EI-ILO_IPEC Project activities

Monitoring Groups’ members meetings in Fieri schools

The implementation of the EI-ILO_IPEC Project “Teachers mobilisation and organising
Concrete Activities to prevent and eliminate school dropout and child labour in Levani
and Zhupani schools, Fieri district”, has been followed with special attention by FSASH
and SPASH presidencies, as well as by their trade union  organisations in both schools.

Monitoring Groups’ members meetings were organised in these schools, on Thursday, 14 November 2013.

24 participants, including monitoring Groups’ members and Headmaster, Gazmira Bircaj,  took part in Levani school meeting.
23 participants including teachers, pupils and parents, members of Monitoring Groups’ members, as well as school headmaster, Festim Meta, took part in Zhupani school meeting.
The Chairmen of FSASH, Xhafer Dobrushi, and SPASH, Nevrus Kaptelli took also part in both meetings.

Heads of Monitoring Groups in Levani school, Arqile Bitri, and in Zhupani school, Valbona Ymeraj, held reports on all the preparative measures, the work done, results achieved, problems faced and the main directions of their work in coming days and months.

Teachers Marsela Hebeja, Margarita Cobo, Lirime Mataj, Enkeled Resuli, in Levani school and Laureta Lilo, Arta Aliaj, Gurie Shehaj, Brunilda Mullaj in Zhupani school, spoke about the situation regarding pupils dropped out and at risk to drop out in their respective groups.
Pupils and parents, members of Monitoring Groups in both schools, as well as both chairmen took also part in discussions and shared the opinions with teachers and other participants.

The conclusion from these discussions is that the preparative work has been effective and concrete individual work with all pupils subject of this project implementation has started well and the first results in both schools are optimistic.
In Levani school they are working concretely with more than 70 individual pupils dropped out or at risk to drop out from school.
In Zhupani school  they are working concretely with more than 52 individual pupils dropped out or at risk to drop out from school
The basis for concrete individual work have been data gathered through individual questionnaires filled in during preparative work and individual plans prepared by teachers, members of monitoring groups, who are also working in close collaboration with all other teachers in both schools.
Members of monitoring groups spoke concretely, mentioning individual pupils by names, the work they have done with them, actual situation of each of them and the approaches they are going to use.

They also mentioned the first results achieved:
In Levani school, out of 22 pupils dropped out from school, 2 of them are turned back in school and other 2 have made progress and are expected to be returned, meanwhile out of 48 pupils at risk to drop out from school, 9 of them are attending the school regularly and other 3 have made some progress in attending the school.
In Zhupani school, out of 16 pupils dropped out from school are turned back 4 of them and it is expected to be returned other 2, while out of 36 pupils at risk to drop out, 11 of them are attending the school regularly, being considered out of risk to drop out and other 4 have made progress in attending the school.
A direct positive impact has had the distribution of school materials for 80 pupils in both schools, thanks to financial support from this EI-IPEC project. Additional assistance was provided for some other pupils from FSASH and SPASH, as well as from teachers and pupils themsleves, according to the respective conditions in each class from both schools.

Monitoring Groups and Preparative meetings organised
in Levani and Zhupani schools in Fieri district

As planned, one day separated meetings with representatives from both Levani and Zhupani schools in Fieri, were organised on 18 September 2013, in the framework of EI-ILO_IPEC Project implementation.

These meetings were preceded by anticipatory meetings, organised some days ago, aiming  to take all the necessary measures, regarding the identification of  the situation, discussing objectives to be realised, setting up Monitoring Groups and defining the activities to be organised, including preparations for these meetings.

Prior to these meetings we also prepared a special letter for each participant with the main concrete duties for Monitoring Groups members and other stakeholders, as well as special questionnaires for each pupil dropped out or at risk to drop out, subject of this Project implementation.

Four monitoring groups, composed of 5 members each, (3 teachers, 1 pupil, 1 parent), are set up in each school.
Teacher Arqile Bitri was nominated Head of Monitoring Groups in Levani school and teacher Valbona Ymeraj was nominated Head of Monitoring Groups in Zhupani school.

Questionnaires were distributed to each teacher member of these groups, also giving instructions about their working methods regarding individual plans, based on data gathered through filing in the individual questionnaires and organising the individual concrete work with each of them.
In Levani school each Group is responsible for 5-6 pupils dropped out from school and 10-12 pupils at risk to drop out from school, meanwhile in Zhupani school each Group is responsible for 4-5 pupils dropped out from school and 9-12 pupils at risk to drop out from school.

Teachers spoke about preparative work they had done to identify individual problems of all pupils dropped out or at risk to drop out from school and their plans how to deal with each of them.
Working program, objectives of Project implementation and role of Monitoring Groups were also subject of discussions in these meetings.

This way of organisation, through Monitoring Groups, is only for the responsibility and the coordination, because the work with pupils will be done jointly with all other teachers of the respective schools, their classmates, their parents, involving, when necessary, also other stakeholders.

Wider preparative meetings were organise after that, in both schools, with participation of working groups members, pupils, parents, representatives from Fieri Regional Educational Directorate, Roma associations etc.
Chairman of FSASH, Xhafer Dobrushi, opened both meetings and spoke about the commitment of FSASH and SPASH to mobilise teachers and support their work to keep pupils in school, to prevent and eliminate child labour, mentioning also the experience they have gained, especially in some districts where they have worked concretely also supported by EI, AOb, FNV etc.

Coordinator of the Project, Stavri Liko, made the presentation on Project objectives,  activities to be organised, working program and approaches which will be used during this Project implementation, mentioning also that this Project is a direct contribution of EI and ILO_IPEC.
Schools Headmasters Gazmira Bircaj, (Levani school), and Festim Meta, (Zhupani school), as well as Heads of Monitoring Groups, Arqile Bitri and Valbona Ymeraj, spoke about the actual situation in their respective schools, preparative measures and their commitment to work concretely for project objectives realisation.

School materials were also distributed for 80 pupils from both schools, thanks to financial support from this EI-ILO_IPEC Project. Special ceremonies were organised in both schools for distribution of these school materials, during these meetings, in the presence of all participants, including FSASH/SPASH representatives.