In Čačak, another grant winner, the implementation of the Inclusive Preschool Education Project is currently underway.

“We are proud that our local municipality is part of a large and important project for Serbia and is one of the 34 local municipalities in Serbia that received funds for the realization of the project at the local level, amounting to 4,837,444 dinars. It is especially important that the state, the Ministry, the City of Čačak, children, parents, educators, social care institutions, non-governmental organizations, health services and media participate in achieving the project goal”- says Ivana Vukajlović, project team member and project coordinator on behalf of PU “Radost”. According to her, in this way, the implementers of the project want to point out the importance of inclusive preschool education and to reach every family.

The program includes the formation of a mixed group of children from three and a half to five and a half years of age from socially sensitive categories, who will attend kindergarten completely free of charge. It is realized in the kindergarten “Bambi”, in the afternoon, in the period from 15:30 to 19:30. This kindergarten is one of the eight that are in the network of PU “Radost”, in which, in the same period, the preparatory preschool program is realized, in two groups.

“That was the reason for us to decide for the kindergarten” Bambi “, because that is exactly the inclusion in the right sense of the word, for children from socially sensitive categories to be included in preschool education with other children,” said Vukajlović. “For these purposes, the room in the kindergarten was adapted, painted, additionally lit, equipped with new furniture, didactic materials, joinery was replaced…” Vukalović highlights that entire PU “Radost” team took part in this activity, including teachers and support staff, Kindergarten management, professional service…

At the beginning, a project team was formed, appointed by decision of the mayor of Čačak, Milun Todorović, and the team included representatives of all relevant institutions and project partners.

“I must point out that this team consists of nine great professionals in their respective fields, and together we have managed to overcome not an easy task,” said Vukajlović, adding: “We have mapped families and SWC have provided us with significant assistance as have the presidents of the local communities. We have formed a mobile team, which visits families, and consists of a project coordinator, representatives of PU “Radost”, SWC, Health Center, and if necessary, other members of the project team. After the formation of the group and the departure of the children to the kindergarten, they are subjected to regular educational work, like all other children “, says Vukajlović.

The partners in the realization of this project are the City of Čačak, PU “Radost”, CSR, PU “Moje detinjstvo”, Dom zdravlja, Association MNRO, as well as ŠOSO “1. Novembar”.

Source: Čačanski glas

Preschool institution “Vera Gucunja” Sombor within the Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Project, together with its partners the City of Sombor, the Center for Social Work Sombor, the Red Cross Sombor and the Association for Support of Persons with Autism “Maslačak” achieves the following:

1. Improving the accessibility of preschool institutions for children from socially vulnerable groups:

– completely renovated and equipped new premises for opening an educational group;

– provided free four-hour stay for children;

– provided a Roma assistant in order to achieve better communication with members of the Roma nationality.

2. Increasing the coverage of vulnerable groups in rural areas:

– 21 children from socially sensitive groups, aged from 3 to 5.5 years in the settlement of Bački Monoštor, are enrolled in the educational group

– for each family, an individual discussion is provided with both the educator and the professional service of the Primary School “Vera Gucunja” in order to strengthen families and increase the kindergarten coverage of children

– in the educational group, educational work is realized according to the new Curriculum Framework, fully adapted to children with a necessary flexibility and according to children’s interests.

In order to achieve child welfare and a holistic approach to child development, as well as to establish cooperation with children’s families, a partnership between different institutions is necessary. All partners are implementing their planned activities, which together enable an increase in the coverage of children from socially vulnerable groups, as well as greater availability of quality preschool education and upbringing. In the spirit of New Year’s holidays, and through partnership cooperation, the City of Sombor, the Center for Social Work, the Red Cross Sombor visited every child from the educational group within the project “Everyone to kindergarten” disguised as Santa Claus with symbolic packages.

An important component of the project is cooperation with parents. In that spirit, in addition to individual consultations that are realized in agreement with the educator and the professional service of the preschool institution, the materials that the educator delivers to the parents have also been prepared.

In response to the situation caused by Covid-19 and the impossibility of live training for the directors of preschool institutions, the team of CIP – Center for Interactive Pedagogy in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Institute for the Advancement of Education, with the support of the Inclusive Preschool Project has transferred the live training to a distance training format (online format). The training program aims to train candidates to improve the competencies of principals in accordance with the rulebook standards which prescribes the standards of competencies of directors of educational institutions and is a condition for taking the exam to obtain a license for directors of educational institutions. The training program is focused on an interactive approach and is conceived as an active, experiential, cooperative learning process, which enables mutual exchange of experience and learning.

The contents of the direct training are adapted for remote work with the help of Web 2 tools, which provides opportunities to use different formats, such as “room work”, online questionnaires, video presentations, padlet platform … The training took place through 8 online meetings and so far one group of directors had the opportunity to attend the entire training in online format in the period from 24 December 2020 to 24 January 2021.

