The target group of the project is 10-18-year-old primary and secondary school Roma girls living in and around Mohora, in Nógrád County, with the risk or symptom of dropout. These may include, for example, subject failure, repetition of the school year, many absenteeism, dropouts in the family in the case of older siblings, the low level of education of the parents (up to 8 grades), private student status, the poor housing and financial conditions of the family. Our goal is to give at least 50% of the girls going to the program a regular child protection discount. A total of 30 people are directly involved in the project.

Other target groups include the families of the girls involved (indirect target group) and non-Roma girls who are also at risk of early school leaving.

Within the framework of the project, 5 Mentors are employed, and the Professional Leader is also a mentor. In this way, a total of 6 main professionals are involved in the mentoring of Roma girls and their families. We have paid special attention to the fact that a mentor should not mentor more than 5 people because this is the optimal number that a very close trust relationship can develop between the mentor and the mentee. The mentoring service is continuous throughout the project, and girls can always seek out their mentors and ask for their help and advice. In addition, part of the job of the mentor, is to have a constant and documented contact with the girl’s families. The mentors were chosen to be professionals who already know the target group. It is necessary to have a basic trust on which the most important service of the project, the mentoring, can be built. The mentor and mentee meet twice a week.

Mentors hold a Mentor group meeting twice a month in addition to continuous individual and family mentoring (this program is not the same as the Group meeting program). These sessions take place with the participation of the 5 mentees, their mentor and other invited professionals. This kind of small group activity is suitable for the girls to discuss certain problems with the mentor and the related counselling (prevention, further education, conflict management, self-knowledge, etc.) can also take place. We have regular health screenings with the district nurse and with one of the local volunteer lady who has a medical qualification. Mentor Group Sessions take place twice a month, occasionally for at least 1 hour in the Club Room.

After the recruitment, we plan a group session every two months, where the girls involved can meet with different professionals (psychologist, social worker, nurse, educator, etc.), listen to lectures from renowned professionals and ask questions. In the second part of the session, based on the specific reward logic (rewarding the performance of the group work), we call Roma role models corresponding to their request to talk together about the possibilities of escaping poverty and the importance of learning. All 30 girls and the mentors participate in the Group Work. According to our plans, the girls will prepare a presentation of a topic of their interest (local history, Roma history, beauty care, dressing, traditions, etc.). We consider this important because, as they prepare for their small presentations, they get access to new information that can help with their school progress.

After the first month of the recruitment, we also organize trips for the girls every two months. Every time we visit a Roma woman, who can be a role model for girls with her work, her education, her achievements (e.g. Dr. Szilvia Lakatos, professor, Tímea Oláhné Balogh, head of NGO, Dr. Anna Orsós, head of department, Lívia Járóka social pedagogue, politician, Krisztina Véberné Rostás, Ministry of Home Affairs, Roma rapporteur, Tímea Jónás, nurse, Zsuzsa Orsós biologist, etc.). During the trip, the role models show where they came from and where they got. In addition, we organize local sessions for girls, including the role models. The girls will have the opportunity to go for hike, theatre tours, and special attention will be paid to visit Roma professional colleges and the Gandhi High School. It is also possible to provide career information, especially through the introduction of role models, possibly by visiting the high school they attended.

When planning trips, we paid attention to contact and visit Roma women organizations, which are exemplary in the field of Roma inclusion.

One of the most important elements of motivation is benefits in kind. It’s necessary to provide this kind of support (e.g. bus rent, text book, musical instrument, theatre ticket, museum ticket, study trips, clothing, meal ticket, sports club membership, sports equipment, course fee) for the 30 Roma girls involved to encourage further education and to avoid dropouts. We also consider this kind of support important, because in many cases the Roma are excluded from their school community because of their social situation as they cannot afford those school trips, school and sport circles, that their peers do ad this exclusion can lead to a reduction in motivation and persistence, which can later cause early school leaving and dropouts.

Financial envelope: 30 000 000,- Ft
Project duration: 2018.01.01. – 2019.12.31.