PreParation for indePendent living

Transcription

Preparation for
independent
living
I MATTER
October 2013
Briefing paper 6
education
leaving care briefing paper – Education
2
Contents
03
05
09
11
EDITORIAL
the SOS Youth House
Education in the international development debate
CZECH REPUBLIC: Education for children in institutional care
Finland: Innovation in education. Home schooling at
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Estonia: Mari
14
GERMANY: Research on connecting education and biographical learning
18
Belarus: IT4You Resource Centre
20
European Union: Inclusive education for children and young people
23Poland: The Educational Triad. A model for learning self-reliance
25
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Life stories and recommendations of
young people living in care
27SOS support to young people
IMPRINT
This is a publication of the I Matter campaign: a campaign run by
SOS Children’s Villages in Europe and Central Asia on young people
ageing out of care. No commercial use is allowed. Articles may be
reproduced if the source is stated, unless otherwise indicated in this
publication.
Date of publication: October 2013
Publisher:
This Briefing Paper on education is the final in a series of
SOS Children’s Villages International
six publications from SOS Children’s Villages, as part of
Programme Development
the I Matter Campaign. We hope the I Matter Briefing Pa-
Hermann-Gmeiner-Straße 51
pers informed and inspired you, and we also sincerely
A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
thank everyone who contributed to these publications.
Although the I Matter campaign is coming to a close in
E-mail: [email protected]
2013, it does not mean our work on leaving care is end-
www.sos-childrensvillages.org
ing. SOS Children’s Villages will continue to advocate
Editors-in-chief: Magdalena Krenn, Mathilde Scheffer, Raluca
with and for young people leaving care to reach their full
Verweijen-Slamnescu
potential and prevent them being abandoned for a sec-
Contributors (in alphabetical order): Claudia Arisi, Yuliya
ond time when they age out of care.
Bykouskaya,
You can stay up-to-date with our activities on
Lukkarinen, Ronan Mangan, Katharina Mangold, Hana Pazlarova,
http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/.
Aksana Poznyakova, Jasna Sofovic, Taali, Severine Thomas, Maren
Anna-Liisa Hännikäinen-Uuutela, Agnieszka Kozakoszczak, Silvia
Zeller
To contact us, please write to:
Graphic design, typeset: Simone Rechfelden, Johanna Romillo
[email protected]
Editing: Mary Brezovich
Cover photo: Katerina Ilievska
Editorial
Supporting care
leavers to reach
higher education
Based on my personal experiences in the Nordic
countries, young people leaving care are underrepresented in higher education. I believe this is not due
to lower intelligence or capabilities, but often as a
result of a variety of issues such as lack of self-confidence, lack of emotional resources due to previous
life events, or simply a lack of role models or social
networks. The low rate of young people in higher
education is a socio-economic loss as well as a loss
on the individual level if the young person has not
been supported to fulfil his or her highest potential.
Naturally, many care leavers aspire to a career in a
non-academic field, but I am convinced there is a
huge untapped potential among the young care
leavers who do have the desire for higher education. I call for a multi-sector approach for supporting young people leaving care, so that a higher number of care leavers can start and finish higher
education in their field of interest.
In broader terms, the goal should not only be to support care leavers to attain higher education, but to
find their own way in life and to empower them to
solve problems in their lives and in the lives of others. Considering that young people leaving care
have often conquered difficult life situations, they
are valuable citizens equipped to solve many
kinds of problems in the private, public and NGO
sectors. In my personal opinion, one reason for the
lower attendance in higher education of care leavers
compared to the average population is the fact that
care leavers are more likely to use their resources in
other areas of life. Some might still be living in
“fight or flight” mode due to trauma in childhood.
Or, if the young person has arrived at a safe place in
life, he or she might be busy building the personali-
© Katerina Ilievska
I MATTER
ty and skills that did not develop properly in childhood. Or it might be that a young person who had to
take care of parents as a child starts living the careless childhood later in life. Whatever the personal
history might be, the mental or financial resources
of young people leaving care might be scarce, and
additional support is needed to encourage personal
development and studies.
Many young people in care lack role models or reference points for ordinary life, including work or
family life. I also believe that young people in care
have a professional disadvantage since they lack
strong social networks. The lack of role models and
social networks is a considerable hindrance when it
comes to envisioning, evaluating and comparing
possible future professions, as well as getting a foot
into working life. One way to encourage care leavers into higher education could be to provide interaction with adult professionals or care leavers who
are already in the work field. Peer-to-peer support
could also strengthen the self-confidence of young
people and build a bridge to the more formal relations of working life.
In addition to a lack of role models, low self-confidence is a big issue for care leavers. Some children
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do badly in primary education due to difficulties in
their lives. What is needed is an adult who can see
the capabilities and potential of the child and adjust
the approach so that the child is motivated to use his
or her talent. Teachers have a key position in the development of a young person, especially in the lives
of young people living in care. Since the young person might not have enough close relationships to
adults, the relationships to teachers can become
very important.
Even if I think that soft issues such as self-esteem,
role models and social networks are key to helping
young people reach their highest potential, we cannot ignore financial circumstances. Although higher
education is free in the Nordic countries, most students struggle to balance studies with work. To afford the high cost of living in big cities, students
without parental support usually take on part-time
jobs to supplement their loans and study allowance.
Clearly, one way to encourage young people in
higher education is the provision of financial support. Providing young care leavers in higher education with affordable housing and support for books
and study materials is essential because it allows the
student to focus on studies.
While mentoring programs, financial assistance
and great teachers would be a great support
for many care leavers, we should ask: Is there
really a “one size fits all” solution?
When I ask myself how care could be developed so
that more care leavers reach higher education, I always come back to the term “quality of care”. The
above-mentioned services might help many, but
what I call for is something that is closer to parenting. Every young person needs an adult who sees
and encourages him or her individually. Young people need role models for values, behaviour and opinions that can support them in their personal development.
Young care leavers have different backgrounds and
face different difficulties in life, which is why it is
so important that the services provided to care leavers are not “one size fits all”, but take a holistic view
on the young person’s life. I believe that SOS Children’s Villages has an important role to play in the
international care sector in providing children with
family-based care, where individual needs are assessed and met.
With the kind of care and services that help the
young person to develop his or her personality and
to find his or her own voice, more young people
would have the confidence and resources to attend
higher education. Finding their own voice not only
empowers the individuals; it releases the wisdom
embedded in their unique life experiences to the
service of others. My vision is that care leavers become active social agents who debate and solve important issues in their local communities.
