BUCHAREST: On 18 April 2018, the Council of Europe & European Union joint project “Inclusive schools: Making a difference for Roma children” (INSCHOOL) was launched in Romania with the contribution and presence of Ministry of National Education representatives as main partners of the project. The event was also attended by the head of the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Pre-university Education (ARACIP), the Institute of Educational Sciences (ISE) and UNICEF, in an effort to coordinate initiatives and ensure complementarity of intervention between INSCHOOL and other national programmes on inclusive education with a focus on Roma children.

UNICEF works to ensure that every child learns, regardless of wealth, location, gender, (dis)ability, and language or minority status. Globally and in Romania, we are committed to equity and we focus on the most disadvantaged children: children from poor, rural areas, children from Roma families and children with disabilities. We believe that, for every child to learn, all children should access quality education and learn together. Moreover, education should lead to learning, and help children achieve their full potential and develop relevant skills for a fulfilling life. All this can be achieved only when there is a partnership between the school, the family and the community and children are encouraged to fulfill their dreams.” Luminita Costache, Educational Specialist, UNICEF

Still under the format of the national workshop, the Romanian INSCHOOL team members met in order to devise the strategic vision that will guide the implementation of the project in Romanian schools. The workshop that took place at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work - a venue kindly provided by the University of Bucharest -, sought to align priorities and agree on a strategy prior to the initiation of the work at local level in schools. The project methodology and potential actions to be taken under the Inclusive School Development Plans to be adopted by each school by the end of the 2017/2018 school year were discussed at length.

On 19 April 2019, the principals and teaching staff of the 6 selected schools attended the official launch of the project, participating in discussions about the methodology of the project, the overal timings of INSCHOOL and activities to be planned in the coming months. The selected schools in Romania are:

• Secondary School Cilibia - Buzau County (Support School)
• Secondary school "Ferdinand I" - Bucharest 2nd district (Support School)
• Secondary School Pietrosani - Teleorman County (Pilot School)
• Secondary School Contesti - Teleorman County (Pilot School)
• Secondary School “Prof. Ion Visoiu”, Chitila - Ilfov County (Pilot School)
• Secondary School Nicolae Titulescu Buzau (Pilot School)

Every child has the right to education! This was our thought when we started to work on our projects. And that`s what motivates us now, as well. On each occasion, we have struggled to provide a quality education for all our students, regardless of age, ethnicity or social status. We often encountered problems such as parents lack of interest in culture or their socio-economic status which involuntarily influence the children`s school performance. In the framework of the INSCHOOL project “Inclusive Schools: Making a Difference for Roma Children” , we intend to continue our activity to provide quality education for all our students equally and to convince them once again that everyone is welcomed to attend school and encouraged to achieve their goals.” - Doinita Guteniuc, Principal, Cilibia Secondary School