‘Choose school’ project to help keep Romanian children in school
In Romania, where just one in four rural Romanian teens attends high school, the Orthodox Church believes it has a role to play in changing people’s attitudes towards education and particularly encouraging youth to develop a more positive attitude and behaviour towards school.
‘Choose School’, funded through a European Union grant, is about instilling hope in children and youth for a brighter future with an education that can help provide choices. It builds upon the work that World Vision has been doing for almost a decade - offering scholarships to students from rural areas, investing in school infrastructure (renovating schools and kindergartens, building indoor bathrooms, etc.) and working with parents in counseling sessions.
The project will run for three years with a total of 91 camps to be organised for an average of 3,600 children per year. Roma children aged five and 14, who are amongst the most marginialised in Romania, will also be included in the project.
Our goal is to reach as many children as we can, especially vulnerable children such as Roma children, poor children and adolescents from rural areas or from poor urban neighbourhoods Activities with children will be preceded by multiple training of trainers’ sessions for priests with some 1,206 priests – approximately one third of Romania’s priests - to be trained to work with the children both in their parishes and in the summer camps.
“Our goal is to reach as many children as we can, especially vulnerable children such as Roma children, poor children and adolescents from rural areas or from poor urban neighbourhoods”, said Father Constantin Naclad – Faith and Development Manager for World Vision Romania. The project has also been endorsed by His Beatitude Daniel - Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
World Vision Romania has worked alongside the Romanian Orthodox Church for the past ten years. The Youth Bible Curriculum (YBC) project initiated by World Vision in Romania was handed over to the Orthodox Church last year and the curriculum is now the official Sunday school material in Romania. For the YBC initiative, World Vision Romania received the highest honour given to non-clergy.
Like many Eastern European countries, Romania struggled to provide spiritual education for young Christians after the fall of communism due to a dearth of learning materials. In the six countries participating in YBC, to date 300,000 books have been distributed and more than 2,500 teachers have been trained.
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‘Choose School’, funded through a European Union grant, is about instilling hope in children and youth for a brighter future with an education that can help provide choices. It builds upon the work that World Vision has been doing for almost a decade - offering scholarships to students from rural areas, investing in school infrastructure (renovating schools and kindergartens, building indoor bathrooms, etc.) and working with parents in counseling sessions.
The project will run for three years with a total of 91 camps to be organised for an average of 3,600 children per year. Roma children aged five and 14, who are amongst the most marginialised in Romania, will also be included in the project.
Our goal is to reach as many children as we can, especially vulnerable children such as Roma children, poor children and adolescents from rural areas or from poor urban neighbourhoods Activities with children will be preceded by multiple training of trainers’ sessions for priests with some 1,206 priests – approximately one third of Romania’s priests - to be trained to work with the children both in their parishes and in the summer camps.
“Our goal is to reach as many children as we can, especially vulnerable children such as Roma children, poor children and adolescents from rural areas or from poor urban neighbourhoods”, said Father Constantin Naclad – Faith and Development Manager for World Vision Romania. The project has also been endorsed by His Beatitude Daniel - Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
World Vision Romania has worked alongside the Romanian Orthodox Church for the past ten years. The Youth Bible Curriculum (YBC) project initiated by World Vision in Romania was handed over to the Orthodox Church last year and the curriculum is now the official Sunday school material in Romania. For the YBC initiative, World Vision Romania received the highest honour given to non-clergy.
Like many Eastern European countries, Romania struggled to provide spiritual education for young Christians after the fall of communism due to a dearth of learning materials. In the six countries participating in YBC, to date 300,000 books have been distributed and more than 2,500 teachers have been trained.
-Ends-
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