Silvia Lukkarinen
I Matter Peer Researcher from Finland
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© SOS Archives
Education in the international
development debate
Today, the international development framework is
centred on the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), agreed on at the 2000 UN Millennium
Summit. The MDGs consist of a set of quantified
targets in different areas – including education and
child rights – that over 180 national governments
have committed to achieve by 2015. Since 2010, the
UN has initiated a process of open consultations,
aimed to involve civil society organisations, development institutions and research centres in the definition of a post-2015 agenda. In the ongoing debate,
equitable quality education and life-long learning
for all are discussed among the top priorities for future global development efforts.
MDGs pre-2015
The 2000 Millennium Declaration addresses education as both a human right and a key tool to combat
poverty in all its forms. By ratifying it, national gov-
ernments have committed to two education-related
targets for 2015:
■■ Target 3 (MDG2 on Universal Primary Education): Ensure that all the world’s children will be
able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
■■ Target 4 (MDG3 on Gender Equality): Eliminate
gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, and in all levels of education no
later than 2015.
As the target end date is approaching, it is time for
assessments. UNESCO, UNICEF and the UN Secretary-General have tracked global progress towards
MDGs through internationally recognised indicators.
Latest figures show that MDGs have given many
countries a push to increase enrolment rates. SubSaharan Africa has one of the best records of improvement, with enrolment rates of children of pri-
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mary school age jumping from 58% to 76% between
1999 and 2010. However, part of this success is due to
the policy change introduced in the late 1990s by several governments to remove school fees and grant
free compulsory primary education, as provided by
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Narayan
2012). Moreover, progress on primary school enrolment has slowed since 2004, and in 2010, 61 million
children of primary school age and 70 million adolescents (aged 12-15 years on average) were out of school
(UN 2012). The majority of children and young people left behind represent the most disadvantaged
groups of the population: children living in the poorest households, children without or at risk of losing
parental care, girls from marginalized communities,
and children with disabilities (Narayan 2012).
The MDG agenda has prompted undeniable progress
on the education front. It has helped to target policies,
mobilize resources and focus interventions. Yet, despite the launch of global initiatives to intensify collective efforts to meet education commitments1 by
2015, important goals will be missed, like universal
primary completion and gender equality in secondary education (Narayan 2012). In view of this, most
actors taking part in global consultations on post2015, from governments and UN agencies to the civil
society, agreed that “education is one of the core ‘unfinished businesses’ of the MDGs that must be prioritized in the post-2015 development agenda” (TST
2013).
Post-2015 EMERGING VIEWS
In the global discussion on development goals beyond
2015, there is increasing recognition that the current
framing of MDG targets and indicators provides a
partial view of education from a human development
perspective. While MDG2 and MDG3 continue to be
a priority, new issues are emerging from the lessons
learnt, creating a window of opportunity for a paradigm shift in education policy.
To start with, it is widely recognised that MDG emphasis on schooling has shifted the attention away
from learning outcomes. Although free universal
access to basic education has been promoted over
the past decade, outdated didactics, poor infrastructures, and a low number of qualified and motivated
teachers, have often resulted in repetitive knowl-
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e.g. UN Secretary General’s ‘Education First’ initiative, with three thematic pillars: a) every child in school, b) quality education
and c) global citizenship; ‘Educate a Child’ initiative, focused on access to education for children living in conflict areas.
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edge (parroting) or even children’s failure to achieve
elementary literacy and numeracy skills (UNESCO
2012b). In 2012, it was estimated that the proportion
of children of primary school age not learning the
basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, was of
about 20% (UNESCO 2012a). This failure to achieve
basic skills, in turn, has multiple negative effects on
the well-being of individuals, their families and
their communities. For example, it was estimated
that 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty
if all students in low-income countries acquired basic reading skills (UNESCO 2012a). Thus, the first
lesson learnt from MDGs is that access and completion targets must be coupled with quality education
and learning concerns.
Another largely accepted shortcoming of MDGs is
that their focus on primary education has de-emphasised all other forms of education. Among the
latter, the present educational discourse encompasses early childhood care, post-primary education and
vocational training for young people, and non-formal education (UN Thematic Consultation on Education 2013).
This broader conceptualisation of education reflects
a renewed attention to lifelong learning, which has
been a European policy focus over the past decade
and is now entering the global agenda. In the face of
growing unemployment in almost all economies,
greater attention is being given to the need to equip
people – especially the young – with the vocational,
technical and non-cognitive skills2 needed for work
(UN High Level Panel 2013).
The inclusion of non-formal education in the debate
is also partly related to this lifelong approach. More
importantly, it opens the way for policy adaptation
to the needs of the most disadvantaged children and
young people. Provided that the state remains accountable, non-formal education can in fact promote
greater engagement of communities in the creation
of alternative learning opportunities to reach those
who may not manage to attend mainstream school,
like: children and young people with inadequate
care and protection; child labourers; children and
young people with disabilities; indigenous or rural
people; and children living in disaster, conflict or
post-conflict contexts (TST 2013).
These groups are also those who continue to have
inequitable access to education. By way of example,
the UN found that children who have lost both parents are 12% less likely to attend school than other
children (UN 2010). In the face of these persistent
inequalities, some have suggested to replace national and global average measurements with equity focused targets and disaggregated indicators, to focus
on the most excluded rather than on “quick wins”
(UNDG 2013).
There are good chances that all these issues will be
contained in the future development agenda. A sign
of this is the following overarching education goal,
emerged from the Global Thematic Consultation on
post-2015 and endorsed by the Technical Support
Team, co-chaired by UNDESA and UNDP: “Equitable Quality Education and Lifelong Learning for
All” (TNT 2013).
Education for young people
leaving care
Today, adolescents and young adults are one quarter
of the world’s population, some 1.8 billion people.
They are concentrated in developing countries and
are about three times as likely as adults to be unemployed. The good news is that youth employment,
adequate education and training, and decent jobs
now dominate national and international discussions. Recently, the UN High Level Panel on post2015 has placed great emphasis on youth skills development and even proposed the inclusion of a jobs
target with a specific indicator for youth employment in the next goal framework.
But what do young people think about education?
How do they believe education would affect their
life and career paths?
According to the latest results of the My World
Global Survey led by the UN, young people have
ranked ‘a good education’ as the top issue that would
make the most difference to their lives.
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Non-cognitive skills include among others: teamwork, analytical thinking, problem-solving
capacity, interpersonal skills, communication skills and emotional maturity.
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The UN My World Global Survey asks individuals which 6 out of 16 possible issues
they think should be prioritised in the next
global development agenda. Everyone can
participate in the survey, available on: http://
www.myworld2015.org/
In line with global trends, young people participating in the I Matter peer research project have shown
that access to quality education makes the difference also for care leavers.
