took care of
obtaining the means and tools for making this dream come true, collaborated
in putting together the radio programme, contributed to accomplishing
everything a radio station establishment and management entails.
Such an activity has no precedent in the school and setting up such
a radio station is necessary given the pupils lack of information, the fact
that some of them are unable to make the difference between value and
non-value, that some of them are incapable to socialize, the education-
hostile environment that many of the school pupils originate from, as well
as the lack of information felt within the community. The idea was also that
this radio station would lead to improving the standard of living and the
communication amongst the pupils and not only, to improving the pupil-
teacher and the pupil-pupil communication, as well as to getting the pupils
used to the modern technology.
The editing personnel includes:
5 teams of 6 pupils each (30 pupils) who will be in charge of
collecting and of the state of the material to be broadcasted on a
daily basis;
25 collaborators among the pupils;
6 teachers and Primary-school teachers;
volunteers who wish to practice their communication skills and
who are always ready to replace one of the editing group members
(when that member is not in the locality).
Following the project implementation, the pupils can beneft of
a permanent information source, of the broadcasting of some of their
colleagues positive attempts, of getting into contact with important persons
in the journalism feld, of working with modern technology, of orienting
themselves to the true values and rejecting the non-value.
The main secondary activities are: organizing the editorial team;
training the team; procuring the equipment; elaborating the programme
schedule; launching the school radio station;
The expected results were:
developing the involved pupils communication skills and their
ability to socialize, by working in teams and interacting with
community members (when they go on the feld to gather news
materials);
having the main institutions in the rural community to open and
communicate, obtaining their collaboration and involvement in
solving certain social problems;
permanently informing the pupils;
making publicity in the media to local projects or small initiatives;
rediscovering the local and national folklore;
improving the health condition and preventing incidents from
happening by informing the pupils regarding a correct diet, the
seasonal diseases, the contagious diseases and their channels of
infection, the naturist treatments;
permanently informing the pupils regarding their colleagues school
successes, news/changes in the Romanian educational system;
raising interest to the problems of certain families in diffculty;
creating a constant source of information, media publicity and
music for the breaks during the school day programme;
improving the communication between the pupils and the
management;
developing a musical knowledge.
Activity 3 Video Animation Promotion
This activity aims at introducing the pupils to the video animation
feld. By making the video animation flms, they can promote the school in
an agreeable, attractive and special way. The pupils learn what the stages in
making the animation, selecting the image, correlating the image with the
conveyed message. By using this method we stimulate every attending pupils
imagination and creativity, the improvement of communicating through
images, the pupils getting used to new working techniques.
The Video Animation Team consists of 12 pupils: 6 in the 8
th
grade, 4
in the 7
th
grade, 2 in the 5
th
grade.
The secondary activities are: raising the project's popularity by means
of the animated flm; setting up the team and procuring the equipment;
learning the basic animation-related notions and techniques; making the
animation flms for the school blog; organizing a competition for the best
video animation flm; presenting the project by means of the video animation.
168
169
6.2.2. Assessing the Local Project Impact
The Marginea commune is located in the northern area of Suceava
County and it consists of only one village. upon the 2002 census, the
commune population amounted to 9,511 people, almost entirely Romanian
ethnics. To date, according to the data from the Mayors Offce, there are
11,000 inhabitants living there.
The occupational activity range in Marginea includes, besides
agriculture and construction work, the wood processing and furniture-
making, given the fact that factories with this scope of business operate in the
area. however, even under these conditions, the employment opportunities
remain limited, a common situation in the rural area. Consequently, the lack
of jobs is the main problem for the Marginea inhabitants. Nevertheless, they
do not perceive the standard of living as being a serious problem, partly, also
as a result of the work abroad, which settles the poverty problem, but which
creates others. Therefore, the labour migration abroad is quite an important
problem in the inhabitants eyes. The absence of the parents who went abroad,
compensated however by the presence of other relatives (grandparents, etc.)
is considered to be a problem to a lesser extent. The inhabitants consider that
these children can beneft of higher fnancial advantages compared to other
children, which explains why they fail to take radical stands when asked to
state whether child neglect is a problem in the community.
Table 7 - Marginea Community Problems from the community point of view
Lack of jobs and employment opportunities in the locality or in the area 46
Peoples migration abroad in search for work 42
Public infrastructure: lighting, sewage, water supply, etc. 32
Neglecting the children left at home 28
Limited possibilities for the children to spend their spare time 25
School abandonment among children 14
Domestic violence, family problems 11
Transport (including the one for children to/from school) 11
Medical services 9
Thefts, crime 8
Note: answer frequency obtained by cumulating the answers such as it is a serious problem / it is a
very serious problem
The infrastructure is a problem for the Marginea inhabitants when
they speak about the sewage, this being also a matter for the school, because
of the lack of appropriate sanitary toilet blocks. The thefts and crime are not
a problem in the locality, and conficts between people, when they occur, take
place amongst young people, in meetings. The access to medical services is
considered as not being problematic, just like the transport in the locality.
The childrens problems in the commune are generally related to the
material aspects: the lack of a playground, of a bigger park which should also
be ftted with equipment for children (in the commune centre there is a park,
next to the Mayors Offce, but it is of small size).
Table 8 - Marginea Childrens Problems from the community point of view*
Lack of areas for spending the spare time, parks, locations, sports grounds, etc. 23
Lack of parental supervision/education 9
Lack of high-quality school education 4
Lack of school material conditions 2
Lack of means of transport 2
Lack of family material conditions 2
*spontaneous answers to open questions, subsequently recoded on these categories
The tourism development is mentioned as a general solution for the
community problems. The high tourist potential is perceived as creating new
jobs, thus playing an important role in the local long-term development, and
consequently no longer determining the labour force migration to Italy or Spain.
School
There are three school units operating on the commune territory,
amongst which, the one subject to the project, is the largest, counting 862
pupils from the 1
st
to the 10
th
grade (out of which, approximately 600 attending
the Primary and secondary school), 15 Primary-school teachers, 28 teachers
and 7 masters.
The school buildings have recently been rehabilitated and central
heating was introduced. The school sanitary toilet blocks are, however, in
a precarious condition and they are located outside the central building.
Furthermore, their hygiene state is problematic, because there is no running
water for maintaining them. This is one of the school problems the entire
teaching personnel we discussed with mentioned in order to assess the Soros
Foundation programme.
170
171
Migration Abroad
The migration phenomenon is quite developed in Marginea, and the
commune Mayors Offce estimates that approximately 3,000 people have left
to work abroad starting in 1998 1999. The main destination is Italia, the
Marginea inhabitants focusing especially on the Turin area.
The Mayors Offce estimates that the number of people going abroad
tends to decrease. Compared to the previous years, the people are now
returning home. As time goes by, less people leave. That is, they return
and remain here, others look for all sorts of jobs or start companies in the
commune or others simply have nothing else to do, they no longer have
jobs. (Mayor). On the other hand, the age when they leave is lower and lower.
The young people leave at earlier and earlier ages, having the support of the
family and relatives working in Italy. Mostly the young people turning 18,
here, have their passport delivered, and leave Yes, most of the one who
leave are young, under 40 years of age. Well, the employers abroad will
not hire you, either, if you are a certain age, no, sir. No, you are not making
them profts.
Although they admit that many of them are away, the inhabitants do
not see the migration phenomenon as affecting their community or lives.
The remarks are rather positive, focused on underlining the material benefts
involved. As regards the children left at home, their opinions are rather
divided. The ones not having children think that the children neglect is not a
problem, since they are left in the grandparents care. The respondents having
children however think that the grandparents cannot replace the parents
presence and that their neglect might be quite a serious problem.
The school and grandparents partly substitute the parents who went
abroad in their role, the teachers and the Primary-school teachers sometimes
facing confict situations or role overlapping (the educational role, and the
role of confdent and moral support). The teachers, during the homeroom, do
such classes in order to get close to the children, to discover which are their
complaints and pains. We found out from their stories that what hurts them
is their parents absence from home. This regards especially the little girls. I
was delivering a class, and a girl pupils telephone rang - the telephones are
not allowed. She asked me: Please let me speak; its my mother, I havent
spoken to her in a long time, I havent seen her in 10 years. She returned
and then I talked to her (School headmistress).
The Impact of the Local Project performed within the
School and Community Programme
The perception of the ones involved in the project regarding the
project visibility is that the entire community knows it. As an argument, they
mention the television promotion or transmission through informal channels,
from children to parents, to grandparents, to neighbours, etc.
It is impossible for the people not to know about the project.
Impossible! Because all our activity was successively broadcasted
on the local channel. (Primary-school teacher)
The ones who helped us were the cable television station, who
broadcasted during several hours the fnal action. Unfortunately,
other than that, regarding the work we did along the way, they did
not really have access to information in order to know what we were
doing, other than through the children who told their colleagues
and families what they were doing (Primary-school teacher)
There is, however, a discrepancy regarding the project visibility in
the community, between the data collected through the interviews, from
the project participants or collaborators, and the data gathered through
the questionnaires from the community members, in general. Thus, the
investigation data suggest there is an extremely low project awareness at the
wider community level. The respondents who knew about the project purpose
and the activities therein were either the children involved in the project, or
their parents or teaching personnel in the involved school or in other schools
in the commune. Out of 100 applied questionnaires, in only 16 cases, the
respondents held information about the project and were able to assess it.
The 16 respondents who were aware of the project made positive
remarks regarding all the project activities.
Table 9 - Project Activities Assessment (average, on a scale from 1 to 5)
Average Number of Respondents
Marginea in Miniature: scale model of the Marginea
commune, collages with materials from nature
4.44 16
Commune Monograph - Marginea without Borders 4.38 16
Sports competitions - Lets Socialize through Sports! 4.33 15
Commune mini-museum (history, local customs and
traditions)
4.31 16
The living environment of the Marginea commune
(activities related to weather, geography, botany, ecology)
3.93 15
172
173
In the interviews, as well, the remarks regarding the project are
limited to general and positive evaluations, marked by the desire to repeat
such projects and programmes in the future. The specifc evaluation, on
each activity, was diffcult to perform. As a result of the fact that the project
was divided in several activities, the knowledge regarding them was limited
exclusively to the ones involved. Most of the participants could not answer
when they were asked what their colleagues did in other activities.
The Soros project does not seem to have faced relational or institutional
obstacles, but rather material diffculties. In general, the indicated problems
are of fnancial nature: not enough resources for some activities. The fnancial
problem management was effective and it was based on the collaboration
between the institutional players involved in the project, mainly the Mayors
Offce and the responsible school. There does not seem to have been problems
related to the lack of involvement or reluctance in participating in it.
The School Headmistress collaborated with us and always told
us what the problems were, for instance, they faced transport or
accommodation problems. We succeeded in collaborating and
settling these problems without third party interventions and
without having the families or the children spend their own money
for this. So, we got involved, they were settled between the school,
the Mayors Offce and the other players involved in the project.
(Mayor)
A specifc problem raised by several interviewees was the impossibility
to fnd premises for developing the project activities, other that the school
after the classes.
It was quite diffcult to do dancing classes in the class room,
because the place is not large. But they are factors that we could
not change. We stumbled on things that were not in the school
managements hands either. In the end, we were happy we had a
location for the rehearsals. When you are involved, you strive to
do everything as well as you can. (parent)
As obstacles are concerned, small obstacles, there were still the
ones related to the space. You see, we work in two shifts, I think the
activity would have been a little bit different if we had the space
available, if we did not have to gather the materials and store
them. That was an obstacle, at least in my case and, I think, for
the other colleagues, as well. The fact that we did not have a room
available allowing us to perform two-three activities at the same
time. (School headmistress)
Because of the fact that all the activities were performed within the
school, this may have not contributed, at community level, to exclusively
associating the school to the project, the perception regarding the involvement
of other players, be they external (the Soros Foundation) and internal to the
community (the Mayors Offce), being low.
Within the quantitative research, the 16 respondents who were aware
of the project make positive remarks regarding the partners involvement in
the project, the best assessments being directed to the school (both teachers,
and school management) and the pupils, namely the two parts directly
involved in the concrete activities. The people in the commune, in general,
and the medical practice received rather negative appreciations regarding
their involvement.
Table 10 Appreciation of the Partners Involvement in the Project
(average on a scale from 1 to 5)
The teachers 4.73 15
The school management 4.6 15
The pupils 4.25 16
Local Entrepreneurs 3.85 13
Local authorities 3.5 14
Families 3.2 15
People in the commune, in general 2.8 15
The medical practice 1.75 12
According to the data in the questionnaires, we can assess that the
project impact was signifcant, especially on the children and on the teachers,
and less on the families or on the community, in general. Actually, as the
interviews also revealed, the project did not cause signifcant changes in the
community, in general.
