Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY PROGRAM PERFORMANCE REPORT No. 7 July 1, 2013 – September 30, 2013 Joint student activities Submitted by: Macedonian Civic Education Center (MCEC) under Cooperative Agreement No. AID-165-A-12-00002 USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY REPORT #7, July 2013 – September 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. Background 3 2. Progress Towards Objectives 4 3. Crosscutting Activities 6 4. Project Activities 10 4.1. Community Outreach 10 4.2. Capacity Building of School Management and Teachers 13 4.3. Demonstration Schools 21 4.4. Providing Incentives to Schools and Communities 25 5. Lessons learned 32 6. Activities to Increase Participation of People with Disabilities (PWDs) 34 7. Activities in the next reporting period 35 8. List of appendices 37 2 USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY REPORT #7, July 2013 – September 2013 MACEDONIAN CIVIC EDUCATION CENTER (MCEC) USAID INTERETHNIC INTEGRATION IN EDUCATION PROJECT (IIEP) QUARTERLY PROGRAM PERFORMANCE REPORT No. 7 Cooperative Agreement No: AID-165-A-12-00002 Progress Report No: 7 Reporting Period: July 1, 2013 – September 30, 2013 1. BACKGROUND On December 2, 2011, the Macedonian Civic Education Center (MCEC) signed the Cooperative Agreement with USAID agreeing to provide support to USAID’s Interethnic Integration in Education Project (IIEP). IIEP is a four-year, USD 5.2 million initiative targeting all primary and secondary schools in Macedonia. The main objective of IIEP is to build awareness and provide diversity training, technical assistance, and incentives to school boards, principals, teachers, and administration officials in support of interethnic integration in education. It will build broad public understanding on the benefits for all citizens as a result from integrating Macedonia’s education system. IIEP will also create the political, social and economic environment need for Macedonia to achieve sustained interethnic integration in schools, in other educational institutions and eventually all of society. Complementing this, the project team will strengthen the capacity of school staff, students and parents to address issues of diversity and equity in their schools and communities. Project’s approach is comprised of four mutually-supporting and inter-related components. 1. Community Outreach; 2. Capacity Building of School Management and Teachers; 3. Demonstration Schools; and 4. Providing Incentives to Schools and Communities. Students, parents, teachers, administrators and school board members in all primary and secondary schools across Macedonia will be the primary focus of project activities. Additionally, BDE advisors and education inspectors at national and regional level will also be central to achieving sustained change and will actively participate in capacity strengthening activities. Achieving success also demands that IIEP actively engage stakeholders in schools, communities and local governments in the integrated mix of project activities. MCEC is implementing IIEP on behalf of USAID in partnership with educational institutions in Macedonia (Bureau for Development of Education, State Examination Center, State Education Inspectorate, Vocational Education Center) and seven local NGOs (Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, Loja, Sumnal, Multimedia, My Career, Macedonian Institute for Media and Youth Education Forum). 3 USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY REPORT #7, July 2013 – September 2013 2. PROGRESS TOWARDS OBJECTIVES During the reporting period the following was accomplished: Crosscutting Activities: . Performance evaluation of the partner organization My Career for the period November 2012 – June 2013 conducted; . Plan for extension of the cooperation with My Career developed; and . Coordination of the partners (Summary Partners Quarterly Reports – Appendix 1). Monitoring and Evaluation: . Participating in training/seminars/workshops/meeting (monitoring of activities implemented by project components); . Check-lists for monitoring of IIEP activities finalized, tested and administered; . Report from check lists used in Component 3 prepared; . Check lists from Component 3 adapted; . Evaluation questionnaires and report forms for the trainings/seminars prepared; . Results from evaluation of multicultural workshops in four demonstration schools compiled; . Results from self-evaluation in demonstration schools compiled and compared with previous results; and . Data from all components for realization of activities complied. Component One, Public Outreach: . Preparatory, planning and coordination meetings held with the partner organisations Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM), Youth Educational Forum (MOF) and PAC Multimedia for organizing the trainings, workshops, debates and promotional events; . Interview with the famous football player - Goran Pandev organized, published and broadcasted; . Three (3) trainings for production of multimedia content in the context of interethnic integration in education (Youth-via-Media Program) implemented; . One (1) promotional event of a short film, created by students from the implemented creative workshops and processes in the secondary school Pero Nakov in Kumanovo, organized and held; . Two (2) Forum Theatre workshops for the students of the secondary schools from Municipalities of Stip and Kumanovo organized and implemented; . One (1) Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to mark the successful end of the renovation process in the primary school Dimitar Miladinov in Municipality of Centar organized; . Two (2) coordination meetings to present the concept of the debate clubs and their activities organized and held in Veles and Kratovo; . One (1) informal meeting “Coffee with Newsroom Leaders” (journalists and editors- in-chief) from the media, that report in the area of education, organized; . Guest appearance in the morning programmes of the Macedonian Television, the Macedonian Radio and Sitel Television organized; . Monthly briefers (for July, August and September) for IIEP activities prepared and disseminated (http://pmio.mk/category/project-updates/); . First edition of a Newsletter that reflects the good practices and success stories from the activities in the first half of year 2013 designed, published and disseminated; . Various communication tools for community outreach and advocacy applied (web- page, success stories, attendance at events organized by other organizations, etc.); and 4 USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY REPORT #7, July 2013 – September 2013 . Activities of other Project components regularly covered. Component Two, Capacity Building of School Management and Teachers: . Supervision meeting with master trainers for preparation of the trainings with the School Integration Teams (SIT) from Phase 2 delivered; . Basic training of SITs from Phase 2 of the Project implementation delivered; . Strategy for mentoring meetings to support the SITs from Phase 2 schools designed; . Continued support for SITs from the schools in pilot phase prepared; . Cooperation with the pilot municipalities’ educational officials continued and coordinative meeting in pilot municipalities held; . Workshop with teacher training faculties representatives in regards to capacity building of teacher training faculties’ staff held; . Joint student sport games and activities continued to be carried out; . Training for newly included municipalities’ officials delivered; . Questionnaire on parental involvement finalized and submitted to 58 pilot schools; . Process of incorporating the interethnic integration in education in the School Performance Quality Indicators completed. Component Three, Demonstration Schools: . Three (3) intra/inter-school meetings for coordination and facilitating action plan development held; . Six (6) instruments for external monitoring and four (4) instruments for internal monitoring revised; . One (1) addendum for the manual for organizing joint student activities developed; . One (1) debriefing meeting among CHRCR and partners (Loja and Sumnal) held; . Seven (7) advisors from Bureau for Development of Education (BDE) appointed in charge for six (6) demonstration schools; . One (1) working meeting with advisors from BDE held; . Five (5) trainings (one in each demonstration school) for organizing of joint student activities carried out; . Three (3) trainings with teachers for cooperation between the teachers, through the teachers professional bodies, delivered; . Two (2) trainings (for teachers from the primary demonstration schools) for working on joint curricular activities held; and . One (1) two-day training seminar with two (2) groups with primary and secondary school literature teachers carried out. Component Four, Providing Incentives to Schools and Communities: . One (1) school renovation project approved; . One (1) MoU signed with school and municipality; . Two (2) annexes to the Joint Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) submitted; . One (1) tender for selection of construction companies announced; . Three (3) consulting companies for supervision of five (5) school renovation projects selected; . Preconstruction meetings organized in ten (10) schools; . Technical acceptance organized in ten (10) schools; . Access of people with disabilities in the renovated schools enabled; . Toolbox for school maintenance delivered in ten (10) schools; 5 USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project QUARTERLY REPORT #7, July 2013 – September 2013 .