Peer research respondents – including both young
people who have left care and young people still living in care – reported that they had only limited access to adequate education and training. In fact,
References:
▪▪ Narayan, Swati. (2012). Education for All: Beyond 2015.
Mapping Current International Actions to Define the Post-2015
young people with an alternative care background
frequently have an educational deficit, due to disrupted schooling and general instability in many aspects of their life. Moreover, they often lack the necessary institutional support to address skills deficits
and benefit from meaningful career guidance. When
they receive assistance, it rarely takes into account
their talents and aspirations. As a result, it becomes
particularly hard for them to continue to higher education, find a job, and, more generally, move out of
their current care setting. The educational needs of
young people leaving care therefore demand particular attention in order to secure for them a smoother
and sustainable transition to independent living.
claudia arisi
Liaison & Advocacy
World’s Children. Children with Disabilities. [accessed 3 July 2013]
http://www.unicef.org/sowc2013/
▪▪ UN Technical Support Team (TST) (2013) Issues Brief: Educa-
Education and Development Agendas. UNESCO, [accessed 3
tion and Culture. [accessed 3 July 2013]
July 2013]
http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/.../documents/18290406tsti
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002179/217935e.pdf
▪▪ United Nations (UN) (2012) The Millennium Development
Goals Report 2012, [accessed 3 July 2013]
suesedcult.pdf
▪▪ The World We Want 2015 (2013) Thematic Consultation on
Education in the post-2015 development agenda. Summary of
http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/
Outcomes. 18-19 March, Dakar, Senegal [accessed 3 July 2013]
Products/Progress2012/English2012.pdf
http://en.unesco.org/post2015/sites/post2015/files/EN%20
▪▪ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2012b) Education For All Global Monitoring
Report 2012. Youth and Skills: Putting Education to Work.
-%20Education%20in%20the%20post-2015%20agenda%20
-%20Summary%20of%20Outcomes.pdf
▪▪ High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015
[accessed 3 July 2013]
Development Agenda (2013) A New Global Partnership:
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-
Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through
international-agenda/efareport/reports/2012-skills/
Sustainable Development. [accessed 3 July 2013]
▪▪ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) (2012c) Global Education Digest.
Opportunities Lost: The Impact of Grade Repetition and Early
School Leaving. [accessed 3 July 2013]
http://www.post2015hlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/
UN-Report.pdf
▪▪ United Nations (2010) Keeping the Promise – A Forward
Looking Review to Promote an Agreed Action Agenda to
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/
Achieve the MDGs by 2015 . [accessed 3 July 2013]
news/stumbling_blocks_to_universal_primary_education_rep-
http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/64/665
etition_rates_decline_but_dropout_rates_remain_high/
▪▪ United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (2011) Boys and
▪▪ United Nations Development Group (UNDG) (2013) The Global
Conversation Begins. Emerging Views for a New Development
Girls in the Life Cycle. [accessed 3 July 2013]
Agenda. [accessed 3 July 2013]
http://www.unicef.org/media/files/Gender_hi_res.pdf
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/mdg/
▪▪ United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (2013) The State of the
global-conversation-begins/
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© SOS Archives
CZECH REPUBLIC:
Education for children in
institutional care
Education remains a challenge for children in care
in the Czech Republic. Young people leaving care
achieve a significantly lower level of education than
their peers. While in the general population one out
of every four young people aged 20 to 29 reaches
higher education or higher vocational education, the
number for those coming from institutional care is
just one out of 171. A child living in his own family
has a more than forty times higher chance of studying at college than a child living in care. In 2012,
from the 6,941 children and young people living in
institutional care, only 67 of them were studying at
a higher vocational school or university (in 2011, 53
out of 7,150). Less than 1% of children living in in-
stitutional care obtain a university degree. And this
number has not changed for many years.
A contributing factor is the type of school that children in care often attend during their compulsory
schooling. Many attend special schools (základní
škola praktická) which are intended for educating
children with mild mental disabilities and therefore
have a reduced content in their curriculum. The pupils who often go to these schools are children with
behavioural problems, children who are socially
excluded and children in care. The Czech Republic
has been repeatedly criticized internationally by
intergovernmental organisations (United Nations
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Commission on Human Rights, the European
Court of Human Rights) for the high number of
Roma children in special schools, which does not
correspond to their representation in the population. Although there are no statistics about the
number of children in care who are enrolled in special schools, we can assume that this number is
also too high.
After completing a special school, it is very difficult
to continue on to a mainstream high school or vocational training school (3-4 years). Most graduates of
special schools can continue only in special vocational trainings (2 years), again with a reduced content in terms of education and curriculum. This increases the difference in educational levels between
children from care and the majority population and
also significantly reduces their chances on the labour market. Young people leaving care have a high
risk of unemployment for a variety of reasons, the
limits on their education clearly being one of them.
On the other hand, we can also find some strengthening factors in the Czech Republic that support
children in care in their education. Generally, care
ends at the age of 18. But young people can stay in
the system until they are 26 if they are studying. Additionally, after age 18 they can receive support
based on mutual agreement with their care facility
or they can stay with foster carers with all social
benefits as when they were children. Around 500
young people from institutional care and foster care
take advantage of this opportunity every year.
There are some examples of good practices in this
field in recent years. Several foundations have been
created to support gifted children in care in their
studies by paying tuition and contributing to other
living expenses. Some private universities and higher schools have reserved places for children in care.
One prestigious boarding school, Open Gate School,
was founded with the intention to connect children
from ordinary families and children in care. “The
school’s philosophy rests on offering all young people who show sufficient academic talent and ability
the possibility to fulfil their potential, regardless of
their family background or personal situation”.
There is also a mentoring project for students in
care. Each student has a mentor who is an expert in
the field the student is studying. The aim is to help
the student academically and with the development
of social networks in their field.
Clearly, there are learning opportunities for gifted
students today. However, we need to improve the
level of basic education for children in care – even
those who have special educational needs or challenging behaviour – so that they can continue and
succeed in secondary education.
Hana Pazlarová, Ph.D.
Department of Social Work
Charles University Prague
Sources:
▪▪ Statistical Yearbook. (2012). Ministry of Education Czech
Republic
▪▪ Česká vláda propadá už pátým rokem. Školy stále dIskrIminují
Romy. (2012). Amnesty International, Evropské centrum pro
práva Romů
▪▪ www.opengate.cz
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© SOS Archives
Finland:
Innovation in education. Home
schooling at the SOS Youth House
The SOS Youth House of SOS Children’s Villages
Finland was established in 1974 in the beautiful suburb of Jyväskylä on the shores of Päijänne Lake to support young people age 13-17. Over the years it became
clear that not everyone was able to attend the local
comprehensive school. This was mainly due to earlier
problems the young people had at school before moving to the Youth House: truancy, disorderly conduct,
difficulties adapting to the rules of a regular classroom, ADHD-related concentration problems, etc.