Table 11 - Appreciation of the Project Impact (average on a scale from 1 to 5)
Media Number of Respondents
On the benefciary children 4.31 16
On the teachers and school 4.62 16
On the families 3.47 15
On the community, in general 3.31 16
174
175
At the main benefciary level, the teachers and children, the following
were mentioned amongst the most important project benefts:
stimulating the children, motivating them to get involved in the
extracurricular activities;
integrating the children in a collective and supporting a working
environment based on team work: They changed the children a
little, their way of thinking, they way of behaving. It increased
their level of confdence, initiative, organizational spirit, the group
communication, because this was not a project for one or two
people, so they had to get in harmony, to know how to discuss,
to participate in the group, in the collective, they all made a
whole. It is something additional compared to the school. Here,
they learn to work in a collective, in school they work for grades
and individually, but in here the task was collective and a unitary
whole (parent);
creating a closer relation between the teacher personnel and the
children: and what I think is important, and what has happened
for two years is that we grew closer to them, or they grew closer to
us. So the pupil sees the teacher from the perspective of the person
above. Here, we worked with them, we painted each other, and we
even went to camp with them. (School headmistress);
creating a stronger bond between the families, children and
school representatives or the school, as an institution: So, both
the parents, and the children were very receptive and willing
to enter this project and perform the activities, namely to learn
something. And a relationship was established between the school
management and the families. The parents came and saw that
the children, besides the school classes have other interests also
and want to learn something, they said Yes! That fgures! We are
glad!, they let them attend, and no, they no longer checked on
them because they knew the children would stay in school, they
would be supervised and they would perform activities benefcial
both for them and for their families. (Mayor)
The critical speech, focused on improving the project or on highlighting
the weak points is less present, because most of the interviewees mentioned
the advantages. I do not think there were weak points; there are only
very strong points. Because the ones who worked on the implementation
guidelines for this project knew what they were doing, they were experts,
there are no leaks Its perfect! If it goes on like this, it will have even better
results in the future. (Mayor). The reasons for such a speech are probably,
either the fear of an eventual criticism, which might entail stopping the
project or future projects, or the impossibility of grading the assessment as a
result of not knowing the project activities in depth.
If the impact on the children and on their relationship with the
teachers was estimated as being an important and positive one, the effects on
the community are less visible. Although they acknowledge the involvement
of certain community members in some activities, this project is seen as
having caused no changes at the community level.
Needs and Perspectives regarding continuing the Project
Everybody wishes the project continued. There is the need to have
more children involved than it was possible within the pilot project; there is
the wish to organize camps that are more educational for the children, the
role of such camps being very strong in developing the childrens abilities.
A relatively common direction mentioned by the interviewees for future
projects is focusing on the traditional specifcity of the community Marginea,
the need to fully keep activities, such as, pottery processing or folk dances.
There is no focus on the personal responsibility in initiating a future
project, the tendency being rather that of formulating expectations towards
external players. I shall do whatever I am asked to do, whatever I am
suggested to do, I shall provide all the support (school librarian). Only the
people having wider responsibilities within the Soros Foundation project
noticed the importance of continuing such activities upon their own initiative
(the Romanian Teacher, for instance).
There is, however, the availability to act, but it stops at projective
level: if the members are requested to do something, they will do it. The
initiative is rather missing. When they are however asked what they would
do in the future, few of them can provide a concrete, elaborated answer. For
sustainability, it is important to develop initiatives in the project planning
and management.
6.3. Prejmer
Short and tiny, like a fea, Irina, my desk-mate, is the role model
that I want to follow. With brown eyes and chestnut-like hair, she wears
simple cheap clothes, because of the hardships. Her parents are separated.
Her mother is away, abroad, and her father leaves to be desired. She lives
176
177
with her grandparents and with two younger brothers, because the father
remarried. He lives only a few houses away. He passes by her house gate
every day, but drunk. Irina suffers very much seeing him in this state ().
All these problems should make Irina abandon school, as it happens with
many children in going through the same situation, but it is not like that. On
the contrary! She is the best in our class. She has very high grades. The little
money she receives from her grandmother who is very old and very sick,
with cancer, she gives to an orphanage. Even if the amount is not very high,
she knows that it will bring joy to the children receiving it. In the evening,
when she arrives home from school, before starting her homework, she must
cook dinner and bathe her brothers. Every day is a new battle for Irina. No
matter how hard it is for her and no matter how many problems she has,
she never shows her sadness to the colleagues. She is always smiling We
have much to learn from her. First of all, that we must treasure our parents.
That is why Irina is the role model I want to follow. (article published in
The School Family - Literary Magazine of the Prejmer Secondary School,
January 2009).
6.3.1. Description of the Local Project
The purpose of the local project is to offer and coordinate extracurricular
activities aiming at valuing the spare time of the pupils affected by the
migration phenomenon and by the precarious fnancial situation, being
designed to develop communication, group integration and artistic skills.
School and Community (2008 2010)
The Prejmer Secondary-School has been involved in the School
and Community program ever since 2008. This project aimed at providing
extracurricular activities designed to fll the spare time of the children faced
with diffcult family situations, especially of the ones whose parents are away
abroad and of the ones in single-parent families. In 2008, there were 23
pupils in risk situation in the 5
th
to 8
th
grades and they were all involved in
the activities included in the project. In the frst year of fnancing by the Soros
Foundation Romania, the activities were numerous, including:
creating the theatre team Shakespeares Disciples;
re-launching the school literary magazine;
sports competitions;
parents meetings under the motto: The Parents School;
a week of tolerance, given the fact that 25% amongst the school
pupils are Rroma;
setting up a crafts team, which manages very well in making the
costumes required for the theatre plays.
The involved pupils were motivated to participate in numbers as
large as possible in all the competitions, through good media publicity to the
project within the school. Even the less active ones were involved in building
the decors for the theatre plays, in editing the magazine pages, in judging the
sports competitions, in preparing the disseminations in the school.
For the Shakespeares Disciples theatre team, the authors creations
were a true challenge for the coordinating teacher and for the pupils willing
to assert themselves on stage. Preconceptions regarding the diffculty of
staging such an author and the lack of knowledge regarding his work had
to be overcome. So, in order to catch the pupils interest on the beauty of an
immortal playwright, they were invited to try to recite the verses of Macbeth
on a current melody of the Parazitii band. The result was loved in the school
on halloween, in a neighbouring commune, on the occasion of Pancake
Festival, called Fasching, and by a group of uk teachers who succeeded to
build a rapport with the pupils thanks to this project.
The Fasching, the festival mentioned above, provided, every February,
an opportunity to present the work of the crafts workshop, the pupils wearing
costumes being always asked by the people attending it to allow them to
take pictures of them, for the theatre teams, to go on stage and use their
emotions constructively. Besides the team playing Shakespeare, the school
has another theatre team playing sketches by the Romanian author Ion Luca
Caragiale. The pupils, who went on stage, proved to be more confdent during
the presentations in class, grew closed to the culture, especially after having
seen the theatre show D-ale carnavalului in Brasov. Subsequently to this
visit to the theatre, included in the second part of the project with the Soros
Foundation, the following was noticed:
a greater interest for making costumes faithfully to the description
in the plays;
giving up on the introvert spirit;
better communication with the school psychologist, amongst the
colleagues, with the teachers;
a better team spirit;
higher grades in the technological education classes and in the
study subjects requiring oral presentations.
It was noticed, by means of the psychologist, that the pupils facing
risk situations of school abandonment were introvert or were full of energy,
178
179
which placed them in the top impish pupils in the school. Through the project
activities, these pupils succeeded to know themselves better and to admit, frst
of all, that they need their parents. We tried and we continue, through this
approach, to offer them a School Family (name of the literary magazine), to
determine them to express themselves artistically on stage or in the clothing
design workshop.
Since these three activities involved, at a higher level, the pupils in the
target group, they were also kept for the second part of the project, which took
the shape of the Prejmer Junior Club. Now, there are only 14 pupils whose
parents are away or coming from single-parent families, the number being
lower because of the families migrating with the children. The parents realized
the children need them in their lives, so most of them also took the children
with them. The ones who are still in risk situations live with close relatives
and have quite good fnancial situations, and they only face diffculties at
emotional level and regarding the motivation to learn. With the pupils who
took over from the older ones, we succeeded in creating a Facebook account
and a club blog for presenting the project activities.
The greatest impact for the ones involved in the project was created
by the trainings for the involved teachers and the camps for the pupils, events
leading to new friendships and to a better communication between the pupils
in the schools involved in the project. The directly involved parents and
community members particularly appreciated these things. In the future, one
of the objectives will be that of creating better media publicity for the project
activities, but also involving more commune inhabitants.
The School and Community local project included a series of
activities such as The Parents School, The Week of Tolerance, Lets do
theatre!, with the secondary activities: drawing club, sports competition,
week of tolerance, winter holidays mirage, literature club, theatre club,
reproducing Shakespeares costumes. It addressed the children whose parents
are away abroad and those having a precarious material situation. 50 pupils
benefted of it directly, and over 200 indirectly. Following the performance
of the activities and of the secondary activities, the involved group of pupils
developed team work abilities, a higher degree of tolerance; it showed higher
interest regarding the school and promoted the activities and results amongst
the community members. As regards the relationship with the community, it
improved through the participation of a signifcant number of its members
in the performed activities. The latter showed the need of continuing such
a project bringing to the foreground the close communication between the
school and the community.
All the activities within the club also aim at developing the
entrepreneurial spirit, providing opportunities for self-fnancing future
projects.
6.3.2. Assessing the Impact of the Local Project
According to the Population and housing Census in 2002, the Prejmer
commune counts 8,316 inhabitants, the locality size having being apparently
increasing in the last years: on January 1, 2010, according to the INS
DJS Brasov (National Institute of Statistics - County Statistic Department
of Brasov), the commune counted 9,237 inhabitants, being ethnically
heterogeneous, besides the Romanian majority population, there being also
Rroma, hungarian and German ethnics. The people work in the industry,
agriculture and other activity sectors (public services, education, health care,
transport, trade, etc.), but a vast majority of them are unemployed (according
to data from the Mayors Offce, these amount to 1,200, approximately a
quarter of the commune active population).
At the common sense level, the standard of living is average to
low, although the people show a sense of pride preventing them from fully
admitting this: There was a chair, furniture making factory here Its
gone. There was Postavul, there was the collective, there was the IAS, the
salami factory, cheese factory; we had everything there, in this commune,
trout, milk and honey (parent).
At subjective level, the most serious problems the Prejmer community
is facing are related to the lack of employment opportunities, the insuffcient
infrastructure and the low standard of living. The recreational possibilities for
the children are also estimated as leaving to be desired. The labour migration
abroad is not such a serious problem.
Table 12 - Prejmer Community Problems in the Eyes of the Community Members
Thefts, crime 14
180
181
Medical services 6
Note: answer frequency obtained by cumulating the answers such as it is a serious problem / it is a
very serious problem
The children in Prejmer do not seem to be facing a diffcult situation,
the main problem being the lack of recreational opportunities. The families
poverty was also listed as a problem, but to a lesser extent. The other lacks
or diffculties are more seldom mentioned and we can estimate they are not,
actually, problems at the community level.
Table 13 - Prejmer Childrens Problems in the Eyes of the Community Members*
*spontaneous answers to open questions, subsequently recoded on these categories
The School
It is very appreciated and positively perceived at the level of the entire
community: It is a value-producing school. Our children were admitted
in the best high-schools in the county and they subsequently had high
performances. (school psychologist);
A mention was however made regarding a tendency of school
abandonment or school nonattendance, especially amongst the Roma
representatives. The early marriage and pregnancy, as the girls are concerned,
and the work (mostly in agricultural activities), as the boys are concerned, are
the main reasons leading to the school failure.
It is the roma ethnics who have problems as regards the
attendance, learning and attitude towards school - approximately
25% as school total population. The biggest discipline problems
come from the Roma pupils (teacher Deputy headmaster during
the project implementation);
There is a school abandonment risk, especially amongst the Roma
population. The girls start getting married somewhere around
the 7
th
grade and even if they are not legally married, they leave
home and regarding the boys, there are cases in which, when
the parents work, they send the children, especially in autumn, to
farm the land. There are periods, such as the month of October,
when they do not come to school, but they start showing up from
November. The allowance granting was a very good thing. In
the case of allowance granting, when the allowance was granted
through the school, we succeeded to have them come to school.
(school headmaster).
The school is usually a source of confict between the Roma and the
Romanians. Many parents would rather send the children to the secondary-
school in Lunca Calnicului, another village which is a part of the Prejmer
commune, because there are no Roma at all.
The Romanian children do not accept the Rroma; this is very
openly done. The children do not know how to hide. (school
mediator);
The school loses because many parents, many Romanian families
send the children to other schools in Brasov. (teacher).
The school in Prejmer is an institution which is weakly connected to
the community life. Its connections with the local authorities and with the
families rather leave much to desire. The local authorities involvement is
limited to providing certain material things to the school or to discounting the
transport without collaborating, as well, in other directions with educational
implications.
