The partnership between the PULSE Foundation and the Municipality of Pernik has its history of purposeful and thorough work in the direction of socio-economic integration.
As a result of the long-term cooperation between the PULSE Foundation and the Municipality of Pernik, we recognized as a leading and key priority the need to create a sustainable socio-economic integration that starts from the earliest childhood, giving equal chances in school and in the lives of children and students from ethnic minorities.
Educational integration is part of the necessary prerequisites that guarantee the protection of children's rights and non-discrimination, as well as ensuring adequate social fulfillment in all spheres of life.
In this regard, in 2021, the PULSE Foundation in partnership with the Municipality of Pernik launched the project "Together for Good Change - an integrated approach for socio-economic integration in the Municipality of Pernik" under the Operational Program "Science and Education for Smart Growth".
The main goal of the project is to create an effective and innovative model for sustainable socio-economic integration of people from vulnerable groups on the territory of Pernik Municipality, aimed at increasing the quality of life, reducing poverty and stopping the transmission of poverty through generations.
The project brings a positive change by including a number of activities aimed at supporting the processes of educational integration, reducing the number of early school leavers and serving as a prevention of segregation in schools and kindergartens in the Municipality of Pernik through active work with parents.
Encouraging the participation of parents in the educational process and working with parents from ethnic minorities to prevent dropping out of school, the PULSE Foundation successfully implemented the first line of work under the project, namely the "School for Parents" initiative, following established models for responsible parenting training, but with a focus on the specific problems faced by parents of children in kindergartens and schools.
In the context of the goals set in the project, the work with identified parents from risk groups aimed at changing their attitudes, perceiving education as a value, understanding the needs of children who attend kindergarten or school, building hygiene habits, taking care of health and dealing with behavioral problems in adolescents.
During the period of implementation of the project activities, from December 2021 to March 2023, a total of 15 "School for Parents" seminars were implemented in social housing in Teva district, as well as in the three kindergartens and 2 schools, partners in the project, namely Kindergarten "Prolet", 15 Kindergarten "R. Princess", Kindergarten "V. Tereshkova", 13 general school St. St. Kiril and Metodi, General School of St. Konstantin Kiril Filosof.
From the activities implemented so far, 311 parents of children from kindergartens, schools and social housing have been covered.
The teams working in the field / in schools, kindergartens and municipal housing clearly realize that a little more than a year is a short period to achieve a large-scale change in this complex social process, such as the equal integration of people from vulnerable groups , as well as creating an atmosphere of mutual respect, tolerance and understanding.
Socio-economic integration is a process that requires sustained and targeted efforts by representatives of institutions, civil society and the marginalized community.
The project "Together for good change - an integrated approach for socio-economic integration in the Municipality of Pernik" is implemented with the financial support of the Operational Program "Science and Education for Smart Growth", co-financed by the European Union through the European Structural and Investment Funds.