In response, the director of the SOS Youth House
started discussions with the Jyväskylä municipality
school board at the beginning of the 2004. The director’s idea was to teach these students in smaller
groups with an individualized approach at the Youth
House, following the curriculum of the public comprehensive school. Her hope was that in smaller
groups, the young people would get better support so
that they could learn more effectively and ultimately
be re-integrated into public school. The new service
began 1 August 2004.
Before pupils can begin home schooling, they need to
have approval from school administrators, a psychologist and the advisors of the Youth House. Formally,
they stay registered at the public school, and a personal curriculum is individually devised for them by
the school (special teachers, psychologists) and the
Youth House staff (e.g. social workers). The municipality pays a specific cost per school day to the Youth
House (as agreed by both the municipality and Youth
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House). The Youth House, for its part, offers the
premises and pays the salary of the teacher, who is
the employee of the Youth House. The Youth House
gets all needed materials and desks from the public
school and municipality. Teachers at the comprehensive school also provide professional support, exams
and evaluations. The Youth House offers home
schooling services as so-called non-institutional care,
which means it can offer temporary support to young
people who are not residents. This is the easiest and
cheapest way for the municipality to support young
people at risk of social exclusion.
To put the educational services of the SOS Youth
House in context, in Finland compulsory schooling
begins at age 7, and takes the form of “comprehensive
schools”, meaning open to all and not based on selection (academic achievement or aptitude) or ability to
pay. The compulsory comprehensive school lasts for
nine years, and upon completion, usually at age 16,
students can continue their secondary education in an
academic track or a vocational track.
The residents of the SOS Youth House are mainly between the ages of 13-17 and the home school service
is meant to support them in any phase of comprehensive school when problems occur. The results are impressive. Since its inception in 2004, all young people
who participated in home school services successfully completed the grade they were in and proceeded
on to the comprehensive school. Some of them have
since graduated.
These results demonstrate that we have succeeded in
supporting young people with their education during
the care process, and during shorter periods of noninstitutional care, too. Our home school system is a
very effective and inexpensive way to support those
at risk of social exclusion. For young people who may
have complicated problems to work through, an individualized, small group approach can help in decreasing school drop-out rates.
Anna-Liisa
Hännikäinen-Uutela
SOS Youth House Director
SOS Children’s Villages Finland
Estonia:
Mari
This story is about Mari, a girl who lives in an
alternative care facility in Estonia. Today she is
studying international youth work at university,
and she is in her second year already. This story
is about her educational path, which has been
very bumpy.
Mari moved to an alternative care institution
with her twin brother when she was four years
old. She moved back to her father’s place, then
lived in a foster family for some time and then
moved back to her father’s place again. By the
time she was 13, she couldn’t deal with life with
her father anymore, so she talked to a social
worker who found her and her brother a place in
an alternative care institution.
Education has always been something important
to Mari although she has had many problems
with it. When she was in second grade she had
trouble finishing the class, but the teachers were
accommodating and helped her.
Mari says that her grades have always been
quite bad, nothing remarkable. At the end of elementary school when she passed her mathematics exam with the minimum score, her
teacher said she couldn’t go to high school. Instead, Mari went to a vocational school to learn
sales. Her grades in vocational school were average, and no one believed that she could one
day step into university. The workers at her care
institution insisted she should get a job and for-
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get the university plans: “You won’t get in anyway. You are too dumb for university. What’s
the point of studying if you can get a job and
move out as soon as possible?” Nor did a single
teacher at Mari’s school believe she could pass
the state exams.
But Mari was very determined. She thought she
would show everybody that they were wrong
about her. She was hard-working and she believed in herself. At the end of vocational school
she was the only one who took the state exams
for the purpose of getting into university. In Estonia, to get into university you must take the
state exams. Each field of study requires certain
exams and those with the highest score get in.
Study places are divided into free and priced
places.
not interested in encouraging the idea of university. They think that finding a job is a more secure option than acquiring an education. Skills
matter more than knowledge.
Another big problem is that if you don’t get a free
place at university then you have to pay. Facilities do not have the money to pay for young people to study. And young people don’t have the
opportunity to take out loans from banks because they need a guarantor.
As a matter of fact, Mari got into university, but
she didn’t get a free place. So she worked the
whole summer to earn money for her studies.
She was also able to get financial assistance from
a foundation that supports young people from alternative care with their studies. Mari wants to
be a juvenile corrections officer one day.
Also, young people have to finish their studies in
nominal time otherwise they have to leave the
facility. In Estonia, they have the right to stay
until the end of their master studies, but they
must finish in nominal time. They don’t have the
opportunity to take time off and work as a babysitter for one year, to think about what they
want to do with their future life. Young people in
general aren’t sure who they want to be after they
finish high school. But young people from alternative care have to make the choice right away.
They don’t have the option to change their mind
if they find that the subject doesn’t suit them very
well, because then they have to leave the facility.
I can say that it is quite hard for young people
from alternative care to go and study at university. Usually there is a lack of self-confidence;
they have nobody believing and supporting them.
Also, some facility workers are happy when the
young person moves out of the facility and are
Author: Taali
Member of the I Matter International
Youth Council from Estonia
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GERMANY:
Research on connecting education
and biographical learning
The importance of education for the field of child
and youth care – and therefore also for care leavers
– is a widely discussed topic in many countries.
However, the discourses vary significantly in the
ways education is approached and in the kind of
problems highlighted. In many English-speaking
countries, there is growing concern about the academic underachievement of children in residential
and foster care compared to their same-age peers.
By contrast, in Germany, the discussion focuses on
the question of the extent to which the child and
youth care system contributes to the education – in
a broad sense – of children and young people. In
Germany, the term “education” (Bildung) is not restricted to school or university, but encompasses all
processes of learning in various locations, settings
and institutions. In particular, social pedagogy, the
academic discipline with which child and youth care
is closely coupled in Germany, regards child and
youth care as an entity that supports young people
in both their biographical and academic learning
processes.
I MATTER
Biographical learning processes
of young women leaving care
A study conducted recently in Germany (Zeller,
2012) connects these different perspectives and
discourses: it starts with a broad, social-pedagogical perspective on education and learning, but
goes on to focus on the question of how education
and learning in general are connected to the academic education of children and young people in
residential care.