The Mayors Offce is aware of all our projects, but they say: the
Headmaster knows what he has to do in the school, we do not interfere. It
materially supported us and we now have the current conditions, and this is
extraordinary. But when a project was concerned, when asking for money,
besides the fnancing, they would not even hear about it; they told us: well,
we pay for the utilities, we discount the commuting fees, which does not
happen in other schools; we have a little budget. (teacher).
The relationship with the family is practically nonexistent, a proof of
that being also the failure of the Parents School, one of the components of
the local project initiated within the Soros Foundation program:
Initially, we invited all the parents of the children in the secondary-
school. Only 6 parents honored this invitation out of approximately
182
183
200 invited. Subsequently, we had we performed this activity
once a month, but with 3 parents who showed their interest in
participating during the entire project. (school psychologist);
The parents school was not successful. This is a weak point of the
project, which was not achieved. Upon the frst meeting fve or six
of them came. Upon the second meeting, there were two, three,
and in the end no one came anymore. (school headmaster).
The parents seem to leave everything in the schools care, and the
children confrm this by saying they do their homework alone, they take care
of themselves alone (some were even saying they were cooking or looking after
siblings, although the parents were not gone anywhere). There are exceptions,
usually amongst the housewives and mothers, but not only, and they are, in
theory, the parents of those with good and very good results. Neither the
parents, nor the children perceive the two institutions (the school and the
family) as being connected to the reality, nor can they defne the relationship
which should exist between them. The parents answers stop at the formal,
social desirable level: The family should stick together (parent,); So, what
really matters frst and foremost is a childs home education. (parent).
Education is especially valued for the material benefts it provides.
Most of the children want to go to college, some of them, even want to attend
a masters degree program (although some of them do not even know what
a masters degree program is) to become someone, this meaning a Ron
2,000 pay check. On the other hand, the parents have divided opinions:
some support as much as they can the school, at least, 12 classes, but they
would prefer higher education ((my child) cannot have a job if he/she does
not have a bachelors degree; he/she must go to college. (parent)), while
others say that the 10 grades are enough, considering that there is a need
for the agricultural works or vocational schools, where he/she would learn to
do practical things helping him/her even to support himself/herself: In my
opinion, in these times, everybody wants to have a bachelors degree, to be
a Conference PhD, to be a psychologist, to be a doctor, to be but I must
they must think that there is still need for a common worker, as well, for a
tractor driver, for a carpenter; everyone wishes to have a bachelors and
masters degree, and after so much school, no jobs how may school years,
but why are they useful? (parent).
The perfect school for the children is an easier one, with fewer
subjects and with not so demanding teachers. For the parents, the perfect
school should include a powerful applied component: May the school should
be combined with practical knowledge, activities. (parent) and complain
about the high quantity of information existing into the current educational
system. The parents estimate that the teachers authority is in decline now, by
considering it to be a important problem for the lack of the children interest
for the school.
Migration Abroad
As regards the migration, it is diffcult to mention the number of
children left behind at home without their parents, this varying from 18
to 100, according to the interviewed authorities estimations. Most of the
ones investigated state, however, that the phenomenon is declining, on
the economic downturn background, which also affected the destination
countries, which no longer have the same work opportunities.
As indicated hereinabove, the migration is not considered to be
such a serious problem in the community and, even less so, the neglecting
of the children left at home. From the taken interviews, it results however
that the families with or more members who went away have problems
with the children, but rather emotional ones. Furthermore, it seems there
are also problems at the level of the authority structure in the family, and
the grandparents or the parent left alone have/has diffculties in imposing
themselves in front of the children. Thus, the children become disobedient,
harder to control: they, sort of, join the maquis, once their parents leave,
and the grandparents have a hard time keeping a tight rein over them
(teacher).
The impact of the local project performed within the School
and Community Program
Only the people directly involved know the project. Other than that,
neither the parents, nor the pupils, not even other teachers in the school know
anything about the existence of a project developed by the Soros Foundation
in the community. In reality, any of the project activities are known, but they
are exclusively associated to the school. The Soros Foundation is in no way
present at the public opinion level. The problem is all the more serious, as
no awareness is raised regarding it. A part of the involved persons, especially
amongst the authorities, consider that the project is well known and enough
popularized, maybe, also out of precaution, out of fear of its continuation
being stopped.
184
185
Well, in the community, at least, taking into account what we
did within the activities, the project is well-known, because we
created publicity in the media, we popularized The fact that we
performed the activities within the commune perimeter already
makes the project known. The fact that we also benefted of
popularization activities, again. (teacher Deputy headmaster
during the project implementation)
On the other hand, it is acknowledged that few parents are truly
interested in the project, under the conditions that the current problems are
pressing.
The School and Community project aimed, frst of all, at the
children and families having a delicate fnancial and material
situation. When they have nothing to eat, they are very little
interested. They say: Yes, its ok, its excellent there is a project; my
child is there, he is good, but he has other concerns. If I ask him/
her more about the project, he/she will no longer be able to tell me
a great deal of things. (teacher Deputy headmaster during the
project implementation).
The discussions with the parents revealed that, they were actually
aware of some of the project activities, but they did not know anything about
the involvement of other entities outside the school: everything happening
at the school is organized by the school, under the umbrella of the school.
The main players involved in the project are the Mayors Offce and the
parents and, to a lesser extent, the Day Centre. The involvement of the school,
of the children who entered the game and of the foundation is perceived
favorably:
To be honest, I should have wanted the Mayors Offce
representatives to involve more. We, towards the project end,
even went, together with Denisa, and proposed a follow-up of this
project. That was precisely in March, when the budgets for the
current year were prepared. And they told us they would think
about it, but let us not get hopes up, because this cannot be done.
(school psychologist);
The foundation gave very much. They have always treated us
that way, very well, in trainings, as well as in the places we also
went to with the children, so it was excellent. As far as we are
concerned, the parents could have given more (teacher).
As regards the success of the activities, if we leave the Parents School,
the others are very highly appreciated:
A colleague edited the school magazine within this project and
involved the children who thought would never take part in
anything like that. Then, there were the activities performed by the
colleague who did theatre, where she also drew the children with
artistic abilities and who maybe were not always inclined towards
going to school, but since they were caught in such activities, they
came. (school headmaster);
Children like to play theatre, to express their feelings in a certain
way. And that is why they got very much involved. That was a
way for them to assert themselves and to show that they can do
something else, as well, and that they can do that well. (school
psychologist);
The sports activities were successful because they also provide the
children with the possibility to value their energy and competitive
spirit, teaching them how to interact. At the same time, the theatre
team, also, offered them the possibility to express themselves.
They participated and they were interested. (teacher Deputy
headmaster during the project implementation);
We saw that they liked the week of tolerance. There were very
many of them, from several classes involved and they were very
active. On the occasion of the winter holidays mirage, almost all
the grades had something to do [] in sports, they all focked
together, they loved it there. (teacher).
The general impact on the community is rather limited. There were no
negative effects; nor were there signifcant changes noticed in the community.
The benefts are however numerous for the children.
It brought together some of them, it made them be more open to
each other (school psychologist);
It teaches them to relate better in school, in the commune. It
teaches them to manifest and express themselves, and I say that
is a success. (teacher Deputy headmaster during the project
implementation);
It can thus be very clearly seen: those who were in the project are
more united, those who were in the camp with a teacher already
perceive that teacher differently. Or they worked with him/her,
after classes, there is no longer that reluctance (teacher);
New experiences for the children. Socializing. (parent).
186
187
There are, apparently, cases where the project involvement contributed
to solving specifc problems related to the private life area: a girl who, as a
result of the project, communicates better with her mother (who attended
the Parents School), a boy who is now attending school, although he had a
school abandonment risk, as a result of getting involved in the theatre activity,
combining theatre with his favorite music, Parazitii.
Moreover, mention is made that a major project advantage at the
family level is precisely supervising the children, the parents stating that
they are happy knowing their children are no longer in the street, but rather
trained in educational activities.
As regards the teachers, the project brought important benefts to
their on-going training, but also to their personal development.
Yes, for me, personally, it was an additional point, a white ball to
my annual assessment portfolio. (teacher Deputy headmaster
during the project implementation);
We promoted ourselves by means of this project. Given the
collaboration with the other two communities in the country,
we made a, lets call it, intercultural exchange, which was truly
benefcial, because the three trainings which were delivered took
place, one here, one in Marginea and the other one in Glimboca,
and that was a real advantage. And also reckon the last training,
the project management one, was a real advantage. (school
psychologist);
I remember there was a training course in Suceava, in
Marginea, when they had us characterize each other, and they
all characterized me as being very introvert, not talkative, that I
am, as they said, all to myself, and thats it. I then gave them the
possibility to see me differently, during this training and in during
the project. (teacher).
As regards the assessment of the results obtained to date, the opinions
are, also, positive:
Quite good. Because we got involved, the children got involved,
the school was promoted, just that we did not succeed to make the
community, the families, and the parents understand that their
role must be more active. (school psychologist);
The evolution was positive. I was skeptical at the beginning of
the project. [] afterwards, I saw, along the way, that the things
went well and that it was worth it. A proof of that is the fact that
we looked into continuing the collaboration. (teacher Deputy
headmaster during the project implementation).
The interviews and focus groups revealed that the projects strong
points might be: building the childrens self-esteem and confdence in their
own strength, training the teachers by means of the project management
training courses, experiencing team work, both in the case of children, and of
teachers or even of parents.
The projects weak points might be: the lack of information and
promotion at the community level, the lack of success of the Parents School
activity and, in general, the parents reduced involvement in the project, and
the little communication between the involved parties. The most important
defciency is the lack of project visibility at the community level. The ones
holding the information are mainly the directly involved people: the teachers
and children.
Needs and Perspectives regarding continuing the Project
The lack of spaces for spending the spare time is defnitely the main
problem the children in Prejmer are confronted with. The children have
no parks, sports felds or places to spend their leisure time, for instance,
a sweetshop. As already shown, the data in the questionnaires showed
that all the community members considered the leisure activities to be the
most serious problem for the children, at very large differences from other
problems.
All the persons subject to investigation consider it benefcial and even
necessary to continue the project. The suggestion was made to emphasize the
practical dimension that the children might have something to learn from
and to reduce the number of children involved in order to be able to work
in customized manner with each one of them individually. The suggestion
was also launched to provide the teachers participating in the project with
fnancial incentives. The school management also showed its interest in the
idea of setting up a radio station in the school.
6.4. Community problems and the assessment of projects of
the School and Community type
The lack of jobs is the main problem in the studied communities,
which actually led to the second problem, in the order of their importance -
the labour migration abroad.
188
189
As regards the children, their most widely encountered problem
consists of lack of leisure activity opportunities and of recreational spaces
and activities. The second problem is family-related: the lack of material
conditions required for their harmonious development.
The project overall assessments in all 3 localities where the project
was implemented are positive. As regards the attendance, the best evaluations
concern the directly involved parties: the teachers and the pupils. The local
authorities recorded high averages and the school management came in
second to them.
Table 14 - Assessment of the Partners Project Involvement (overall, in all 3
communities). Average on a scale from 1 to 5
Of the school management 4.22 94
Of the teachers 4.86 96
Of the pupils 4.71 97
Of the families 4.03 96
Of the local authorities 4.42 89
Of the community mediator 3.98 62
Of the medical practice 3.99 81
Of the local entrepreneurs 3.26 73
Of the people in the commune, in general 3.43 91
The project is considered to have had the greatest impact on the
teachers and school and on the benefciary children, the impact being lower
on the families or on the community, in general.
Table 15 - Assessment of the Project Impact (overall, in all 3 communities).
Average on a scale from 1 to 5
On the benefciary children 4.68 96
On the families 4.31 95
On the teachers and on the school 4.72 96
On the community, in general 4.14 90
According to the quantitative research, after having analyzed
the overall data, the project impact appreciations remain positive at the
community level, as well, although, as indicated, it is quite little known. The
positive assessments, at this level, also, indicate, at the same time, a desire to
continue the project and its sustainability within the community.
6.5. Conclusions
Project Awareness and Visibility in the Community
Within the 3 communities, the project per se is known rather by the
persons directly involved and less by the other community members. Both
190
191
the interviews and the data in the investigation suggest a rather low project
awareness level within the wider community.
however, the visibility level is different within each community.
In Glimboca, even if the project name per se is not known, the performed
activities had a high visibility level within the wider community, as well. In
Prejmer, the situation is completely contrary very few people out of the
asked ones had information about the activities within the project, and even
the local authorities had vague knowledge of it. In Marginea, the situation is
somewhat in the middle, since the project does not have a high visibility level
in the community, but it is well-known amongst the pupils, the teachers in the
participating school and the local authorities.
