The project responds to the problem of low education of Roma children from the socially disadvantaged environment (SDE) in pre-school facilities in Slovakia and insufficient readiness of municipalities and kindergartens for their inclusion.
The aim of the project is to map the situation in the preparedness of self-governing actors to integrate children from the SDE into pre-school education and to assist them in improving their preparedness. The project has 3 parts: (1) research (mapping the situation and making recommendations), (2) Intervention (assisting municipalities and representatives of pre-primary facilities in improving their preparedness), (3) advocacy: presentation of recommendations to public policymakers. The project will focus on training of (non)pedagogical staff, training of municipalities, field social workers, etc. or reducing less visible barriers to access to quality pre-school education for socially excluded families. The project will map in detail the interests and readiness of self-government actors to extend pre-school education through qualitative methods (focus groups and semi-structured individual interviews) and quantitative research methods (community survey). Based on the research data, recommendations will be formulated as well as assistance to specific municipalities in setting the strategy for preparing for the expansion of pre-school education.
The role of the Slovak Governance Institute (hereinafter referred to as SGI) as a partner, will primarily be to carry out research activities and participate in intervention and advocacy activities. It will bring to the project not only their research experience in the field of social inclusion but also the knowledge of the sensitive formulation of public policy recommendations. The Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities participates in the project with eduRoma and SGI mainly in intervention and advocacy activities.