
„The initiative of reorganizing Sculeni residential school has been much expected, and I am very glad that EveryChild is coming with a concrete project to give those children more security and confidence in the future”, said the President of Ungheni raion, Ion Harea at the opening conference of the project “PREVENTION OF CHILD SPERARATION FROM FAMILY, VIOLENCE, ABUSE, NEGLECT AND EXPLOITATION", organized recently in Ungheni.
The goal of this project is to increase chances of 90 children placed into the residential school, allowing them to enjoy care in their own biological or extended families, or in alternative family environment, as well as to receive education in community schools, close to their peers.
Stela Grigoras, director of EveryChild Moldova, said that to achieve this goal, a model or institution’s transformation or closure will be identified and developed, so that the human and financial potential of such institutions is retargeted to the community, i.e. to mainstream schools, extra-school activities centres, etc. To do that, evaluation will be performed of children, families, and, consequently, communities where those children will be reintegrated. The project will also support professionals, decision-makers, the public, in changing attitudes of marginalization and exclusion of poor and vulnerable children and their families, as well as of supporting institutions and special education.
Local specialists and decision makers, as well as EveryChild’s project implementation team participated at the opening conference. The project is funded by UNICEF, and is to support the Ministry of Education in its efforts to implement the National Strategy and Materplan of transformation of the residential childcare system during 2010-2011.