The lack of visibility is due to the association of project activities
with the school, with the cycle of common activities within the school. Thus,
there are two main factors which contributed to creating this opinion at the
community level:
The lack of project promotion per se, as a specifc initiative, different
from the current school activities and the lack of promotion of the
Soros Foundation as a fnancer of this project;
The activity performance within the school, in the school premises.
Appreciations on the Project
The appreciations regarding the project are limited to general and
positive assessments. The specifc evaluation, broken down on activities, was
diffcult even for the ones directly involved. Most of the participants could
not answer when they were asked what their colleagues did in other activities.
The critical speech, focused on the project improvement or on
highlighting the weak points, is less present, most of the interviewees pointing
out the advantages. The reasons for such a speech are probably, either the
fear that the critical analysis might lead to decreasing the opportunities for
future projects, or the impossibility of grading the assessment as a result of
not knowing the project activities in depth.
Aspects to improve
There are three problematic common elements identifed in all three
communities:
The parents low involvement in the project
If the teachers and the children were extremely enthusiastic about the
performed activities, the families participated less within them. There are,
of course, also parents (in Glimboca, for instance, the parents participation
was high) who participated actively therein, however, the overall family
connection was rather weak. It is worth reminding only the case of the Prejmer
community where, precisely, the Parents School activity was a failure.
Weak communication between the involved parties
The local authorities do not recognize many of the activities; the
personnel in the medical practice holds rather vague information about the
project, sometimes, even the attending teachers have vague knowledge about
the activities they were not responsible for.
Lack of awareness regarding the overall project
Considering the project implementation on distinct activities and the
scarce communication between the involved parties, the project reaches a
point where it is no longer perceived in its whole, it disappears as a unitary
initiative and it is perceived rather fragmented, by means of its composing
elements. This is an important factor explaining also the low knowledge and
visibility level within the community, in general. If the activities are known
and appreciated, too few people know that they are all a part of a wider, more
unitary project.
Encountered Obstacles
The project implementation seems not to have encountered
institutional obstacles, but rather material barriers. In general, the presented
problems are of fnancial nature:
insuffcient resources for certain activities;
lack of spaces for the performance of project activities, other than
the school after classes.
Project Impact
Although the general impact on the community is limited, the impact
was signifcant on the direct benefciaries, on the children and teachers.
The most important benefts for the children aimed at:
stimulating the children, motivating them to get involved in the
extracurricular activities;
integrating the children in a collective and developing the team
spirit and the team work experience;
building the childrens self-esteem and confdence in their own
strength;
developing the communication skills: making them to be more
open, to express more freely;
192
193
having a better relation with the teachers, and creating a closer and
deeper connection between the teaching personnel and the children;
increasing the interest in the school, in general (through the
extracurricular activities which stimulated their interest for
knowledge);
improving the relationship with the parents;
creating a stronger bond between the families, children and school
representatives or the school, as an institution:
supervising the children (a beneft especially emphasized by the
parents).
The most important benefts for the teachers were:
attending on-going training courses, acquiring project management
knowledge;
experience exchanges with other schools;
developing the team spirit and the team work spirit;
building a better connection with the pupils;
improving the relationship with the family, at least at the benefciary
children level.
Project Follow-up
In all the three communities, the need was highlighted to continue the
project, proposing several directions to take.
As regards the benefciaries, the proposal was made to involve more
children than it was possible within the pilot project.
As regards the project activities, the proposal was made, on the one
hand, to decrease their number, since it took too long to be able to work in
a customized manner with each child and, on the other hand, to continue
emphasizing the practical dimension and highlighting the traditional
specifcity of the community. As concrete activities, the following were
proposed: implementing an after-school system and developing counseling
services for the children, organizing several educational camps.
In order to increase the level of involvement, and for a better activity
development, the proposal was also made to fnancially motivate the teachers
participating in the project. however, the responsibility for taking the
initiative of a future project was placed in the exterior, the individuals being
willing to rather act at executive level, as a result of requests.
After analyzing the overall data, the positive and prevailingly non-
critical appreciation reveals an unanimous wish to continue the project and a
wide sustainability within the community.
Localities where a School and Community Type of
Programme was not implemented
6.6. Obreja
The Obreja Community and its Problems
The Obreja commune, located in the north-eastern part of
the Caras-Severin County, 9 km away from Caransebes, consists of
the villages of Obreja, Ciuta, Iaz and Var. In 2002, the number of
inhabitants amounted to 3,287.
The migration for work purposes is, according to the quantitative
data, the most important problem the Obreja community is confronted with,
but the children neglect is not considered as serious. Other serious problems
the inhabitants mentioned are related to the lack of jobs. The main problem
regards the salary reduction, and the lack of incomes and jobs. There are no
extraordinary problems (secretary in the Mayors Offce). There are also
problems concerning the children and the school: the reduced possibilities
for children to spend their spare time (the third frequency in a row), the low
education quality and the school abandonment.
Table 16 - Obreja Community Problems in the Eyes of the Community Members
Thefts, crime 27
Medical services 9
Note: answer frequencies obtained by cumulating the answers such as it is a serious problem / it is
a very serious problem
194
195
By corroborating the data in the questionnaires with the ones
obtained from the interviews, we can estimate that the childrens problems
are generally related to the familys: parents who left to work abroad, low
standard of living, parents lack of interest and involvement in their childrens
education leading to the childrens relatively low class attendance, to violence
and to the increased aggressiveness level in certain pupils.
Table 17 - Obreja Childrens Problems in the Eyes of the Community Members *
* spontaneous answers to open questions, subsequently recoded on these categories
The problem of the extracurricular and leisure activities was also
raised, on the background of a general lack of interest concerning the
education: Thank God, there is a library in the commune for them to
go borrow books and read there is a Community Centre where they can
perform all sorts of activities (secretary from the Mayors Offce).
Although not as wide spread, the minor labor seems to be another
problem, situations being mentioned when the children must perform
lucrative activities in order to supplement the family incomes: I have cases
where the pupils are bound to earn their living or, in other words, to make
their contribution to the family starting from the agricultural works or
by gathering scrap iron and trying to sell it in order to value it. (school
headmaster).
The school
The overall school assessment is a positive one, but the analysis of
isolated aspects tends to unveil problematic dimensions. All the interviewees
appreciated the quality of the learning conditions in the school. The school
is almost brand new (the mathematics teacher). Renovated three years
ago, it has its own heating plant, study laboratory on study subjects, quality
furniture.
There is rather a discontentment state of mind related to the pupils
performances and behavior. Thus, a new series of problems is signaled:
absenteeism, school abandonment, school failure, violence, lack of respect
towards the teaching personnel, low interest for study: Yes, there might be
problems such as the school abandonment there are several children who
abandoned school many of them beg and behavioral problems [occur]
because, in every class, there are two or even three children with behavioral
problems. (teacher).
Some of the parents consider the teaching personnels service
provision as being unsatisfactory, because they do not take constant,
systematic and consistent steps in involving the family in the childrens
education, they do not use appropriate measures to manage conficts between
pupils or for motivating them related to the school activities. Furthermore,
the discontentment that parts of the teaching personnel are not members of
the community Obreja, and they have no genuine interest in the commune,
and, particularly, in the children development was voiced, as well.
Other parents believe that the source of all the problems resides in
the torn apart families, with no material possibilities and with no school
preparation, granting no attention to their childrens education and nor
collaborating with the teaching personnel. Many of the teachers subscribe to
this point of view: The family relations with the school are rare and very
rare (teacher).
Another phenomenon signaled by several teaching personnel is
the lack of consistency at all the educational process elements: the school
curricula, textbooks and teaching personnel change aspects having
unwanted repercussions on the pupils. On the other hand, the teachers also
mention their strong points, individually and as a team: they are all qualifed,
having good collaboration relations, and holding up-dated information in the
felds where they operate. As weak or key points, mention was made of the
salary decreases, the lack of respect towards the teachers and the community
lack of involvement, highlighting the unsatisfying aspects of the family -
school partnership.
The children attending the focus are also unhappy with what happens
in school, (they dislike the activities and the teachers) and propose: to change
all the teachers (child, focus group), to have more democracy, (child,
focus group), more sports and cultural-artistic activities organized by the
school. Their opinions are not relevant for the entire pupil community, since
the children recommended for the group discussion by the teaching personnel
were, in their majority, recommended according to the problem child
criterion, a label that the parents have otherwise raised the problem about in
the group discussions. There is, apparently, the black list, a usual practice
196
197
of the teaching personnel to label certain children, according to inappropriate
behaviors or, even worse, according to the childrens material status, a practice
proven to be very effective in maintaining and strengthening the childrens
inappropriate and often destructive attitudes and manifestations.
Migration Abroad
The problems the families are confronted with are the lack of money and
jobs, the conficts, the divorce/separation, although they are not considered
to be very widespread in the community, yet. The family as a social institution
losing ground regarding its training-educational dimension: I feel such a
lack of communication between the parent and child there are even so
much more reasons: it is either the lack of time, or the working hours, others
state they no longer know how to help them, others out of superfciality
(Primary-school teacher). In their turn, the children seem to become aware,
as well, that there are problems in communicating with the family and they
wish they could spend more time together.
As concerns the migration phenomenon, in the absence of offcial
statistics, the estimations vary between very many families (doctor), so and
so There are people who went abroad, but not that many (secretary in
the Mayors Offce) up to rare cases (teacher).
As regards the tendency, the phenomenon evolution seems to be
downward. In the past year, the persons who went abroad for work have
started to return, and the traveling has become seasonal they leave for three
months at a time, in general, during summer. There are a few situations in
which the ones leaving choose to settle in the country where they work, and
take their family with them, as well.
As regards the main grounds for the migrating fow, mention was made
of: the low standard of living and the lack of job opportunities. In general, the
families in such situations succeed to manage pretty well after they choose to
work abroad and to materially support the other family members, staying at
home. Usually, the other family members receive money from the person
who went abroad. (teacher).
As regards the impact on the children remaining in the care of
their grandparents, of one of the parents or in the care of other relatives,
most of the teaching personnel consider that they develop inappropriate
compensatory behaviors, are more violent or shier and generally have lower
academic performances. The child neglect is however not a problem in the
Obreja inhabitants perception, as they consider the pupils in such situation
enjoy the full attention of the person in whose care they were left. They
do not look neglected to me. (doctor). As regards the support initiatives,
the general opinion is that there were no support program for this family
category, nor is it necessarily a priority, since there are social categories with
higher problems, such as the children in the disorganized families or at the
subsistence level limit.
Requirements and perspectives for the implementation of
a project
Although there is a general agreement on the necessity of programs of
intervention in the community, the identifed solutions remain in general, at
the level of it is good that something should be done. Both at the level of the
local authorities and at the community level, very few concrete solutions for
the settlement or improvement of the identifed problems were pointed out.
The members of the community investigated by means of the
quantitative research claim that the cultural and recreational opportunities
for the young people are missing. Among the most important needs of
children, the ones related to spending their spare time and non-academic
activities are mentioned.
Table 18 Childrens needs in the vision of the members of the community
Creation of locations for spare time spending 37
Providing the quality of education through the improvement of the non-academic
preparation /activity
18
Improvement of the education conditions in school 14
Solving of the social issues (poverty, parents leave etc.) 13
Education provided by the parents 3
Development of the infrastructure in the locality (pedestrian crossings, means of
transport)
2
Material support for the school 1
*spontaneous answers to the open question, subsequently recoded per these categories
Children indicated needs such as:
recreational locations;
cultural non-academic activities;
music hall;
sports court;
library (although there is a library, but it is little known).
198
199
Following the individual interviews and the focus groups with parents,
the following resulted as priorities:
the access to a library /a reading room (it is mentioned again,
although there is one in the commune, the simple promotion
thereof would solve a part of the young peoples needs);
development of a psychological counseling service;
development of sports activities, as well as the establishment of a
volley team;
providing security in the school.
The teachers also proposed a few of these: sports activities, security
within the school. Some of the solutions proposed by the teaching staff are
less appropriate and refect poor knowledge of the development potential and
level of the community. For example, more complex activities were proposed,
combining the teaching of a foreign language with voyages abroad, for the
motivation of the involvement of the children and of the community For
example, I would agree with the teaching of a foreign language during the
spare time, which would end up in a voyage to the respective country and
then the children would have a goal (teacher).
Other recommendations aim at the more general problems of the
community, with effect on the children through the impact upon their
families: attraction of investors, establishment of factories providing places
of employment for the members of the community.
As actors that should get involved in the generation of incomes or the
attraction of funds for the settlement of all these priorities, the following are
recommended at local level: the teaching staff, the community, the parents,
the Town-hall and the District Council at regional level.
The optimism and availability of getting involved do not represent
strengths of the members of Obreja community: There is much passivity
here in the commune every body is calm [ironic] (parent). Some of the
respondents think that there could be enthusiasm from the locals in case
actions were initiated, but it would be inconsistent, transient: What can I say,
at the beginning everybody is happy about the new activities but then they
get bored a short-term [program would be effcient] (Town-hall secretary).