After training, participants receive 32 hours of professional development program, and are obliged to (as in the case of live training) document the achievement of training goals by enclosing in their exam portfolio the results of research they will conduct and document the acquired knowledge and skills through products/tasks that they will realize after the training.

In order to evaluate the training program and its implementation, participants had the opportunity to express their opinion in the questionnaires created for the purpose of measuring trainees’ degree of satisfaction with the selection and implementation of topics that were chosen to prepare them for taking their license exam. Most of the participants are completely satisfied with the training, both in terms of content and topics, as well as the organization and manner of leadership by the trainers. Some of the participants’ observations are as follows:

– The choice of topics and content is relevant for the preparation of the license exam;

– The choice of topics/content and the way it all was conducted enabled me to learn and professionally develop;

– Activities within this training (knowledge tests, introduction to regulations, proposed professional literature) helped me to prepare well for the license exam;

– The training is conceived in an excellent, comprehensive and detailed manner and presented in a clear and understandable way;

– The training helped me improve digital competencies through the use of various digital tools;

– The general impression of the participants and program leaders is that the training took place in a pleasant, working atmosphere and quality exchange through cooperative learning.

The Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development, Branko Ružić, stated that, thanks to the construction of new kindergartens and the adaptation of the existing ones, the number of places in kindergartens is expected to increase by more than 10,000.

“Preschool education should be available to every child. Increasing the number of places in kindergartens and the construction of new facilities will enable a large number of children, especially from socially and economically endangered social groups, estimated number thereof being almost 4,500, to get the opportunity to go to kindergarten, “said Ružić.

He said that the capacities have been expanded in preschool institutions in Doljevac, Žitorađa and Sremska Mitrovica, and that the construction of new kindergartens is planned in Krusevac, Loznica and Merošina, reports Beta.

Construction works in kindergartens will continue in Smederevo, Leskovac, Niš, Kragujevac, Prijepolje, Prokuplje, Vladičin Han, Tutin, Novi Pazar, Šid and Lebane.

Ružić has mentioned that the quality of preschool education will be improved by providing professional support to preschool institutions in the application of the new curriculum framework “Godine uzleta”.

More than 12,000 educators and expert associates in Serbia will be included in the training, he added.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, within the Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Project, has built new kindergartens, procured mini buses for transporting children and parents from remote settlements, organized trainings for employees in preschool institutions and local municipalities.

“Caring for children is a joint responsibility” is a project implemented by the municipality of Šid in partnership with the preschool institution Jelica Stanivukovic – Šilja, the Center for Social Work, the Red Cross and the Health Center Šid, and with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development.

The project started in October 2019 and will end at the end of September 2021.

“What prompted us to apply for this invitation is the official data of the Centre for Social Work, according to which the number of materially endangered families with children aged from birth to 6.5 is increasing and the fact that a very small number of these children are included in preschool education and care. The problem is big, because it happens that parents enrol their children in preschool groups at the age of six, where they come insufficiently socialized and thus not ready to go to school. It also happens that these children have a poor level of general knowledge, which adversely affects their progress in school, “said Branimirka Riđošić, project coordinator.

Due to all this, this Project of Inclusive Preschool Education and Care envisages numerous workshops, both with children and their parents, numerous public campaigns on the importance of early childhood development, health care, as well as appropriate community services available to them, and about which they are not sufficiently informed. As a large number of them are not able to attend certain events, which are planned to be organized in Šid, a van was provided through the project, which solved the issue of transporting children and parents from rural areas. The vehicle was delivered on February 28, 2020, and on that occasion, the representative of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Sanja Štrbac Musmar, handed over the keys of the 17 seat van.

The epidemic caused by the corona virus affected the realization of the project, because gathering a larger number of people indoors was not possible. Planned workshops and large educational public campaigns were cancelled, but the project team managed to timely inform parents about the project “Caring for children is a shared responsibility” through home visits and point out the importance of early development. The educators worked with the children through Viber groups and established regular contact with the parents. All parents’ doubts were answered over the phone and instructions when working at home were given. Epidemiological measures to combat the coronavirus had to be respected, but this did not prevent the project team from changing the dynamics of the implementation of activities and organizing work with children in the way that the current situation allows. Educators from rural areas and Šid worked with children who have previously attended primary schools, as well as with children from materially endangered families. Their commitment has increased the coverage of children from materially endangered families with preschool programs and services within preschool education.

“We hope that the end of the epidemic is in sight and that everything will soon return to normal, so that gatherings of children and parents, workshops, public campaigns and everything that is planned within the project will be feasible.” We believe that this project will contribute to equalizing opportunities for learning and development of children from vulnerable social groups, that parents will be shown the need for early development of children and the importance it will have for their future, and that the institutions participating in this project will strengthen their capacities for providing this type of services”, said Branimirka Riđošić, project coordinator.