Project of the General Secondary School “Muharrem Çollaku”:
Inclusion, the new philosophy of our school
Specific project’s objectives:
- To raise awareness of teachers, parents, pupils and community on the inclusion, on the project and on the importance of their active involvement for its successful realization;
- To improve communication and relationships of parents, teachers and pupils in order to successfully solve their problems;
- To create a better school environment with new opportunities that encourage and support inclusion and development of pupils with disabilities, social and learning difficulties, at risk of marginalization and exclusion, as well of other pupils.
Project’s main activities:
Awareness Campaign:
- Two Awareness Meetings with various stakeholders regarding the initiative to make school be a centre of Inclusive Education;
- A “Local TV Studio Discussion” with representatives from the School and Teacher Net, Parent’s Council , School Board, Pupils Government and Local Government on inclusive education, problems and challenges in schools and project initiative;
- Preparation and distribution of 1500 leaflets in various public places of the community by Student Government and other pupils wearing T-shirts with the logo of the project of inclusion;
- Promotional spot on the essence of inclusion and importance of involvement of all stakeholders, broadcasted on local TV;
- Establishment of special project corner and setting a monitor at the school entrance for providing information necessary for the project to all stakeholders.
Improvement of school environment:
- Construction of four ramps at the entrance of the schoolyard, the school building and of the gym,
- Appointment of a person responsible for providing assistance to pupils and other persons with mobility difficulties;
- Preparation of a multifunctional room and its equipment with chess, tennis tables and painting angels, etc.;
- Decoration and rearrangement of classrooms and school corridor so that they create a feeling of welcoming and inclusive school;
Increasing the capacity of teachers, parents and pupils by:
- Training of teachers on inclusion, especially to communication and involvement of the children with disabilities and their parents, besides other pupils and parents;
- Establishing Inclusion Support Team (IST), consisting of 5 teachers, 5 parents and 5 pupils;
- Training Inclusion Support Team on recognition and treatment of various inclusion-related problems;
- Three workshops with parents on importance of communication, diversity issues and inclusion, organised by IST;
- Identifying problems of parents in cooperation and coordination with the Local Government at the workshops. The aim is to provide socio-economic support to the target group of parents and children with these problems (economic aid, employment…);
- Engaging two student to support pupils in need, in the classroom of the Pupils’ Councils; ;
- Pupils Government will share information with others after training “Understanding, respecting and appreciating Diversity”;
- Painting a mural on one of the main walls of the school hall, on theme “An Inclusive School”.
Peer Learning or exchange of experience with other local schools:
- Workshop with teachers and school leaders: Nine local primary schools will encourage the promotion and development of positive inclusion practices at other levels of pre-university education system;
- Workshop of the “Inclusion Support Team”(IST) at the high school of Çerrave in Pogradec district
Organization of highly inclusive activities (for pupils, parents, teachers):
- The Week of Inclusion in Education: exhibition of pupils’ drawings, paintings, handcrafts and photos;
- The Day of Poetry and Drama with the theme of diversity and inclusion;
- Sports day with football, volleyball, basketball, chess and tennis games;
- A very large activity on promoting the values and cultural traditions of the community
Ceremony closure of the project
- All the participants of the project and representatives of project beneficiaries will share challenges and problems faced, lessons learned, progress achieved within the projects and future steps. These themes will mark class-based discussions, presentation of the main project moments and school and community-based forum with more than 70 participants
Project’s target groups:
- Direct beneficiaries: 350 pupils with disabilities, learning difficulties, social and economic problems, children of immigrants, 120 parents, 457 other pupils, 40 teachers and school administrators of our school and 30 teachers and school administrators of other schools of the district, Class and School Parent Councils and Student Government representatives.
- Indirect beneficiaries: The whole school, all the parents, primary and secondary schools of the district, Local Government, Education Office and the whole community.