The study is based on biographical analyses of
young women who have left residential care. Altogether, fifteen autobiographical interviews were
conducted and the interviewees’ current learning
processes reconstructed. In short, the results of
the study emphasize that situations of biographical crisis that can occur while being in care or after leaving care can clearly be an obstacle to successful school attainment. On the other hand, if a
biographical learning process has taken place, it is
very likely that education will be successfully resumed.
Thus, the findings of this study are complementary to the results drawn from another very recent
German study (Albus et al., 2010) which shows
that better grades in school are closely connected
with the well-being of children in care. In short,
the connection can be described as follows: biographical crises inhibit academic attainment, and
personal well-being increases it.
As the results of the Zeller study show, the social
pedagogical approach has advantages, but at the
same time the social pedagogical tradition in Germany tends to lead to a lack of knowledge about the
school attainment of children in care and the school
success of care leavers. Therefore, in January 2012
two projects started involving both research and
practice and taking up the question of the relation
between care leavers and education in two different
ways. The project “What happens after alternative
care?” is looking for models of good practice for
care leavers in Germany and analyses how the topic
of education is approached by professionals. The
other, “Higher education without family support”,
focuses on the pathways of care leavers who study at
university.
Two research projects on school
success of care leavers
What happens after alternative care?
Altogether, 47 interviews were conducted with experts on residential and foster care institutions in
Germany, focusing on their experiences with the
process of leaving care and with practical models of
helping young care leavers live independently. In
the study these experts were asked what efforts the
practitioners and institutions undertake to improve
the educational pathways of young people in care:
any activities supporting young people’s academic
performance and any relevance they attribute to attending school and serving apprenticeships.
Some results: in most care institutions, life skills’
training dominates the transition process as a whole.
Before educational plans are made, the main sign of
independence is whether people are able to live on
their own and manage their everyday life. Collaboration is not mandatory between care facilities and,
for example, secondary schools. Establishing and
keeping contact with teachers and schools depends
on individual practitioners and institutions and their
professional attitude towards supporting academic
attainment. Education is often not at the top of the
professionals’ list. Unfortunately, practitioners commonly think that young people in care are not capable or motivated enough to achieve in the academic
arena. Altogether, the concurrence of various challenges in different transitional fields (everyday life,
education, personal relationships, etc.) often leads
to a situation where educational perspectives are
abandoned.
Higher education without family support
To analyse the pathways to higher education institutions from the young person’s perspective, in-depth
qualitative interviews were conducted with 17 care
leavers in Germany. The case analyses suggest that
continued support on the part of the care facilities
would not be sufficient to get them into higher edu-
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cation. Although it would be helpful for some care
leavers to have support up to the age of 25, it is important to recognize the role of other networks such
as schools, associations, peers and family.
It was determined that in most cases the care facilities and their professionals do not sufficiently support the educational careers and aspirations of
young people in care. Nevertheless, some care leavers feel confident about school, since they know
something about higher education (e.g. they have
aspirations toward higher education due to the academic background of their biological family or have
other important people as role models).
During the transition to higher education institutions (HEIs) care leavers face many different obstacles, such as financial, emotional, social and practical barriers. Being in an HEI also means facing a
lack of support and being confronted with their history again. Care leavers often miss the emotional
and social support not just of familiar people but
also of familiar places (like home). Therefore, in the
framework of the project we have established a care
leavers’ network to offer possible means of social
support by care leavers, for care leavers. This peerto-peer network promotes the rights of care leavers
for further support, e.g. the network members are
organising workshops with young people and staff
in care facilities, they are developing an online platform for care leavers (information, commutation
and counselling), and they are planning to produce a
movie about the network aimed at lobbying for the
rights of care leavers.
Conclusions
The connection between biographical learning processes and academic attainment suggest the following three consequences: (1) the advantages of a
broader approach to education and learning should
be taken into consideration in both research and
practice. In social work practice, this involves
changing professional conduct and the shape interventions take. The main aim of social work inspired
by social pedagogy, from an educational point of
view, would be to support biographical learning.
(2) An awareness of the connection between biographical learning and learning in school leads to
the insight that academic success of children in care
is often quite fragile: periods of stability and success can be interrupted by biographical crisis. At no
point should it be assumed that the scholastic attainment of children in care is linear. This means that
social workers should continuously reflect on the
dynamics that arise between the demands of school
and the demands of the biographical situation of the
young person in and after care. (3) As these interruptions occur on a regular basis in the case of children in care, it is important to extend formal and
informal support beyond the age of eighteen. In
many countries care leavers are expected to cope
I MATTER
tem and its flexibility or lack thereof which play an
important role, but also all other kinds of social support networks in place. Peer support, in particular,
should be considered a very helpful element for care
leavers within the transition process.
DR. Maren Zeller
Katharina Mangold
dr. Severine Thomas
University of Hildesheim
References:
▪▪ Albus, Stefanie, Greschke, Heike, Klingler, Birte, Messmer,
Heinz, Micheel, Heinz-Günter, Otto, Hans-Uwe, & Polutta,
Andreas. (2010). Wirkungsorientierte Jugendhilfe. Abschlussbericht der Evaluation des Bundesmodellprogramms
“Qualifizierung der Hilfen zur Erziehung durch wirkungsorientierte Ausgestaltung der Leistungs-, Entgelt- und Qualitätsvereinbarungen nach §§ 78a ff SGB VIII”.
▪▪ Zeller, Maren. (2012). Bildungsprozesse von Mädchen in den
Erziehungshilfen. Weinheim: BeltzJuventa.
Websites of the projects:
“What happens after alternative care?”
https://www.uni-hildesheim.de/index.php?id=careleaver
“Higher education without family support”
http://www.hei4cal.com/
with the transition to adulthood much faster than
their peers, with less support and fewer professional
skills.
Furthermore, the results underline two very concrete pieces of evidence: (1) the child and youth care
system seems to lack flexibility when it comes to
non-linear transitions to adulthood. When a young
person turns eighteen and a measure ends, there is
almost no way for them to gain formal support
again. As one effect of the rigidity of the child and
youth care system, young people often face financial
problems that lead to them dropping out of education. (2) In terms of supporting higher education aspirations, it is not only the child and youth care sys-
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Belarus:
IT4You
Resource Centre
18
Children and young people entrusted to our care
grow and transition into adulthood, where they face
new experiences, challenges, fears and concerns. At
this stage of transition, it is essential to invest as
much as possible to prepare them properly for an
independent and autonomous life. The easier children integrate into society, the more stable our society is in the future. One important factor is the ability to have a career.
Vocational guidance for career building and planning is a very relevant topic for children and young
people today. Vocational guidance is a multifaceted
integrated system of scientifically based measures
and activities that helps young people choose a vocation, taking into account their individual aptitudes, abilities, medical and physiological condition, as well as economical and educational issues.
