Equally treated in schools

“We learned how to adapt our own behaviour when working with different institutions to be better in our work and to equally serve every citizen of Kosovo”, said one of the teachers at the end of the “Social Justice” training, provided by World Vision.

In 2016, thirteen teachers from 16 schools, where the Kids for Peace project had been implemented, were trained and certified in a “Social Justice” programme, a curricula which encourages interdisciplinary approaches and the development of intercultural understanding. ‘The programme aims to build teachers capacities to prevent any possible discrimination among students,’ says Selvije, Kids for Peace coordinator. The programme which also aims to raise awareness on cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity as human values is certified by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Kosovo and implemented by the Kosovo Education Centre.

The training, organised by World Vision and provided by the Kosovo Education Centre specialists, was combining theoretical knowledge with practical work. Activities were conducted in plenary, small groups and also individually. All the activities aimed to be as realistic as possible and were asking participants to think critically and reflect on the injustices, oppression in different environments, both private and institutional ones.

Teachers developed skills to think critically about the everyday situations they face and how they can get engaged in fighting injustice by understanding stereotypes and different forms of oppression.

Accepting others without prejudices, being tolerant and open are some of the essential and fundamental requirements for every citizen of a free and democratic society. We believe it’s possible for every citizen to be treated equally on individual, social and institutional level and we are working towards this dream especially for the sake of children and youth so that they can reach their full potential and express themselves freely.

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Kosovo, the youngest state in Europe, independent since 2008, has a multi-ethnic population, with 92% Albanians and 8% Serbian, Bosniak, Roma, Egyptian, Ashkali and other ethnicities. No one has forgotten the war and its victims and everyone is trying to build a peaceful European country for themselves and the future generations. World Vision started working in Kosovo in 1999 to assist with the crisis and has been operating ever since through different projects. One of them, the Kids for Peace project started in 2002 with the mission to promote peace and love for the children in Kosovo. Currently, there are 16 Kids for Peace clubs across the country with more than 300 members, children from the elementary schools. In the implementation of this model our best partners are teachers, parents, NGOs and the Government.