ŠID – CARING FOR CHILDREN DURING PANDEMIC

“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.