Initiated by SOS Children’s Villages Belarus, the
IT4You Resource Centre project has been developed and implemented in Belarus to address skills
development within the frame of ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Development). The project’s primary target group is young
people without parental care or at risk of losing it
and those who are in the process of leaving care.
This initiative enhances capabilities and employment possibilities for young people and forms the
basis for living a self-supporting life in dignity and
with respect within their families and communities.
In addition to building the capacities of young people, the project’s activities also focus on specialists
in the educational sphere (teachers, social pedagogues, psychologists, etc.).
In cooperation with state authorities, organisations,
educational establishments as well as ICT companies
(Cisco, Microsoft, etc.), the project has been up and
running since December 2011. The IT4You Resource
Centre is equipped with software, manuals, technical
equipment and literature as well as methodology materials for project activities provided by the National
Center for Vocational Guidance of Youth, which is
part of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.
Additionally, new vocational guidance programmes
have been developed in order to meet the current
requirements of the labour market and the needs of
young people:
For young people
■■ Your personal professional track – individual
consultation with computer testing for building
a career plan, for identification of the most suitable areas of professional activity in accordance
with interests, aptitudes, and needs of the labour
market
■■ Your choice – internet possibilities for vocational guidance (review of internet resources, job
search, colleges, courses, etc.)
■■ Upwards on the staircase of life – developing
skills in time keeping, leadership, etc.
■■ Virtual excursions to vocational and training
schools
I MATTER
For educational specialists
■■ Technology of career guidance activities through
online activities
■■ The technique of carrying out role-playing and
simulation games
■■ Different possibilities of the internet (web search
for employment, e-learning, sources of professional self-determination, etc.)
■■ What you need to know during the employment
process
The programme on using the internet for employment search, e-learning, sources of professional
self-determination, etc. has been particularly well
received and is in demand. For example, a young
man named Vadim said: “I know where and how I
can find the official and reliable information about
professions, colleges, institutes, courses which are
interesting for me. I can check my skills at home or
at school and then ask for further consultation at
the National Center for Vocational Guidance of
Youth.”
One big advantage of the project is that it provides
distance services through the internet for young
people and teachers who cannot come to Minsk. The
technologies which are used to increase access to
information about jobs and to support skills development include: web conferences on vocational determination with representatives of different vocational schools and children, youth and educational
specialists; online testing (on website) for diagnostics of aptitudes and abilities of young person; online individual and group consultations with specialists and professionals, etc. Other benefits of
distance services are that it saves time and money in
terms of transportation, food, and property rental;
also, people receive the information in a familiar environment which increases the effectiveness of
learning.
The IT4You Resource Centre has also made selftesting available on its website. For example, there is
a series of six psychological tests that help indicate
the professional type of the individual (http://rcpom.
edu.by/main.aspx?guid=1821). By responding to
questions about their inclinations, interests, skills,
etc., young people can analyze themselves and see
the results immediately.
Educational specialists – teachers, psychologists,
social pedagogues – from schools and from the National Center for Vocational Guidance of Youth are
also involved in the project to ensure the future sustainability of its activities. The IT4You Resource
Centre provides regular trainings for them on developed programmes as well as on using ICT (technical
issues), and organising and providing web activities.
One psychologist from the National Center for Vocational Guidance of Youth who provides web activities
said: “It is very interesting and of course a new experience for me and my colleagues. At first we learned
how to provide distance activities technically. Then
we had to train in additional skills (how to keep attention of people, even how to speak) in spite of my
experience in providing different “face-to-face” activities: seminars, lectures, trainings, etc.”
Today, the IT4You Resource Centre provides support to more than 230 young people and 130 educational specialists. In working with children and
young people, it is always difficult to evaluate the
results immediately, but we already see how valuable the project services are. We strongly believe that
all our efforts will help to lead young people to a
happy and independent life!
Yuliya Bykouskaya
Education Advisor and Project Coordinator
of the IT4You Resource Centre
Aksana Poznyakova
Advocacy Advisor and Project Coordinator
of the I Matter campaign in Belarus
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© SOS Archives
European Union: Inclusive education
for children and young people
The EU has long recognised that high-quality preprimary, primary, secondary, higher and vocational
education and training are fundamental to Europe’s
success and that of its young people. Education policy as such is decided by each EU country, but together the EU and national governments set joint
goals and share best practices. The EU’s prioritisation of education is in direct response to the financial crisis which has placed the future of Europe’s
children and young people at risk, particularly those
who are already experiencing disadvantage.
Figure 1 – 2010 NEET rates in Europe (%)
NEET= not in education, employment or training
Figure 1 illustrates the scope of the problem that is
currently facing the EU. The EU has devised a specific approach to address the educational needs of
disadvantaged young people which can be of benefit
to NGOs working in the field of education.
Addressing early school
leaving in the EU
The term early school leaving is used in connection
with those who leave education and training with
only lower secondary education or less, and who are
no longer in education and training.
Early school leaving is a serious problematic phenomenon which affects all young people, but particularly those coming from care. Although many
EU member states have made progress on the Europe 2020 education targets to reduce the rate of
early school leaving to below 10%, there are still
wide disparities. Reducing early school leaving is
essential for achieving a number of key objectives in
the Europe 2020 strategy.
I MATTER
The Europe 2020 strategy is the EU’s growth
strategy for the coming decade. The strategy
has set five objectives - on employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and climate/energy - to be reached by 2020.
Identifying the main factors for
early school leaving
The reasons why young people leave education and
training early are highly individual. Nevertheless, it
is possible to identify some recurrent characteristics.
The EU recognises that early school leaving is
strongly interconnected to social disadvantage and
low educational achievement and background. Children of parents with low levels of education and from
socially disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely
to leave education and training before completing upper secondary education levels than other young people. Some groups in society are especially affected
by early school leaving, particularly those from poorer socio-economic and disadvantaged backgrounds,
such as young people from public/state care backgrounds. Early school leaving is influenced by educational factors, by individual circumstances and by
socio-economic conditions. It is a process rather than
a one-off event. It often starts in primary education
with first experiences of school failure and growing
alienation from school. Education and training systems often do not provide sufficient targeted support
for pupils to cope with emotional, social or educational difficulties and to remain in education and
training. The EU recognises this and encourages
NGOs working with young people to actively initiate
support for young people at risk of dropping out.
An EU framework for comprehensive policies to reduce early
school leaving
The European Commission believes strongly that
strategies on early school leaving should be based
on an analysis at national, regional and local level of
the conditions leading to the phenomenon, as average rates often hide large differences between dif-
ferent regions or countries. Early school leavers are
a heterogeneous group and individual motivations
to leave education prematurely differ widely.