The teachers, potential key actors in the case of the implementation
of a project, manifested reserve in stating their availability for non-academic
activities, on considerations related to the salary dissatisfactions: I think
there would be less involvement from the teaching staff, especially now in
times of crises and money scarcity (teacher).
Despite the general opinion regarding the lack of initiative and the
non-involvement of the community, there are also positive signals. In this
respect, we have identifed a project proposition for the elaboration of an
after-school program intended for the Roma children.
6.7. Hrman
The Community in Hrman and the problems thereof
The Commune of hrman has 5200 inhabitants, with a varied
ethnic structure: besides the majority made up of Romanians, there are
approximately 200 Roma persons and a small percentage of Transylvania
Saxons. The inhabitants preponderantly work in agriculture many have
opened small agricultural and zootechnical farms, in the industry there
are several factories in the commune (textile, shoe making ones) and in
services. Another signifcant economic resource is represented by tourism.
The fortress, which is administered by the Transylvania Saxons remained in
hrman has, however, no cultural function and it is not used in the childrens
educational activities.
The commune is described as being well-of, a satellite of Braov,
turning in time into a real residential area for the rich people many people
in Braov constructed villas in the locality.
The migration for work was identifed as a serious problem by numerous
respondents, being, following the quantitative research, the second problem
after the medical services. The neglect of the children who remained at home
was considered a problem only by approximately a quarter of the subjects.
The scarcity of places of employment, and poverty also represent problems
for the community in hrman, as well as for all the studies communities.
The problematic situation of the Roma people their need of living
spaces, non-seasonal jobs also resulted from the interviews.
Table 19 Problems of the community in Hrman in the vision of the members of the
Community
Medical services 46
Absence of jobs, of the employment opportunities in the locality or in the area 39
School abandon by children 36
Reduced possibility of spare time spending for children 34
200
201
Low quality of education 32
Neglect of the children left behind at home by their parents who went to work abroad
25
Transportation (including the one taking the children to school) 23
Thefts, criminality 22
Public infrastructure: lighting, sewerage, water etc. 18
Note: frequencies obtained by the accumulation of the answers of the type it is a serious problem /
it is a very serious problem
The children in hrman also seem to be faced with a problematic
situation, over a third of the interviewed subjects admitting that the school
abandon, the low quality of education and the reduced possibilities of spare
time spending for children represent serious and very serious problems for
the community.
Asked about what the childrens problems are, the spontaneous
answers of the people especially aimed at the absence of spare time spending
opportunities and non-academic activities.
Table 20 Problems of the children in Hrman in the vision of the members of the
community*
Absence of the spare time spending spaces, parks, locals, sport courts etc. 26
Absence of supervision /education from the parents 17
Absence of the high-quality school education 11
Absence of the non-academic activities 4
Absence of the means of transport 4
Absence of the material conditions from the family 4
Absence of the material conditions of the school 2
* spontaneous answers to the open question, subsequently recoded per these categories
School
The school in hrman has a new, recently renovated building by a
program of a bank, but few children. The wealthiest families sent their
children to the school in Braov, so that several classes have been dissolved.
Alternative programs are developed at present: School after school, for
the Roma children especially and the Second chance for the ones having
abandoned school.
The school in the locality is assessed by comparison with the schools in
the City of Braov, where the wealthiest people in hrmn take their children
to school. From the received answers, it has resulted that the preference
for the schools in Braov is generated by two main factors: the more varied
opportunities (for example, the ones related to the language) and the higher
quality of education.
We have chosen to go for the German language track, we couldnt
remain in Hrman having such a choice. (Town-hall secretary);
The children go to the city due to the lower quality of the school
education. (manager of a local ONG);
It is probable that the word has spread that the level is low over
the last years. There were also low results in the gymnasium
graduation examination and then the parents no longer had the
trust to leave their children here. (Town-hall secretary);
What I can say is that quite a few children go to Brasov. There are
fewer and fewer classes, the children are less and less numerous
and the majority of them are Roma children. My girl is in the 4
th

grade in Braov and the conditions she had here are not comparable
to the ones she has now in Braov. (Town-hall secretary).
As a consequence of the childrens registration with schools in Braov,
the number of students going to the school in the commune is low. Ever
since primary school, the majority opted for Braov. A single 1
st
grade class
remained here, but with few children (Town-hall secretary). The remaining
children are generally the ones from poorer families and from Roma families,
but with low school performances, which contributes as a vicious circle to the
continued erosion of the quality of the school.
Being very close to Braov, a very high number of children whose
parents are well-of go to Braov. And then the level of the students
remaining after the leaves is not the best (Alexandru Bena).
The most frequently mentioned problem related to the school in the
locality is childrens disinterest in education:
Many children dont come to school or they come only to get
their State allowance. They are indifferent. They just appear as
a presence, others come, leave their schoolbags and leave. It is
the case of those having bad material situations. They are either
Roma children and they are disinterested, or their parents have
left abroad to work there and they live with their grandparents,
who cannot come to school to check on them. (teacher)
202
203
There is abandon in the case of the Roma children. At frst, they
register their children at school, especially for the State allowances.
Especially before, when the checks were given and then they would
no longer come. I see this in the complementary and single-parent
allowance. At the beginning, they bring certifcates, but they
no longer bring any over the year. Because these are no longer
released to them from school, since they do not attend the classes.
(social assistant)
The teachers or the local counselor (who is a school mediator and is
permanently informed of the cases of children with problems) considers that
the families of the children with problems are also disinterested and they fail
to react to the teachers initiatives of remedying the problematic situation of
their children.
The relation with the family is inexistent; how could there be any
reaction since they fail to come to school? Even if they are asked to,
they do not come because they dont have time. (teacher)
Migration abroad
The estimative number of migrants recorded a rather big variation,
from several score to several hundreds. It is, however, certain that the
evolution of the migration phenomenon has a decreasing tendency, as a
consequence of the diffculty of fnding places of employment abroad lately.
The number of children left behind at home by their parents who went to
work abroad is rather low, as a part of the families having left have begun to
take their children with them.
The most frequently indicated problem of the family having members
who went to work abroad aimed at the grandparents lack of authority, who
cannot supervise and control the children just as well.
There is a problem, cant you see that they still do things while
living with their parents, let alone the grandparents (parent)
The positive effects of their parents leave abroad for work consist in
the improvement of the material condition of the family and child they have
high-performance mobile phones, lots of pocket money to spend at school etc.
These changes also had, however, a negative impact on the children: conduct
problems, the tendency to show off.
they tend to skip school, to adopt an inappropriate conduct, they
take up smoking, drinking alcohol. (teacher);
they think they are cool not that their parents send them money,
that they buy state-of-the-art mobile phones, they have phone that
are better than mine (school principal).
Problems of an affective and emotional nature, of establishing
relations with the others were also observed:
I had a little boy I am speaking now from this point of view. He
used to live with his grandparents and with his father, who worked
from morning till late in the evening and so on, a very introvert
child, he didnt use to socialize enough, he was smart, but, at the
same time, he didnt accept help from any person either, therefore
it was diffcult enough to communicate with him. And every once
in a while, when he was forced, he used to have outbursts of
aggressiveness. Whether it was verbal or physical, it depended on
the circumstance. He was striving to come to school, but due to
the fact that he could not communicate with the others, because
he could clearly see the differences between him and the others,
he had a 2-3 week period during which he stayed in the house,
he would isolate himself again, and then he would come back to
school again and he kept fuctuating like this. (psychologist);
Those having separated parents, those having one of the parents
gone abroad for work are more sensitive children (parent).
however, it should be underlined that the families of migrants in
themselves have not been considered a problem for the community. Despite
the few problematic cases, the phenomenon did not have a signifcantly
negative impact on the community.
The Roma families seem to constitute a more acute problem than
the one of those having members who had gone abroad to work, having a
higher degree of school abandon among the children. The Roma children are
also the ones depending to the largest extent to the social aid and dealing
with dishonest business from a very early age. In the commune, there is a
tendency of residential segregation, most Roma people living at the margins
of the locality, in a location entitled the Pit.
The solutions proposed for the solving of the problems of these
families relate to the macro level increase of places of employment, poverty
control. Nothing has been done so far for the children in hrman having
parents who left to work abroad. For the Roma children, there is the program
entitled School after school, developed by an ONG in Bucharest by structural
funds, within which the children remain after school to do their homework
and receive a meal.
204
205
Necessities and perspectives for the implementation of a
project
The most important necessity of the children in hrman, at
considerable differences from the rest, has been identifed as being the
recreational locations. There are also several school-related necessities: the
improvement of the quality of education and the development of several non-
academic activities, improvement of the conditions in school.
Table 21 Needs of the children in Hrman in the vision of the members of the
community*
hrman
Providing the quality of education by the improvement of the non-academic
preparation /activity
17
Education provided by the parents 13
Development of the infrastructure in the locality (pedestrian crossings, means of
transport)
3
The data obtained by interviews also indicate the same necessities:
the need of spending time in non-academic training, educative activities and
the necessity of playgrounds especially arranged or of sport grounds were the
ones most frequently mentioned.
From their level, they see problems related to school, education
which take up all their time. School occupies all their time. They
also need other activities besides school, this is the only way
children are formed (manager of a local ONG);
To participate, get involved in various activities. What is important
for a child is to work, to do something. Ultimately, his soul is
modeled on these beautiful things as well. There is joy, beauty and
school still induces modern type sadness. (parent);
From my point of view, the absence of playgrounds and of a sport
court - for football, volleyball, basketball. (Town-hall secretary).
As regards the solutions /projects to solve these needs, the idea of
the continuation and of the development of the project entitled School after
school, was advanced, which, besides the assistance and supervising function,
would also involve the young people in non-academic, cultural, training
activities, would contribute to their personal development and to their more
general education for life.
Maybe the extension of an after-school initiative would be useful.
Some problems would be solved, maybe there is nobody at home
to feed the child when he arrives, or his parents dont make him do
his homework. And then, by extending this system, the child would
feel different and other problems would also be solved. (parent).
At the same time, the Town-hall considers a project for the arrangement
of a park for the children in the commune, which constitutes a solution for the
necessity to create spare time spending spaces.
We, as local authority, should get involved more in the creation of
these spaces. We are in the execution progress of the arrangement
of a park in the area of entrance in the locality. (Town-hall
secretary).
The school and town-hall were mentioned as key actors which could
get involved in such projects
As regards the support that a project would have from the community,
a part of the respondents declared to be skeptical, whereas others remembered
that the local people in hrman got involved in the past in other similar
projects, such as Lets Do It Romania, as well as in connection works of some
areas to the water and sewerage networks of the commune, to which the local
people also contributed, besides the Town-hall.
6.8. Volov
The Community in Volov and its problems
Volov is a commune with a population of 5300 inhabitants. The
commune is situated only 3 km away from Rdui, and, over the last years,
it has almost become a neighborhood of the town, due to the diminishment
of the land situated outside the incorporated area. Lots of constructions
have been erected lately, especially based on the incomes accumulated by
the inhabitants who left the country to work abroad. The village gradually
acquires the aspect of suburbia (new houses, garage instead of barns, lawn in
the yard).
The inhabitants main occupation is the one of agriculturists
(subsistence agriculture, for own consumption) and the one of workers in
206
207
constructions (recently developed). up to recently, the main industry in the
area was the one of textiles, even embroidery, but, in time, these professions
lost some of their importance. Entrepreneurship has reduced sizes (a few
mixed shops, 2 bars, one confectionery) because the people have invested
their money in houses and cars, instead of planning the money to bring more
money.
As in all the analyzed communities, the absence of jobs represents the
most important problem. And it has resulted from the taken interviews that
nobody works in Volov, except at school and at the Town-hall. I dont
know if we have 5, 10 employees in Rdui, even in Marginea (the school
administrator), everybody seems to accept that there is no kind of perspective
here. The only way out, the agriculture, is no longer productive, as it requires
too big costs. On the other hand, the Mayor says that the agricultural
associations cannot be established due to the fact that the people do not
want to give their land away, due to an increased individualism within the
commune.
Poverty is, to a lower extent, a very serious problem in the commune,
the migration abroad providing the households with the resources for a decent
life. In fact, in the quantitative research, migration is seen as the second
serious problem of the commune. The people in Volov describe themselves
as being homesteaders (with new, big houses, yards with performed
agricultural works) and resourceful, permanently looking for opportunities
of a better life. According to the words of the people in the village, there is no
house in which no one has left the country to work, the majority being abroad.
They are, at the same time, conservators they try to return at home, they
are focused on the house, they used the earned money to build houses and
improve their standard of living and not to invest them in economic activities.
The increase of the standard of living was mainly based on the consumption
increase and on real estate constructions and less on investments in economic
activities that would provide the inhabitants of the commune with long-term
development opportunities.
