A conference held under the “Social Inclusion Support Sub-program"

A conclusive conference for the “Social Inclusion Support Sub-program" was held at the Ilia State University conference hall, where the guests had the opportunity to view special presentations created by the program beneficiaries – individuals with special educational needs, as well as the students of Georgian public schools regarding the events conducted by the” Social Inclusion Support Sub-program”.

The subprogram participants (public school students, students, SEN students and Romani people) provided the information to the audience with the history and culture of the Romani people, as well as their problems and everyday life.

For the duration of several years, the Ministry of Education and Science has been actively taking care of the ethnic minorities, and the integration of the Romani people into the Georgian educational system. In order to ameliorate the language skills and better integrate the youth with their peers, a “Social Inclusion Support Sub-program” has been launched, which entails a variety of activities during the school time. These activities, such as; reading and theater clubs, thematic gatherings and meetings, and conferences) attract beneficiaries with mutual interests (including adolescents with different religious beliefs, and ethnic backgrounds). The cohabitation with the volunteer peers gave the beneficiary adolescents the motivation to receive education, as well as creating a positive atmosphere at the educational institution.

Within the scope of the Sub-program, public school volunteers are being trained to cooperate; re-trained beneficiaries are actively engaging in the social life; and are participating in the process of searching for the new beneficiaries and identifying the problems.

Conference participants noted, that it is important for the government to protect the rights of the ethnic minorities. Additionally it is crucial to effectively implement such programs, which on one hand preserves their ethnic identity, whilst actively integrating them into the society.