School dropouts in Shtime are being eradicated through activities and cooperation
Overcoming adversity: collaborative efforts address school dropouts in Shtime
Samet, is a charming 9-year-old boy with eyes that radiate from afar. He is a student of the ‘Emin Duraku’ Primary School in Shtime.
"I dropped out of school for a while, some time ago. My mom was sick, and my dad could not bring me to school, and the road was bad with mud and full of dogs. I didn't have a chance to come. Now I want to continue going to school, I like the Albanian language and mathematics".
Samet is one of the students who has returned to continue his studies at this school, even though he had to drop out a few years ago due to family circumstances. With the help of the school authorities and the Balkan Sunflowers Learning Centre in Shtime, Samet's father was convinced that the child should continue his studies. Now he brings Samet to and from school every day. With a smile on his face, Samet, part of the Ashkali community, shows us that not all dogs are aggressive- besides school he likes to play with the neighbourhood dogs, together with his two sisters and two brothers.
In ‘Emin Duraku’ Primary School in Shtime, there are 965 students from preschool to fifth grade, of which 72 are part of the Ashkali and Roma communities. while this school has had a history of school abandonment in the past, there are currently no students who have dropped out. The school premises host a community-based Learning Centre led by the NGO Balkan Sunflowers, which helps learning process of more vulnerable students through provision of a variety of supportive activities. What coordinator Muhamet Mehmeti tells us is really fascinating.
"Thanks to the joint work of the Municipality of Shtime, the school, our centre and the inter-discplinary team for the prevention of school dropouts, we have managed that today no student drops out of school. Considering that until 2015 there were many dropouts from the school, it is a success that today everything works well in this school" says Mehmeti. Since 2009, the Learning Centre under the leadership of Balkan Sunflowers has been integrated as part of the ‘Emin Duraku’ school, and an amazing symbiosis is evident between both institutions who are investing in education for all children, even those most at-risk.
Muhameti explains the intensive work, which is done in each potential dropout case, emphasizing the importance of establishing positive communication with the parents to pave the way for the student to return to the classroom and continue learning like everyone else.
In this school a group for the prevention of dropouts and non-registration in school has already been established, consisting of the school director, Fidan Shaqiri, Balkan Sunflowers, together with a few teachers and a few parents.
The school director, Fidan Shaqiri, shows that they are constantly working to eliminate the phenomenon of school dropout.
"I asked all the teachers that if a student is absent for more than three days, be it an Albanian student or a Roma or Ashkali student, to notify me immediately. Thanks to the quick communication we have, we understand if a student is absent, and we understand the reason why. Two years ago, we had the last case of dropping out, which we then found a solution for and brought the child back to school" explains Shaqiri.
"In this school, there are no such divisions, and from the very beginning I have had the criteria that students from the Roma and Ashkali communities should be distributed among the classes. Here today there is a harmony among the students. When someone is absent, we don't say - an Ashkali or a Roma is absent, we say Arbri, or Fidani, or Besa, the student's name, is absent. I want to say that we have begun to see especially the children who are part of the communities not as a marginalized group, but to identify those who are excellent and to engage them in activities that strengthen their potential. I think that such an approach also helps a lot in the general thinking in society" tells us the director of the school, Fidan Shaqiri.
The school has a clean and cheerful environment, and each student works to keep it at its best. Colourful paintings can be seen in the entrance and in the corridor, while in some classrooms there are also computers where coding is being taught, a profession with many prospects in the future. Through small telescopes, children learn about science and perform various experiments.
Arjeta Maliqi shares with us how this school has always remained in her heart. Once a proud student, the 20-year-old today is a volunteer with Balkan Sunflowers and works to help children in her community develop to their full potential. Balkan Sunflower is an NGO that works closely with the communities to support access to child protection service, including health and education services.
"You can't do anything without education. I'm always here to help, either with tasks or with different activities. Students have come here who haven't even known how to use a pencil, and we, about 5-6 volunteers, have helped. When we had cases of dropouts, we went and talked and took someone else as an example of how he or she overcame difficulties, just to motivate the students to come to school. I have been working as a volunteer for five years now, and I enjoy it a lot," says Arjeta.
Bute Bajrami, 29 years old, is the mother of three children in this school. Fortunately, she says that she never thought of removing the children from this school.
"I also work, and if it wasn’t for this school, I don't know what I would be doing. The children have been coming to school regularly, because I want them to have culture, to respect people, to go as high as possible, I want for my children to accomplish as much as possible. I feel very safe here and my children also feel very safe, and they respect them like any other student" Bute tells us.
In Kosovo, the challenge of school drop-out persists, despite progress made on the issue in the last decade. Arben Osmani from ECMI Kosova says that they are trying their best to eliminate the phenomenon of school dropout, as well as working on what is called “silent” dropout - when students come to classes but do not learn enough.
"I was just in the field; I am there almost every day in the field with my colleagues. We are working on identifying students and their talents so that they can stay in school, we are working on the early warning system (red flags), where any possible dropout is seen. One of our tasks as ECMI is to work with field teams, to remind them of their tasks, to work with psychologists in schools, with municipal teams and all actors, towards the development of local action plans in the most professional and efficient way" explains Osmani.
Samet, the hero of this story, every afternoon returns to his mother and father, with successful homework that promises a healthy growth for him.
UNICEF, with the generous financial support of USAID and in partnership with Balkan Sunflowers Kosova and Bethany Christian Services, is working with eight Learning Centres led by reaching more than 1,000 children with educational services. Together with ECMI Kosovo, UNICEF is strengthening the capacity of 50 lower and upper secondary schools to prevent, address, and manage dropout cases across 5 municipalities of Kosovo.
