Empowering marginalised groups through education and training in the Danube Region

The event “Empowering marginalised groups through education and training in the Danube Region” was held on 2-3 October 2014 in Vienna organised by the OeAD – National Agency for Lifelong Learning in cooperation with the Austrian Ministry of Education and Women’s Affairs (BMBF) as EUSDR PAC9.

Background: Creating equal opportunities in learning can contribute to social inclusion of individuals from vulnerable groups, especially the Roma communities. This includes preventive approaches towards drop outs, strategies on early childhood education and literacy skills for pupils and adults. Also vocational education and training (VET) plays an important role to enhance employability and social integration of Roma and Sinti in the Danube Region.

The main aim of the conference was to promote discussions, to raise awareness and to form networks. The joint event between the OeAD – the Austrian Agency for International Mobility and Cooperation in Education, Science and Research – Department National Agency of Lifelong Learning and the Austrian Ministry of Education and Women’s Affairs (BMBF) as Coordinator of Priority Area 9 of the EUSDR served as platform in order to initiate meaningful synergies between political strategies and to support the beginning of transnational activities in the Danube Region within the European Programme Erasmus+.

The event put emphasis on the integration of socially disadvantaged pupils in primary and secondary schools – particularly Roma children’s access to education in the Danube Region countries. Vocational education and training was addressed in the workshops as well as the topics of reduction of early school leaving and education interruption, early childhood education literacy skills and family education.

For more information please take a look at the events’ homepage: http://www.bildung.erasmusplus.at/index.php?id=6330

Please find below the following documents

• Agenda
• Report
• Presentations
  • EU Policy on Roma Inclusion (Emilia Venot, EACEA)
  • Education policies and Roma participation and leadership in education reforms (Tünde Kovacs-Cerovic, University of Belgrade, former State Secretary of Ministry of Education, Serbia)
  • Increasing success and sustainability of projects in favor of Roma communities (Mikael Luciak, Initiative Minderheiten, University of Vienna)
  • EU Framework for National Roma Strategies with focus on education (Susanne Pfanner, Austrian Roma Contact Point, Federal Chancellery)
  • Info on Erasmus+
• Workshop 1: Early Childhood Education & Early School Leavers
  • TERNO – Teachers’ Education for Roma New Opportunities in School
  • Empowering Roma-Children in Viennese Schools through Roma-School mediators and learning assistance
  • Project Ideas
• Workshop 2: Literacy skills and participation of family education
  • MS4ROW: A mentoring system for Roma teenage girls and women on their vocational and educational path
  • Literacy Cubed
  • Project Ideas
• Workshop 3: Vocational Education and Training
  • ERNE – European Roma Integration good practice exchange and policy network
  • Fair Future Garlic
  • ROMA Initiative THARA
  • Project Ideas
• Workshop 4: Awareness Raising and Networks focussing on Roma
  • E-Roma Resource Project
  • SEDRIN – School Education for Roma Integration
  • Project Ideas
• Results and Future Prospects (Jasminka Markovic, Centre for Education Policy / ERI-SEE)

*Event (co)financed by the European Union