Table 22 Problems of the community in Volov in the vision of the members of the
community
Absence of jobs, of the employment opportunities in the locality or in the area 90
Reduced possibilities of spare time spending for children 64
Public infrastructure: lighting, sewerage, water etc. 55
Neglect of the children left behind at home by their parents who went to work abroad
36
Medical services 26
Low quality of education 18
Thefts, criminality 17
Transportation (including the one taking the children to school) 14
School abandon by children 10
Note: frequencies obtained by the accumulation of the answers of the type it is a serious problem /
it is a very serious problem
Problems related to infrastructure or the medical services were also
frequently mentioned. The absence of the sewerage system is the most serious
problem as, the ground water has been seriously affected by the settlers
mounted by almost all the inhabitants. At the same time, the roads represent
a problem, having a doubtful capacity (what you do today is destroyed within
2 years) and they are seriously affected by foods. The absence of sidewalks
was also mentioned as a defciency, considering the big number of children
and, at the same time, the continuously increasing number of cars.
For the children in Volov, the most important problem is, by far,
that of the recreational spaces.
Table 23 Problems of the children in Volov in the vision of the members of the
Community*
Absence of the spare time spending spaces, parks, locals, sport courts etc. 32
Absence of the material conditions from the family 11
Absence of the high-quality school education 9
Absence of supervision /education from the parents 6
Absence of the material conditions of the school 3
Absence of the non-academic activities 3
From the taken interviews, another problem has resulted, which seems
to have affected more deeply the life of the community: the lack of solidarity.
A part of those interviewed consider that the unity, the cohesion that was
specifc to the community in former times records a decline. And, due to the
work outside the community, either in the city or abroad, the people are less
208
209
and less involved in the life of the community, they no longer have a close
connection with the neighbors, with the other members of the community.
well, he gets on the bus or on the bike, then he returns home and does his
work the people here went to work for 8 hours and had no connections
with the community now all those who left the country to work abroad
(local councilor). It seems that there is also poor communication with the
local representatives. The connection with the authority, which is no longer
considered legitimate, has been lost.
School
The commune has a big school accommodating about 600-700 pupils.
There are around 49 employed persons, of which 43 are teaching staff. There
3 blocks of buildings: the kindergarten (modernized with the help of a French
association), the 100-year old school (to which a reconditioning project has
been initiated, but not completed yet, so that the last foor is not functional and
there are also problems in the other classrooms) and a recently rehabilitated
and functional block of building. Lessons are provided in the morning and
in the afternoon in 2 shifts, by 5:00 p.m. The preparation of the 8
th
grade
students (for the gymnasium graduation exam) is done, free of charge, in the
morning between 7 and 8 a.m.
Since 1995, the school has been twinned with a French association,
with which it also collaborates at present. It has provided with a part of the
material base the development of projects or the organization of festivals,
trips. There is also an exchange program for pupils every 2 years, exchanges
that last for 2 weeks. The school also benefted from the support of private
associations or companies: book fund, equipping the information technology
laboratory with computers (Dinu Patriciu Foundation), fnancial aids (Coca
Cola) and it is also going to be fnanced by European funds in case of approval
of the project dealing with the creation of an after-school.
There are numerous problems related to the work conditions and the
schools equipping. The biggest problem is the lack of space, so that there are
no fxed classrooms for the pupils in the 1
st
8
th
grades, the pupils shifting
depending on the class. Other problems are related to the absence of the
sewerage the problem of toilets (problem that the entire community is
faced with, but with implications in the school as well, where the toilets are
located in the schoolyard and the ones inside the school are key locked, being
accessible only to the small pupils or to the staff), the absence of a sport court
(the classes are held on the common or in a very small room, not provided with
locker rooms), the computers are either too few or too old, the classrooms are
crowded, not provided with moquette, having old furniture, without electric
plugs in all the classrooms. There is medical practice, the dispensary of the
commune being the place where pupils are taken to in case of emergency.
In the classrooms, the teaching materials are either made by the pupils
themselves under the guidance of a teacher, or performed or donated by the
teaching staff. Thus, the school conditions have been negatively evaluated by
most parents we are not really content with the conditions provided to us
at school (parent).
As regards the quality of education, most locals and even the children
are content: from this point of view, I only have high words, believe me, I
have graduated from the gymnasium here, then I continued school in Rdui,
I have graduated from tefan cel Mare university, major in Geography. But
starting with the elementary basis from our gymnasium, I consider that we
have very well trained teachers (current manager of the community center
in the village).
On the other hand, the people evaluate the quality of education, in
reference to limited aspirations, corresponding to a village school. Things
are taught in school, but I admit there is a high risk of getting lost and
this is greatly due to the environment or to the lack of competition between
the children. The reduced aspirations in terms of school are related to the
inhabitants system of values, which has been subject to modifcations upon
the massive migration of the inhabitants. The expectations were different
before the parents were more deferent, children manifested more
respect for school but now his pocket is much fuller than a teachers, the
teacher comes to school hitchhiking, he comes in a Mercedes and he no
longer respects school, he is glad to graduate from the 8
th
grades. (school
administration). It is considered that the interest in school is decreasing.
Children dont look for a certain profession, their purpose is that of being
wealthy and having a house. Going to school no longer represents a condition
for success in life, since there are easier and even more secure ways, such as
work abroad.
The absence of the school tradition and of the conditions (the
imperative requirements are always missing) is suggested by those coming
from other parties (strangers) who recognize the limits of education, although
considering that they are content with it. It is also observed that the ones
leaving abroad usually go for untrained work, moreover there is no continuity
in the professions they are looking for, they do not try to specialize in a certain
profession.
210
211
School is perceived as being somewhat unproftable, not providing you
with a future, the most appreciated ones being the dedicated teachers who discuss
with the children and get the children involved in practical activities or non-
academic activities (clubs, stage performances, trips, dance, music). Children are,
however, interested in studying, but there is constant need for practice: laboratory
experiments, natural science applications, theme-centered trips.
Migration abroad
The number of those leaving abroad increases from one year to another,
moreover, work abroad seems to be transmitted from one generation to the
next one. If parents left at frst, at present the elder brothers of the children
now leave too. Most young people in the locality have left abroad the very
few left are the ones having a job here and mostly the elder people (local
person). The age at which people leave decreases very much, many being the
ones who leave as soon as they graduated from the 8
th
grade. Some leave as
soon as they fnish school at the age of 16 and earlier. (local person). The
main reason is the absence of the high-school alternatives for those who do
not like to study. The only vocational schools are in Suceava, but even those
do not seem appropriate in terms of adjustment to the current labor market.
A particular case is represented by the Pentecostal families, for whom
faith and the religious practice are much more restrictive also in terms of the
sexual education of the young people: in the Pentecostal community, you are
not allowed to touch a girl when she is a teenager, to kiss her, until you get
engaged and then you can but up until that moment you are not allowed
to because the Bible says so and then you know that if you do so, you have
hope this is the purpose of faith (teacher). Thus, families are formed at
very early ages, they usually get married as soon as they fnish school, and in
order to be able to support themselves, work abroad is the safest way.
School abandon is very low, except for the Roma children or for the
children coming from families with low incomes, with no support in the
community. There is, however, in general, seasonal absenteeism when feld
works are done, moments in which the parents do not come to the school
meetings either.
If the families from which no member of the family has left abroad are
faced with big fnancial diffculties, the families of migrants are faced with the
lack of control over the children, who become more spoiled, more rude and
have serious communication problems.
they miss their mothers love I have seen this at relatives and a
cousin of mine the child comes calling for mommy but it is in
vain, grandmother is more of a mommy and it shows, what can
I sayshe is a more isolated child it even seems that she doesnt
smile the same and she would probably attach to anyone that
would caress her (parent);
I see this in my little boy when his father is gone, he is more
isolated, more pensive although his father calls him on the phone
almost every day, I can see that the boy misses something when
his dad is not here... (parent).
The school management and the teachers consider that the parents
have begun to ask less and less from their children: they provide them
with material support, but, due to the fact that they are not close to them,
they can no longer ask the children to obey them or they do not manage to
assert themselves. At the same time, the children are aware of the fact that
the parents do everything for them and they want to follow them: In the 4
th

grade, a child tells me well, I am going to go to England, to my brother I
have a house there, teacher, I do not need school (teacher)
Necessities and perspectives for the implementation of a
project
Childrens most important needs aim at the development of the
free time opportunities and of the non-academic activities, as well as the
improvement of the school conditions. There are, however, uncovered needs
within the family, in terms of the low standard of living, but also the family
solidarity, the affective support and the educational function in decline.
Table 24 Needs of the children in Volov in the vision of the members of the
community *
Providing the quality of education by the improvement of the non-academic preparation
/activity
15
Development of the infrastructure in the locality (pedestrian crossings, means of transport) 4
Within the interviews as well, the lack of the recreational opportunities
and the lack of school conditions have been the most frequently mentioned
problems. As previously indicated, the minimum requirements are missing:
212
213
the toilets are locked, they have no running water, and they cannot wash,
besides the fact that they do not have enough teaching materials.
The absence of the joint activities, of communication, of unity represents
a problem among children as well, as well as within the community in general.
The reasons are related to the division in religious confessions and the
precarious school conditions. During the religion classes, children are divided
in 2 groups (Pentecostal and Orthodox) and, moreover, there are small tensions
(the Pentecostals do not participate in all the stage performances, celebrations,
there are some who try to convert the others). The fact that they do not have a
permanent classroom of their own, that they do not have locations to actually
spend their spare time in (sport court, park, funfairs) results in a lack of solidarity
among children.
There are also adjustment difference between those having several
family members left abroad for work and those having none. The absence
of somebody to talk to has been detected (consequently, the solution of a
psychologist in the commune has been proposed) and the lack of guidance
once they fnish school. Many children would need support in homework,
even more since their parents or brothers have left abroad to work and their
grandparents cannot help.
Children wish for better school conditions, better equipping, non-
academic activities:
Sport courts, gymnasium
Laboratories
Toilets
Dance Hall arts hall so you play music and dance a hall
with many mirrors, for example where you can also have ballet
lessons a hall with electric guitars or a telescope
to go on trips or scouting sometimes
a magazine, a Halloween celebration (children group focus)
As the parents also state, children want to come to school because they
are surrounded by mates and friends there. Especially those whose parents
have left abroad to work, they feel the need of being involved in as many
activities as possible. For them, any activity would catch their attention and
would be a good means of getting closer to one another.
A new, modern dispensary, because we have there a rather old
location has also been mentioned (member of the community). This is, in
general, the opinion of the young families with small children who are most
acutely faced with the problem of the lack of conditions. For the elderly or for
older children, the dispensary is not much of a problem.
In conclusion, there are several uncovered needs of the children which
could be solved through the development of an integrated project: spare time
spending activities and locations (park, childrens club), after-school and last,
but not least the investment in school modernization, sport court /hall,
better conditions (space, toilets, teaching equipment /materials).
From the focus groups and interviews, it has resulted that there is not
much involvement of the parents in the solving of the childrens problems.
Those who remained here would get involved, because they all want
something better for their children sometimes this line appears: in Italy it
is like this. In Germany it is like this but nobody would say what it would
be like here, for us this way, in our poverty this is what should be done
(the parents).
Children are, however, well taken care of and when there are
celebrations, there is no question of making costumes or provided support.
Every once in a while, they all contributed and did the whitewashing, they
even constructed a workshop in the schoolyard. Although a strict fund of the
school is not imposed as policy, it is collected per classes with the consent of
the parents committee, for the purchase of necessary goods (printer) about
20 lei.
The problem seems to be that people do not have the initiative
themselves, either because it is not on their priority list: They would get
involved, but in the frst instance, they say there is no money, we have no
money. We want this, we want this, but there is no money (Town-hall)
(teacher), or because there is no unity between the villagers; There cannot
be too much involvement from me, because I have a particular statute, that
of stranger I am not a native, I do not have the same rights as the people
here. (priest).
They all admitted, however, that if there is somebody to take the
initiative and to motivate the community, people will get involved: Who
would get involved? Many would get involved, all the institutions especially,
ten to one, if it is for our own beneft, who not? I would guarantee to
broadcast a thing like that and I would mobilize a few score of people, or if
labor force was needed or something. But they should all start somewhere
and that start (manager of the community center)
6.9. Problems of the community, of the children and the
necessity of the project
The same as within the communities with project, the absence
of the places of employment represents the main problem of the studied
communities, which also generated the second most important problem
migration abroad for work.
214
215
And as concerns the children, the two types of communities are
similar: the most frequent problem thereof is represented by the lack of spare
time spending opportunities, of the recreational locations and activities,
the absence of the material conditions of the family, necessary for their
harmonious development or the absence of the high-quality education being
also important defciencies.
