Terre des hommes Romania Foundation organized a press conference in Bucharest on Tuesday, March 28, in order to present the lessons that 20 Romanian teachers returned with from Norway. The trip was part of a sustained effort within the project "NOROC in Education" - "Norwegian-Romanian Initiative for Quality in Education" to reduce school dropout in five vulnerable counties in Romania, respectively Dolj, Olt, Gorj, Vâlcea and Bacău, and the aim was to learn how they can improve the educational process, even with limited financial resources.
Among the "details" that Romanian teachers liked were:
-one-to-one discussions between children and teachers
-cultivation of mutual trust
-collaborative spaces, where children are encouraged to be open, sociable
"The NOROC project is a project through which we want to be as close as possible to children and teachers, so that together we can find solutions to make school a more pleasant and safer environment for children", Laura Sava Ghica, General Director of Terre des hommes Foundation.
The press conference was attended by the teachers who participated in the exchange of experience, as well as Laura Sava Ghica, General Director of Terre des hommes Romania Foundation and Raluca Ciucă, NOROC Project Coordinator. At the same time, the participants had the opportunity to visit the thematic exhibition "Ideal School". The exhibition included drawings and paintings made by children from the NOROC project regions, representing clues about their wishes for an ideal school.
The purpose of the visit was to exchange experience through knowledge of the Norwegian educational system, with a focus on after-school programmes in primary and secondary schools, and also on measures to reduce school drop-out in the Norwegian educational system.
Measures to support and socially include children with special educational needs (SEN) and the Roma community in Norwegian schools were also discussed.
"The visit to Norway is part of a series of actions to identify opportunities for cooperation with Norwegian schools. Together with our partners, we have established a series of future actions for stronger collaboration between the Norwegian and Romanian educational ecosystems, the preparation of a report detailing the experience gained and lessons learned during the visit and the dissemination of this knowledge in schools, as well as the development of bilateral project proposals to be supported for submission for funding under the bilateral relations component.
Teachers will continue to hold discussions with representatives of Norwegian schools to establish partnerships and develop bilateral initiatives to improve the quality of educational services, with a focus on activities to prevent and combat school drop-out and work with children with special educational needs." Raluca Ciucă, NOROC Project Coordinator.About NORC
About NOROC
The objective of NOROC is to ensure access to quality inclusive education and to work with children at risk of dropping out of school and children with special educational needs. Throughout the two years of the project, hundreds of children and their parents from five vulnerable counties in Romania, together with teachers, experts and education practitioners participate in the project's activities and events in Romania and Norway.
The NOROC project aims to stimulate school leadership in inclusive education for children at risk of dropping out of or with special educational needs. The project is supported by a grant of €998,000 from Norway through the Norwegian Grants in Local Development Programme.
