Current best practices

• Author: Kogovsek Salamon, Neza
• Pages: 90-91

90

10 CURRENT BEST PRACTICES

The ‘Hand in hand for assistance’ project (Z roko v roki poMOČ) is being implemented

between 2017 and 2021. The project encourages inclusive education and equal

opportunities for all children with special needs. The project offers training programmes

for teachers aimed at fostering positive attitudes towards children with special needs,

and is based on professional values , not just knowledge and skills. Training topics include

recognising the needs of children with sp ecial needs, communication wit h parents, team

work, curiosity, critical thinking, flexibility and the sense of responsibility. The

coordinating p artner is Centre IRIS – the C entre for Education, Rehabilitation, Inclusion

and Counselling for the Blind and Partially Sighted; seven centres responsible for the

education of children with sensory impairments, intellectual disabilities and physical

disabilities are project partners.196

The Institute of Ethnic Studies in Slovenia is carrying out a research project entitled

‘Inclusion of Roma in secondary schools, higher education and adult education: The

factors encouraging an d hindering the Roma community in the educational system in

Slovenia after the completion of elementary school’ (Vključenost Romov v srednješolsko

in visokošolsko izobraževanje ter izobraževanje odraslih: dejavniki spodbud in ovir, s

katerimi se soočajo pripadniki romske skupnosti v izobraževalnem sistemu v Sloveniji po

končani osnovni šoli). The starting point for the project is the fact that, i n Slovenia, the

level of education of Roma pe ople is low (most of them do not complete elementary

school), and there are no assistance prog rammes for Roma at secondary or higher levels.

The goals of the p roject are to provide data on the inclusion of Roma people in

secondary, higher and adult education; to identify factors th at influence their inclusion in

educational programmes; to identify the main obstacles hindering their inclusion; to

obtain data on the attitudes of educational institutions towards the Roma community;

and to obtain data on attitudes among the Roma population towards these educational

institutions.197

In 2019 the ZaVse/4All non-discrimination project began. The aim of the project is to

raise awareness of and address problems in the field of equal opportunities and

discrimination against vulnerable groups. It recognises that the groups most affected by

discrimination include vulnerable groups such as Roma, people with same-sex sexual

orientation, refugees, socially d eprived people and people with disabilities. The g oals of

the project are t o improve awareness am ong non-governmental organisations about the

meaning of equality and how to strengthen it, to improve understanding of

discrimination, to improve awareness on how to tackle discrimination and to improve

awareness of the opportunities to provide the most vulnerable groups in Slovenia with

protection against discriminat ion. This is being done through public events, w orkshops

and training. The project is being implemented by the Association of Providers of

Vocational Rehabilitation in the Republic of Slovenia (Združenje izvajalcev zaposlitvene

rehabilitacije v Republiki Slovenije) in cooperation with two partners. The project is

funded by the European Union (European Social Fund) and by the Ministry of Labour,

Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.198

One of th e few legal p rojects taking place is a project entitled ‘Legal avenues ensuring

protection f rom discrimi nation (with a special focus on lawyers)’ (Pravne poti

zagotavljanja varstva p red diskriminacijo (s posebnim ozirom na vlogo odvetnika))

(2017-2020). The p roject addresses the effectiveness of l egal pr otection from

discrimination. It aims to produce an analysis of socio-legal issues encountered by

lawyers and victims of discrimination when looking for appropriate venues for legal

protection, a protocol for lawyers when using legal remedies for protection against

discrimination, and a brochure for non-legal professionals. The inten ded outcome is to

196 Project website: https://projektpomoc.splet.arnes.si/.

197 Project website: http://www.inv.si/Dokumenti/dokumenti.aspx?iddoc=944&idmenu1=19&lang=slo.

198 Project website: https://za-vse.eu/sl/.