According to the identifed needs, the most important solutions aim
at the creation of spare time spending locations, the development of non-
academic educational opportunities and the improvement of the education
conditions in schools. An integrated project, on the model of School and
Community, implemented in Marginea, Prejmer and Glimboca, would
respond, in these localities as well, to childrens needs and would result in the
improvement of the situation thereof and of the community in general.
6.10. Conclusions
The most important problem of the studied communities is the lack
of labor opportunities, and not just in general, for the active members of the
community, but also for children, who prepare in school for this. The lack
of perspectives develops skills whereby school is increasingly less valued,
being no longer considered useful, except for the accumulation of basic
information, other variants remaining to be taken into account for work and
success in life. Peoples leaving abroad to work remains, in this context, the
easy and legitimate solution to which more and more of the members of the
community resort, even if it is not necessarily valued, but rather considered a
necessity for survival.
The evolution of the phenomenon seems to be slightly descending in
all the three studied communities. On the other hand, however, the age at
216
217
which people leave the country to go work abroad is increasingly becoming
younger, and it seems that work abroad seems to be transmitted from one
generation to another, at present many young people, the childrens elder
brothers, having also left abroad, besides their parents.
Although according to the date in the quantitative researches
undertaken within the communities, migration for work represents one of
the most important problems (the most serious one for Obreja and hrman,
and the second in terms of importance for Volov), childrens neglect is
not considered an equally serious problem. There are, however, numerous
problems of an emotional or behavioral nature manifested in children. Their
families often deal with problems at the level of the authority structure, the
remaining parent or the other relatives having diffculties on taking over the
responsibilities, but also the status of the absent parent /parents.
Besides these negative emotional and behavioral consequences on
children, migration also operates on the value level, affecting the attitude
towards school and the life accomplishment aspirations in general. Children
do not look for a certain profession, their purpose is that of having fortune
and a home. Going to school no longer represents a condition for success in
life. Children are thus taught, from an early age, the road that they should
follow in life 8 grades, maximum 10 in Romania, and then work abroad, on
the background of the lack of involvement of their parents in education. The
family as an institution is affected in its training and educative function.
School is, in the case of these communities, an institution less connected
to the life of the community. Its connections with the local authorities and
with the families are rather scarce. The parents and the community, in
general, positively evaluate the quality of education, but usually report it to
limited aspirations, corresponding to a village school. In the school, from
the studied localities, one is taught as much as one can be taught in a village
school and there is a high risk of getting lost on the background of the
aforementioned problems and the lack of competition between the children.
There is, however, a general state of discontent related to the pupils
performance and behavior: absenteeism, violence, lack of respect towards
the teachers, low interest in study. There is also, in some cases, discontent
towards the teachers: they do not take consistent measures to get the family
involved in the childrens education, they do not use appropriate techniques
to manage the conficts between the pupils, they fail to motivate the pupils
for the academic activities. At the same time, the teachers and the school
management consider that the problems originate in the families and the
negative phenomena they deal with: disorganization, limited material
possibilities, disinterest in the childrens education and lack of collaboration
with the teaching staff.
Consequently, there is the necessity of extracurricular programs and
activities for children and young people in all the 3 communities. however,
there is general consent on the necessity of intervention programs in the
community, the identifed solutions remaining vague, general, at the level of
doing something is good. Both at the level of the authorities and at the level
of the community, very few concrete solutions for the solving or improvement
of the identifed problems have been mentioned.
Most serious need of the children from the studied communities is the
development of the spare time facilities, of the extracurricular activities. All
the solutions to the childrens problems, previously presented, have followed
this trend: spare time spending activities and spaces (park, sport courts,
locals etc.) the involvement in extracurricular, educational, sportive, cultural
activities (childrens club, after-school) and last, but not least the investment in
school modernization, better conditions (space, toilets, teaching equipment
/materials). While the confict between generations seems to be defned as a
problem (although it is objectively possible that this problem does not exist,
it will become a real problem by the consequences hereof) a psychological
counseling service would also be indicated.
A general state of discontent (there is no money, there are no jobs,
there are no opportunities for the young people to develop) doubled by the
passivity or the indifference of the members of the communities outline
unclear perspectives in case of the implementation of a project. Despite these
negative signals, on the background of the unanimous wish to do something,
we may consider that there are actors and resources (the school, the teachers,
the local authorities, a part of the parents) for the implementation of a project,
with the undertaking of the implicit risks.
7. School and Community Project a good practice
example
All the 6 studied communities have a similar profle, despite the
geographic localization, the different size or occupational structure. Migration
for work abroad is a phenomenon which has produced signifcant changes in
the life of the communities and which made them have many elements in
common.
218
219
The most important problem of all the studied communities is the lack
of labor opportunities. On the background of the lack of jobs and implicitly of
the lack of perspectives, migration has become the natural choice for a better
life, for many of the inhabitants, even if it is not necessarily valued, but rather
considered a necessity for survival. For the rest of them, even if it does not
represent a life choice, it often represents a desirable model or at least a factor
to be taken into account.
The value system of the community in general has recorded strong
modifcations upon the massive migration of the local people. This is probably
also due to the work outside the community, the people are less and less
involved in the life of the community, which makes diffcult the development
of intervention projects, perpetuating the problems.
The absence of the parents who left the country and went abroad
to work in the life of children left at home is not considered a too serious
problem in the studied communities. The extended family usually took over
the parents responsibilities, taking care of the children left at home, which,
however, failed to exclude the negative consequences on them: problems of
an affective - emotional nature, diffculties in establishing relations with the
others, inappropriate compensatory behaviors, low academic performances,
loss of control, within the terms of the decline of authority of the
grandparents or of the remaining parent, who can no longer supervise and
control the children just as well.
Familys connection with the family and the school is problematic,
not just of the family of migrants children, but also of the family with a low
standard of living, the dissolved families or the Roma families. In fact, the
research indicated the fact that not the children originating from migrants
families are the category with the highest risk, but the poor children,
confronted with family and social disorganization in general.
School is in all the studied communities an institution trying to get
involved more in the solving of the childrens problems, without, however,
having spectacular results. Its collaboration with the other institutions
often stops at formal level. On the other hand, the participation of the local
authorities is also reduced to the formal level, usually in the providing of
certain material aspects of the school, without the direct involvement in the
support of the educational process.
In fact, there are more negative phenomena associated to the school
at a more general, value level, for which the migration abroad is only one of
the generating factors: childrens lack of interest in school, the decreasing
valorization of education especially for the benefts of a material nature that it
brings, the declining authority of the teachers. The parents and the community
in general positively evaluate the quality of education, but it usually reports it
to limited aspirations, corresponding to a village school.
Research data seem to indicate the fact that it is not the children whose
parents left abroad to work and thus remained without their parents that
constitute a problem for the analyzed communities, but rather the children and
young people in general tend to represent a problematic category. The young
generation in itself is brought into public debate in a negative note, there seem to
be quite many discontents related to the young peoples values and behavior. The
lack of the development, work opportunities and the presence of the migratory
success model alters the attitude thereof towards school, towards the family,
towards the community and the orientation towards success in life in general.
Consequently, in all the studied communities, there is the necessity
of extracurricular programs and activities for children and young people.
The project entitled School and Community implemented in three of these
communities attempted and partially succeeded in improving some of these
negative tendencies. It frstly brought about signifcant changes at the level of
the direct benefciaries, the children, and secondly at the level of the school,
by means of the involved teachers.
The comparison with the communities wherein projects of the type of
the one belonging to Soros Foundation have not been developed revealed the
decisive role that the project had in the life of the communities, even if theirs
members were not so aware of it. .
Soros Foundations program contributed to the increase of the childrens
interest in school in general, by the performed non-academic activities that
stimulated the interest in knowledge. Following the program, children
learned to work together, to develop their team spirit and the experience of
the team work. They have become more confdent in their own forces, have
learned to communicate better, to be more open, to express themselves
more freely. They developed, in time, better abilities of establishing relations
with the teachers, they built up a closer and deeper connection to them. For
many of them, even the relation with the parents has been improved. Beyond
particularly problematic cases, the project contributed to the creation of a
generally closer connection between the families, children and the school as
an institution.
For teachers, by the developed courses, the project contributed to a
better pedagogical training and to the acquirement of the abilities necessary
220
221
for the management of projects. It developed the team spirit and the
experience of team work also to the teachers. By the exchanges of experience
with other school, it has resulted in a better institutional collaboration. And
probably the most important contribution has been the improvement of the
relation with the children and their families.
The main aspects that need to be improved relate to the project
visibility and awareness in the community. This undoubtedly represents the
neuralgic point the project is known only by the benefciary children and by
the teachers, and to a lesser extent by the families thereof, only poor knowledge
thereof existing within the authorities, and rather vague knowledge within
the community.
It is to be noted that, although the project initially aimed at the
children from the migrants families, it fnally addressed to all the children
in the community, who basically shares the same fond problems. The project
improved the necessity of non-academic training activities, spare time
spending opportunities for all the children in the studied communities,
exceeding the initial target by far. Consequently, we may estimate that,
at least for the children, as part of the community, the project has brought
about considerable improvements, its impact being major.
Although addressed to children from migrants families, programs
like the one belonging to Soros Foundation, entitled School and Community,
it solves many of the needs of the children rural rural environment in general,
that all the studies on this theme indicate as a group disadvantaged in the
chances of academic and professional success, even the social one in general.
The project continuation and the development of new ones, upon the initiative
and with the direct participation of the community becomes a necessity in
this context.
Appendices
Appendix 1. Methodology of Research
The research of the communities in the project entitled School and
Community is based on a mixed methodology, combining quantitative
and qualitative research techniques, for an overall and deep image of the
impact of the project. At the same time, the strategy was one of a comparative
type, besides the three communities involved Glimboca, Marginea and
Prejmer other three neighboring communities, with a similar profle, being
selected Obreja, Volov and hrman wherein the project has not been
implemented, in order to better detect the eventual changes occurred within
the communities.
The purpose of the research within the communities where the project
was implemented aimed at the identifcation of the impact of the project of
Soros Foundation on the direct benefciaries the children in the migrants
families and the children in general but also on the families thereof, on the
teachers and the school, on the overall community.
The main objectives may be summarized in:
the problems that the communities are faced with;
problems / needs of the children in the respective communities;
the project visibility and awareness degree within the community;
general subjective evaluations of the project, but also on component
activities;
the strong and weak points of the project;
encountered obstacles;
main benefts of the project;
sustainability within the community and the project continuation
perspectives.
The qualitative research had two distinct components:
interviews with members of the project team (communitarian
facilitator, teachers, parents), as well as with the local authorities
and other key persons in the community (mayor or vice-mayor,
SPAS workers, medical doctors, nurses at the medical practice,
representatives of NGOs, local enterprisers, formal or informal
leader in the community) and
focus groups with the benefciary children, parents and members of
the community in general.
222
223
The quantitative research consisted in the application of approximately
100 questionnaires to children, parents and members of the community in
general. Due to the limited visibility of the project within the community, the
quantitative research failed to have the anticipated results. The best situation
from this point of view is in Glimboca, where over two thirds of the subjects
could make evaluations of the project. Consequently, the overall quantitative
data having been collected rather aimed at the problems of the community
and of the children and less to the actual impact of the project.
The purpose of the research within the communities wherein the
project has not been implemented aimed at the identifcation of the necessity
of a similar project and of the comparative analysis of the situation of the
children in the two categories of communities, in order to better isolate
the effects of the local projects, developed within the program of Soros
Foundation.
The main objectives can be summarized in:
the problems that the communities are faced with;
problems /needs of the children in the respective communities;
implementation perspectives of a similar project and the
sustainability within the community.
The two research components were also undertaken within them:
interviews with the local authorities and other stakeholders from
the community, focus groups with potential benefciary children,
parents and members of the community in general;
questionnaires applied to children, parents, teachers and members
of the community in general.
The feld teams were made up from researchers experienced in the
feld. The data collection took place between October - November 2010.
Appendix 2. Essays of the children benefciary of the project
The children involved in the program School and Community were, at
a certain given moment, invited to express their point of view on the migration
phenomenon (whether their parents were gone abroad for work or not). The
awareness of some of the effects of the parents leave is strong among them
and, moreover, a responsibility towards their own person, towards their own
destiny is ascertained, rather than giving up and abandon the fght with lifes
diffculties. Children having taken part in the local projects developed by the
schools wrote the essays in 2009.
Image 6 - G.G. (essay from 2009; the author is currently 17 years old)
224
225
Image 8 - S.C. (pupil from Marginea; in 2009, the author was 15 years old) Image 7 - A.P. (front, from Marginea; in 2009, the author was 12 years old)
226
227
A few of the techniques recommended to be applied are:
question - answer: it is much more interesting than the discourse;
variety there should variety in activities, but too many things
should not be taught one after another, because there is the risk of
forgetting where one has started from.