The EU’s framework for comprehensive policies to
reduce early school leaving offers a three-prong approach:
■■ Prevention policies seek to avoid the conditions
from arising where processes leading to early
school leaving can start. Increasing participation
in good quality early childhood education and
care has been identified as one of the most effective measures to give children a good start in
education and to build their resilience.
■■ Intervention policies address emerging difficulties at an early stage to prevent them from leading to school drop-out. Intervention measures
can focus on the whole school and can address
students at risk of discontinuing their education
or training.
■■ Compensation policies offer opportunities for
training and education for those who drop out of
mainstream education. They can take the form
of financial or other types of support. They aim
to help young people to re-enter education. However, prevention of early school leaving shows
better results than compensating the negative effects of early school leaving.
Practice example – Desegregation policies
aim to change the social composition of disadvantaged schools and improve the educational attainment of children from socially
disadvantaged backgrounds. Active desegregation programmes in Hungary and Bulgaria improved the educational achievement
of Roma children on the regional level.
Education – a cornerstone for
youth employment
Education has always been a key element of youth
employment policies on the EU level as it is well
established that higher levels of education amongst
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Youth on the Move is a comprehensive
package of policy initiatives on education
and employment for young people in the
EU. Launched in 2010, it is part of the
Europe 2020 strategy.
the population contribute to the longer-term growth
performance of countries. Therefore, EU education
policies include both measures that prevent early
school leaving and measures that re-integrate early
drop-outs into education or training. As reducing
the share of early school leavers to fewer than 10%
is one of the five headline targets within the European Union, there is broad agreement that raising
the compulsory schooling age can help prevent early
school-leaving. Almost all EU countries have implemented measures in this area.
Furthermore, many countries have introduced extra funding for teaching support classes to help
students improve their school performance. In
Luxembourg, the system of classes mosaique give
schools the opportunity to temporarily take students at risk of leaving school out of their regular
classes and place them in a ‘mosaic class’ for 6 to
12 weeks, where the pupils get individual help. In
some countries, such as Bulgaria and Romania,
where early school leaving is associated with
household poverty, the state provides school assistance programmes (provision of free snacks, textbooks and transport, etc.). In addition, to motivate
young people to stay in education, many member
states have increased the number of vocational
training places offered and created new vocational
training programmes.
The European Social Fund (ESF) has, amongst others, a focus on employment and education. The ESF
views education as an important prerequisite to
achieving employment for disadvantaged young
people. The Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP)
focuses specifically on education. Lifelong Learning Programmes have been used in to the past to
help develop specific school curriculum changes to
bring young people who have left education early
back into education.
Concluding Note
The issue of early school leaving is being dealt with
very seriously on the EU level, so much so that it has
been given a specific priority under the Europe 2020
strategy. Important for NGOs working in the field of
youth, the EU has developed structures to develop
actions and projects on the national, regional and local level through the use of EU funding streams. For
the new funding period 2014-2020 it is even more important to advocate for young people in or leaving
care to be recognised as a specific group who are disproportionally affected by exclusion from education.
Advocating actively on the EU level will increases
our chance to mainstream this specific group and
create specific activities to meet their needs.
Ronan Mangan
EU office, Brussels
References
▪▪ http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2011/72/en/1/
EF1172EN.pdf
▪▪ http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/doc/
earlycom_en.pdf
Funding on the EU level for youth
education initiatives
The European Commission allocates funding
through a variety of programmes to states of the European Union. In the field of education there are two
main sources for funding:
■■ European Social Fund (ESF)
■■ Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP)
▪▪ “Active inclusion of young people with disabilities or health
problems. Background Paper” European Foundation for the
Improvement of living and working conditions, LFS 2010
▪▪ http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/doc/
earlycom_en.pdf
▪▪ http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2011/72/en/1/
EF1172EN.pdf
▪▪ http://ec.europa.eu/esf/home.jsp?langId=en
▪▪ http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong▪▪ learning-programme/
I MATTER
Poland:
The Educational Triad. A model
for learning self-reliance
The Educational Triad - what is it?
The Educational Triad is a model of informal education developed by the Robinson Crusoe Foundation to
support young people from foster care to become selfreliant. The Triad consists of three educational tools:
■■ Thematic guidebook which gives the most important information on self-reliance in a selected
area (e.g., health, budget management, provisions
relating to the process of self-reliance)
■■ Series of workshops on selected topics discussed
in the guidebook
■■ Simulation game that lets teenagers experience
the consequences of life decisions in a selected
area of self-reliance (e.g., investing in personal
development, working without insurance)
These three complementary tools and forms of
work give young people the opportunity to experience mechanisms (game), increase skills in a chosen
field (workshops) and acquire knowledge in this area
(guidebook). Their use in a single course of education increases the chances of effective acquisition of
the issues worked on with young people.
Currently, we use the Triad for youth education in
topics related to finance. We are also working on expanding the Triad in the areas of law and health.
Use of the Educational Triad in
working with young people
The Triad has been developed to address young people’s insufficient knowledge as well as a lack of
practical life skills (e.g., budgeting, setting up a
bank account). The guidebooks, workshops and
simulation games have been designed in such a way
as to be attractive for young people. Workshops in-
clude a lot of humour, for example, showing the process of self-reliance for famous characters from
fairy tales. The games are interactive – every decision made during the simulation is reflected in the
course of the story. Although the guidebooks often
tackle difficult and complex topics, such as regulations regarding various forms of employment, they
are written in clear, simple language that is accessible to young people. The graphic design is clear
and colourful, with an appropriate balance between
text and drawings.
The contents of the guidebooks are selected by taking into account the specific needs and the situation
of young people becoming self-reliant. This means,
for example, that when we discuss the rights of children, special attention is paid to discussing the
rights that are associated with being in foster care.
When we write about the law, we inform in detail
how to apply for child support or money benefits to
continue education.
The Educational Triad has been designed for young
people participating in Robinson Crusoe Foundation programmes, particularly the Vehicles of Selfreliance, and is a tool for working with groups.
However, the guidebooks, which are a compendia of
knowledge, can be used individually as a source of
specific information, or during the direct work of an
adult (such as a social worker or counsellor in a children’s home) with a young person.
The robinson’s economy
The Educational Triad we use most often is “The
Robinson’s Economy”. It was created with the support of the Future First Foundation and HSBC Bank.
