The creation of sustainable socio-economic integration begins from early childhood, providing equal opportunities both in school and in the lives of children and students from ethnic minorities.

In this context, in November 2023, the PULSE Foundation team, in partnership with the Municipality of Pernik, concluded their work on the project “Together for Positive Change - an integrated approach to socio-economic integration in the Municipality of Pernik”, Activity 5, “Promoting parent participation in the educational process and working with parents from ethnic minorities to prevent school dropout”, under the Operational Program “Science and Education for Intelligent Growth”.

The project started in early 2021, with its main goal being to create an effective and innovative model for sustainable socio-economic integration of people from vulnerable groups in the Municipality of Pernik. The focus is on improving the quality of life, reducing poverty, and halting the transmission of poverty through generations.

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.

By specifically promoting parental involvement in the educational process and working with parents from ethnic minorities, the PULSE Foundation successfully implements the first direction of the project, namely the initiative “School for Parents” for vulnerable groups. It follows established training models for responsible parenting but focuses on the specific challenges faced by parents of children in kindergartens and schools.

The “School for Parents” aimed to support educational integration processes, reduce the number of premature dropouts from education, and serve as prevention by changing attitudes among such parents. It emphasized the perception of education as a value, understanding the needs of children attending kindergarten or school, developing hygiene habits, caring for health, addressing behavioral problems in adolescents, and building overall positive and meaningful relationships with children.

The second direction of the project was focused on conducting specialized workshops for children and parents within the framework of the “School for Parents”, implemented in schools and social housing. The workshop themes were “Birdhouses” and “Kites”. These two themes were met with exceptional interest from both children and their parents. The activity generated significant enthusiasm, and they eagerly anticipated the opportunity to create together once again.

During the implementation period of the project from its initiation until September 2023, a total of 19 “School for Parents” seminars and 12 specialized creative workshops were conducted in the social housing in Teva neighborhood, as well as in the three kindergartens and two schools that were project partners, namely Kindergarten “Prolet”, Kindergarten “R. Knyaginya”, Kindergarten “V. Tereshkova”, Elementary School “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”, and Elementary School “St. Konstantin Kiril Philosopher”.

In the activities of the “School for Parents” and “Creative Workshops of Interests”, a total of 361 parents of children from kindergartens, schools, and social housing were involved throughout the entire project period.

The third direction of the project involved public discussions aimed at widely explaining the benefits of educational integration and fostering acceptance of differences among children, students, and parents. The focus was specifically on promoting dialogue and building contacts between parents of different ethnicities and their engagement as part of the larger school community.

Undoubtedly, the project brought about a positive change, directed towards supporting the processes of educational integration, reducing the number of premature dropouts from education, and serving as a prevention of segregation in schools and kindergartens in the Municipality of Pernik through active work with parents.

However, socio-economic integration is a process that requires sustained and targeted efforts from representatives of institutions, civil society, and the marginalized community towards achieving substantial change, such as equal integration of people from vulnerable groups and creating an atmosphere of mutual respect, tolerance, and understanding.

Only together and united, all of us can talk about the positive change that can lead to improving the status and opportunities in marginalized Roma communities in Bulgaria.

The project “Together for Positive Change - an integrated approach to socio-economic integration in the Municipality of Pernik” is implemented with the financial support of the Operational Program “Science and Education for Intelligent Growth”, co-funded by the European Union through the European Structural and Investment Funds.