Adventure Education has as main attribute that of taking the
participants out of their comfort areas and of determining them to go beyond
their limits, of wishing to be better, permanently in a single frame; the great
majority of the exercises are performed within the team, based on the principle
that we are more creative, more bold and more productive in a group.
Further information on education by adventure in the Manual of
non-formal education of New Horizons Foundation, 2010
2. The creative/handicraft workshops. (by creation, we
especially refer to the elaboration of different objects) can be part of the
extracurricular activities because they provide children with the occasion of
handling different materials, so as to develop their artistic spirit, creation,
practical spirit. The direct work with the objects can be successfully used in
a multitude of contexts, having a therapeutic role as well. handling objects
helps in the development of the cognitive functions, in the improvement of
the capacity of concentration, relaxation. At the same time, immediate results
can be obtained within these workshops (a basket made of trellis) and the
satisfaction of the palpable thing is very high.
Besides the direct impact on the ones participating in such workshops,
there will also be an impact on those who will come into contact with these
products.
After all, society demands as often and as much as possible that people
should be creative, capable of bringing something new, that they should be
intelligent i creative upon change.
3. Video Animation
The video animation is not specifc to the non-formal education, but it
can be used in non-formal education project, either only to develop an artistic
spirit in children, or with the purpose of providing the children with a tool
whereby they can express their points of view, they can express their actions.
We used it within the second working camp, where children worked
with a SFR expert in video animation, and they made three animation clips
(each having maximum 4 minutes) about the clubs they were going to
establish.
Appendix 3. Several methods used within the program
1. Adventure Education its main purpose is the infuencing
of the young peoples attitudes and abilities to develop moral value such as
solidarity, compassion and trust, to help the people undergoing experiences
that put them to test in unexpected circumstances, to discover their
actual potential and self esteem, to respect their fellow men and the world
surrounding them.
The main impact that adventure education has is that of fghting off,
improving the effects of civic apathy, of low self-confdence level existent
between people and helping in the development of positive attitudes.
The changes that can occur by applying of the methodology specifc
to learning by experience are that the involved young people give up the social
and civic passivity, acquire certain moral conducts and act in order to improve
themselves and the community they live in.
The methodology of education by adventure may range in the following
coordinates:
development of skills development of those skills with which the
individual can competently and fully securely develop in a natural
environment (for example: expedition, escalade etc.);
effort participants exposure to demanding experiences
determining them to examine their own reactions and to react in
unexpected situations requiring answers and prompt decision
making (for example: canopying);
problem solving development of possibilities for the participants,
whereby they have to analyze certain situations and fnd a solution
(for example: initiative games, etc.);
service the term of service (within the projects developed by
New horizons Foundation) refers to service learning, i.e. the
development of projects for the beneft of the community (in the
current case towards the children and young people);
refection participants encouragement to refect upon the various
life styles and attitudes, so as to acquire a new perspective on their
own capacities;
evaluation encouraging the participants analysis capacity and
thereby the development of the constructive critical spirit (for
example by individual discussions, group discussions and analysis
discussions).
228
229
what we have in mind cannot be entirely represented with the materials
chosen for animation. An animation is more than this; it is an animation of
objects or other elements rendering states!
Manner if you know what you want to do, you have to think about
hOW you should represent what you have thought of. The classical animation
provide numberless of the most diverse work modes. The even more hopeful
thing when you work with animation is that you can combine various methods
in order to have a good flm.
here are only a few of the animation methods:
Animation with objects I you choose objects (smaller in size) and
which can stay by themselves on a board or in vertical position,
without requiring your help. It would also be indicated that the
objects should not be made of a single piece, but of semi-mobile
ones: with joints, moving certain parts. (examples: small kinder
toys, dolls, toy cars, Lego etc.)
Animation with objects II the objects made of a single piece can
be animated with a little help (examples: o potato on which you
apply eyes and a mouth, a jug with a hat, a sock with buttons for
eyes, a speaking laptop, a fower pot etc.)
Animation with modeling clay modeling clay is very easy to
model and combine with other elements. Any kind of objects, faces,
decorative elements etc. can be made of modeling clay. One of the
inconvenient is the fact that, once modeled many times, it either
loses frmness or starts to slowly melt.
Drawing Animation or classic animation. The classic cartoon
movies of Walt Disney are made of drawings! In order to reach this
level, you need very much talent (in drawing), patience and another
way of seeing things. Just think about the fact that for any kind
of animation, 24 frames (images)/ second are required therefore
it takes 24 successive drawings for a single second of movie, in
order to make a single move! Of course, this does not mean that
we cannot make drawing animation we can draw anything, from
simple geometric fgures that we move up to more complicated
and more complex objects.
Collage Animation using images cut from various magazines
or cardboard and which can be animated in any way. It is one of
the simplest animation modes which are very much dependant on
the authors creativity. The objects /character and actions can be
extraordinary!
Stages in developing an animation clip.
Before beginning an animation clip, you should think about a few
things that you MuST have in order to do a good job. These things are among
the most varied ones, from technical equipment to things related to personal
motivation, purpose etc. Assuming that we have all the technically necessary
things, we will try to go through other elements of construction of a video
animation clip.
Reason as for any action we wish to take, we have to think Why
we want to do that thing. The video animation should also have a reason.
Therefore, before starting an animation clip, we have to think what is the
reason why we do it.. And for this, we have to ask ourselves a few questions:
What do we want to accomplish by the animation?
Who do we want the animation to be for?
how long does the clip need to be, so that we can fulfll our objective?
Idea if we managed to answer the questions above, it means that we
have surpassed a very important stage in the construction of an animation
clip. This does not mean, however, that we have fnished! No, the animation
is far from being done. Now that we now have the reason for the clip, we
should also fnd an idea. An idea that is so good, that it catches the attention
and impresses. And, of course, one that embodies the motivation for which
we make the animation. In order to get to a good idea, we should resume the
questions we asked ourselves when we had to identify the reason, it is just
that, this time, we have to answer using much more details. If we know:
What we would like to realize by our animation (why) then we
should think about the relation between the public and what we
want to present by our animation.
The public (for whom) then we need to know the age thereof,
what it likes and dislikes, which the attitude thereof is towards the
topic we want to approach. Does the public like nature? Does it like
fowers? Would it like more motion and less dialogue or the other
way round? We should take into account a multitude of such small
questions, but which help in the creation of a good clip!
how long we want the animation to last then we have to think
whether our idea is concentrated enough for the length of the clip.
Or whether we have enough presentation time. Or whether it is not
too loaded with other signifcances occupying too much time.
Whichever the idea you may fnd, you have to keep in mind the fact
that the fnal product could (in 80% of the cases) look totally different. It is
not an alarming reason! It is something normal when we speak of animation
230
231
Why is it necessary that we should have all these? Because the
animation is a simple presentation mode, which has to get the on-looker used
with what he/she is about to view.
Contents
For the contents, we need several frames (but not more than 3). It is
here that we have to construct the actual action:
What happens
Who performs the action
how the action is performed
Which the characters reactions are
Which the climax is
It is here that the action should be more detailed. The interaction
between the characters, the strong points of each character, the way in which
they react should be seen. One of the most important moments is the climax
which makes our story interesting, worth told and especially illustrated.
A distinctive element for the storyboard is the foreground. That is, a
foreground is made from the frames for the content, based on a few essential
points in the presentation. It can be an important detail in the development
of the action, a facial expression, a small, but important object a word said by
the character etc. In the fnal animation, the foreground last a little more, in
order to attract the on-lookers attention.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we should not have more than a frame for a storyboard.
It should be simple, as of the story has been told and understood by this frame
and nothing follows afterwards.
The conclusion in the storyboard should not leave place for
interpretation or doubts, so as not to look like a moment in the contents
thus, the story would continue with other frames.
Basic principles in the video animation
Contrast it is one of the principles making the animation very
dynamic and very funny at the same time. For example, before
one of the characters runs after another, it should take a few steps
back (for the running start). Or, in order to hold out the hand
to take a glass of water from the table, one should frst take the
People animation (pixilation) instead of drawn or modeling
clay made characters, you use a person. This person should move
very, very slowly and a separate picture should be taken for each
movement. The advantages of this type of animation are that you
can make a real person disappear and appear somewhere else, he/
she can instantaneously change outfts, can perform spectacular
jumps or can enter a shoe box!
These are only a few of the animation methods, from among the most
frequently used ones. They can be combined in any way, so long as the fnal
product fulflls its purpose and looks good!
The following step to be taken already enters the part of things actually
done in animation!
Storyboard
It is called STORYBOARD. Think of any story, book, flm etc. Even
if it has an English name, the storyboard is nothing by the plan of the video
animation clip. If we are accustomed from school to make a plan of an action,
then it should not be very diffcult to make a plan of the animation as well.
The closest example would be the plan of a story. Why? Is it because
our animation is actually a story. A story told in moving images. And if it
is a story, what can its plan contain but the main moments of any story:
introduction, content (where there must also be a climax) and conclusion.
It is just that, besides the phrases that make up each of these parts,
all these 3 points should be transposed in images in the storyboard. These
images are extremely helpful because they help the animator view the steps of
the clip that he is going to flm and to get to know the characters.
A storyboard should not have more than 5-6 key images, proportionally
distributed according to the importance of the presented moment. Frames for
the presentation are done, on a simple sheet of paper (A4) for each of the 3.
Introduction
In the introduction, we should not have more than 1 (maximum 2)
frames. The introduction brings us into the story, presenting us:
The place
The characters
The time (to the extent possible, but not necessarily; a clock may be
shown, or it can be winter or an evening, etc.)
An idea of the action to follow (the negative character or element
can appear in a corner).
232
233
Fast vs. Slow there are actions that you should focus on and
that you should detail very much. This is why everything should
take place very slowly. The falls, for instance, take place much more
slowly, in order to catch the characters reaction, in order to see
the way every part of the body moves, the way his/her moves or
the way his/her clothes move. If it is a very long road to run, the
walk may be slow at the beginning and then one may skip a few
frames, as if the character had jumped or teleported. So, the very
important actions take place more slowly, the ordinary, frequent
ones, having a certain degree of repetitiveness should take place
faster. It is indicated that an animation flm should have both fast
moments, and slower moments, so as not to bore and to get the in-
looker more involved in the action.
Foreground the important frames should be brought to
prominence. Besides the slower development of the action, the
foregrounds are also used. They are very important, especially for
important details: facial expressions, a surprise element, a watch,
a calendar, a raising eyebrow, a sneer from which very sharp teeth
can be seen, the leaves from a tree as they fall. Foregrounds are
very important in the development of the activity of an animation.
They also represent a moment of break in the development of
the animation clip. When a foreground is presented, it should be
maintained for at least 5 seconds, in order to see the necessary
details and in order to allow the on-looker to make the connection
between the things that happened, what is seen in the foreground
and what may happen next.
hand backwards or raise it up. Any movement made in animation
should be frst contrasted by another movement. This movement
before the actual movement can be predictable (for example: before
jumping, you should frst lay down bending your knees frst and
then it is said that the on-looker is prepared for what follows), or
unpredictable (for example, in order to take an object placed on a
table, in front of a character, he/she takes his/her much to the right
and then suddenly picks up the object, as id snatching it the on-
lookers is surprised by the movement).
Characters entries the characters appearing in the story
should always entry from the same side. Why? Because the on-
looker has to know what to expect. In the classical animation, the
negative character always came from the right side of the screen,
and the positive one from the left. It is not absolutely necessary
that the same order be maintained, but the side from which the
character enters for the frst time should be maintained, in order to
provide roundness to the action.
Exaggerations the most successful cartoon frames are the ones
in which an object gets incredible proportions, because anything is
possible in animation! having a fnger 3 times bigger than your head
after having hurt yourself (your fnger) with the hammer, or getting
into a tent (as seen from the outside) and fnding a palace inside, or
making a fy fall in love with a horse, or taking a tractor out of your
pocket. The greater and the more unexpected the exaggeration, the
more successful the animation.
A movement /an image animation is used for simple things.
An image cannot be charged with too many movements. And
because animation is about bringing to life an object or an image,
the on-lookers attention should be focused on a single object at
once, in order to be aware of the movement. At the same time, this
principle is also to the animators advantage: it is very hard to focus
on moving several objects at the same time in a very small frame.
So, one object at a time is enough. Several movements can be made
at the same time only when the movements start rhythmically (the
on-looker should get accustomed to one movement; after it has
been repeated several times, a new movement can be introduced)
like a melody: the drums start frst, they keep up a rhythm for a few
seconds, then a guitar starts, afterwards the piano and so on!
234
235
Notes Notes
236
237
Notes Notes
238
239
Notes Notes
240
Notes

Ghid Educational

Încărcat de

Informații document

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Ghid Educational

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

coal i comunitate

Model de intervenie n comunitile cu copii rmai acas

S-ar putea să vă placă și