This set consists of a guidebook, a series of work-
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shops and a game called “Robinson in the black”.The
guidebook contains the following chapters: “Work”,
“The management of money”, “Bank” and “Insurance”. Additionally, there is a “map of associations”
of finance and economics, a glossary of key terms,
and information about the project partners.
age the budget in order to achieve not only the highest financial profit, but also a high degree of
satisfaction with life. In the game the participants
are paid for the work they do; they also bear the ongoing costs of maintenance (rent, food). Financial
decisions are also made by drawing cards such as
“Fate” and “Chance”. Examples include: flooding of
the apartment by a neighbour, a surprise inspection
of public transport tickets as well as winning the lottery or a discount on a purchase. The participants
also have the opportunity to invest in their own development and play on the stock market.
At the end of the game a visualization of living in
retirement, appropriate to the level attained by the
financial decisions that were made, is presented.
A series of workshops includes the following modules:
■■ Introduction – The balance of expenditure and
income
■■ Work and forms of employment – Basic concepts
and mechanisms of employment (taxes, insurance, gross/net), forms of employment (e.g., employment contract, working “black”)
■■ Selecting and setting up a bank account – What
are the criteria for the selection of the account,
the safe use of electronic forms of banking, etc.
■■ Consumer rights – Both when shopping on the
Internet and in traditional stores, complaints, etc.
■■ Insurance (compulsory, optional)
■■ Investments
The basic programme of workshops consists of the
first four modules. The topics of insurance and investments are addressed in advanced groups. The workshops on job plans, forms of employment and bank
accounts use a fairy-tale convention, showing the process of self-reliance of famous characters from fairy
tales. During all meetings such methods of work as
playing scenes, puns and case study are used.
The game “Robinson in the black” is a simulation of
several decades of life. It lets young people experience the long-term effects of making decisions and
choices, for example, investing in personal development or education. The aim of the game is to man-
Over the past two years we have played “Robinson
in the black” successfully in several cities throughout the country at the invitation of district family
support centres, social welfare centres and institutions (children’s homes). The game also involved
young people who did not participate earlier in the
Vehicle of Self-reliance. Additionally, we use the
Educational Triad “The Robinson’s Economy” not
only during direct work with young people, but we
also conduct trainings for social workers so that
they can use the Triad in working with their clients.
Agnieszka Kozakoszczak
Robinson Crusoe Foundation
Translation: Magdalena Kepka
http://www.fundacjarobinson.org.pl/
I MATTER
© Senad Gubelic
Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Life stories and recommendations
of young people living in care
The publication It is important to know! Life Stories
and Recommendations of Young People Living in
Care has been produced as part of the international
I Matter campaign, which SOS Children’s Villages
Bosnia and Herzegovina has been participating in
since 2009.
The publication is an attempt to convey the thoughts
of young people who have spent at least part of their
lives in alternative care – be it in an institution, a
foster family or an SOS Children’s Village – to all
those who work with and for children and who can
contribute to raising the status of children and young
people without parental care.
Through the life stories, thoughts and recommendations of young people who are currently living
in or who have lived in alternative care, we strive
to:
■■ show the problems children and young people
face while growing up
■■ show that independent living is a difficult and individual process for every young person without
parental care
■■ show the needs of children and young people on
the one hand and, on the other, the defects in the
social protection system
■■ advocate for a better status of this group as an
especially disadvantaged population
■■ advocate for better legislation to support children
and young people without parental care in the process towards independent living
■■ show the importance of compliance with and application of the UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child and of respecting the child’s best interests
A part of the publication pertains to education and
its importance for independent living, the way
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young people who have experienced living in care
see it. Below are excerpts from the publication that
relate to education, including the recommendations
of researchers and experiences of the young people
themselves.
Education of young people
without parental care in Bosnia
and Herzegovina
According to the publication I Matter: Preparation
for Independent Living – the Country Situation
Analysis of the Rights of Young People Leaving Care
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, finishing school does
not mean that young people have acquired the
knowledge and skills required for employment. Ad-
Young people’s stories
and messages:
“At the time of enrolment in secondary school,
I did not choose a profession I wished, no
way! I wished to be a motor vehicle driver,
while some 20 of us, a whole group, ended up
as bakers. I wished to become a motor vehicle driver, but they did not accept us, and we
chose what they had left in the school. Now, I
could be retrained, but it means nothing even
if you have finished school. One should have
someone powerful, someone who could support you, and we do not have any such person. Similarly, I practiced athletics, but there
was nobody to support me and I quit.”
21-year-old man
“I wished to finish the jewellery trade. However,
there were only a few students applicants and
the school transferred me to the chemical laboratory technician. I had no say at all!”
22-year-old woman
“....just that everybody finishes school, to receive as much education as possible, and
that’s it!”
19-year-old woman
ditionally, many of them do not have work experience. Under the applicable laws, the young person
has the right to stay in a care institution until he/she
becomes capable of independent living or until he/
she finishes his/her education. However, young people are not encouraged to go to college and they
most often have to leave care after turning 18. Only
one in four graduates from high school.
Male students are considerably outnumbered by females at universities. Only 7% of students receive
scholarship (on average, about EUR 100 a month).
Also, there are no legal regulations on scholarship
and the criteria are unclear and non-transparent.
The majority of young people do not have access to
informal education – various courses, training and
workshops which would increase their competence
and employability and help them to find a job at a
later point in time. The number of professional orientation services is also insufficient. Children growing up in care usually do not get the chance to develop their talents.
Career building is an important area addressed in
the documents of SOS Children’s Villages: career
building means that one has finished compulsory
education, further education, built professional capacity depending on one’s interests and talents and
acquired practical professional skills.
Researchers’ recommendations for
choosing the future career
■■ It would be important to pay attention to the professional orientation of children and young people
within which, apart from taking care of their preferences and abilities, they themselves could obtain
a more realistic picture of the labour market trends
and/or information on schools and faculties which
should be finished to enable them to make their
wishes about their future profession come true.
Jasna Sofovic
National Advocacy Advisor
SOS Children’s Villages
Bosnia and Herzegovina
I MATTER
SOS support to
young people
SOS Children’s Villages strongly believes in quality education as the
means of breaking the cycle of marginalisation, poverty, violence and
family breakdown, since it helps children to develop the capabilities they
need to live a life in dignity, with respect, and empowered to participate
actively in their society.
SOS youth programmes offer young
people a variety of support in the
fields of education and training. A
special emphasis is also placed on
educational and career guidance
programmes. Information about educational and career options is provided in different ways. Sometimes
people from different occupations
are invited to talk to the children so
young people can find out more
about a specific job in an easy and
interactive way. Every child and
young person in SOS Children’s Villages receives career guidance to
help them make the choices which
will lead to a future independent life
and career.
27
Preparation for
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PreParation for indePendent living

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