Ovidiu Rom’s 2008 – 2010 Results

We at The Alex Fund are very proud of the accomplishments of our sister organization, Asociatia Ovidiu Rom:

2010 Results

1. Ovidiu Rom:

  • Aired new public service announcements on 15 Romanian TV channels
  • Trained 300 teachers and master teacher trainers in progressive teaching methods
  • Helped prepare 3000 children for success in primary school through Sotron “Summer School Preparation” programs
  • Provided food coupons for 600 children for perfect daily attendance
  • Implemented Fiecare Copil in Scoala programs in 13 new communities

2. 2010 also saw an acceleration of Ovidiu Rom’s  influence in:

  • getting the attention of the media, corporate and central government sectors regarding the long term consequences of Romania’s growing educational gap;
  • promoting a model for kindergarten and school inclusion that can truly be “scaled up”;
  • innovating the use of food coupons to incentivize impoverished parents to send their children to school every day;and
  • mobilizing local communities to take action

Ovidiu Rom cited in The Economist,Sept 18, 2010: “[Ovidiu Rom has] an impressive scheme that pays €12 ($16) in food coupons to parents whose children attend school. Clothes and the like are provided free. The project is based on poverty, rather than ethnicity.”

Read the full Economist article

2009 Results

1. Community development: assisting communities with high drop-out rates to recruit at-risk children for school

  • Started new Local Action Group in Castelu (judetul Constanta)
  • Facilitated Local Action Groups in four communities (Bacau, Bucuresti, Potlogi, and Vizuresti)
  • Recruited 100 impoverished children who had never before attended kindergarten or school

2. Educational measures: preparing and supporting the education of children who are at-risk of dropping out

  • Trained 200 teachers to work more effectively with disadvantaged children
  • Prepared 2000 children for success in school through summer workshops
  • Instituted weekly kindergarten for 30 children
  • Provided full day kindergarten for 40 children
  • Provided after school programs for 150 children
  • Provided parent education for 300 families

3. Family Support: helping destitute families afford school and make their children’s education a priority

  • Motivated 300 families with food stamps
  • Provided 500 children with school materials
  • Supported 30 families with emergency aid

4. Public awareness: creating national public awareness through the multi-annual “Scoala te face mare” campaign

  • Informed parents of ways to overcome obstacles they face when enrolling their children
  • Ran public service announcements 7000 times on 25 TV stations
  • Ran spots 3,213,000 times on screens located in Carrefour
  • Generated 77 articles, 11 special news reports, and 3 talk shows
  • Inspired in-depth documentary on Ovidiu Rom’s activities in Castelu on Antena 3
  • Sent 29,000 campaign posters to schools, kindergartens, police stations, and city halls
  • Was awarded “special jury prize” at the Civil Society Gala
  • Encouraged the general public to support children who lack access to education


2008 Results

In 2008, Asociatia Ovidiu Rom focused on:

  1. Preparing children without pre-school experience to successfully integrate in school
  2. Preparing primary school teachers to work with disadvantaged children, and
  3. Promoting policy recommendations to reverse Romania’s downward trend in educational attainment.

Ovidiu Rom:

  • offered direct services to 500 children and 300 families
  • organized Summer School Preparation Programs for 4400 children in ten counties and Bucharest and involved 50 volunteers
  • distributed 4000 Sotron Student Workbooks and 1000 Sotron Teacher’s Guides free of charge
  • created first teacher training course accredited by Comisia Nationala de Formare Profesionala to prepare teachers to conduct summer programs with disadvantaged children
  • trained 500 teachers
  • developed a Regional Educational Center in partnership with local authorities and the school in Potlogi
  • awarded “Outstanding Teacher” recognition to five teachers: Otilia Brebenel, Georgeta Dorobantu, Liliana Mursa, Georgeta Pavaluta and Luiza Stan
  • generated 40 articles, 62 online news items, and 19 TV news spots regarding educational equity for impoverished children
  • published policy paper: Learning from America’s Mistakes: A Proposal for Closing the Education Gap in Romania, which was positively received by authorities, including the Ministry of Education, the National Agency for Child Protection, and UNICEF

“Education is the lifeblood of economic growth… Education helps a society leverage every other investment it makes.” – David Leonhardt, New York Times Magazine, January 2009

Ovidiu Rom cited in The Economist, June 21, 2008: “Most of the progress in Vizuresti comes not from taxpayers’ money… but from the work of a charity, Ovidiu Rom, [which] has paid for and helped with IDs, teacher training, student workbooks and a special summer program designed to prepare the poorest children and their often illiterate parents for school life.”
 
 
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