Premature school leaving and solving problems of students from disadvantaged groups poses a problem for many EU countries which – being aware of economic and social consequences of this phenomenon – try to take a series of actions aimed at minimising it.
“Don’t drop out” is a project which is implemented by five cooperating countries: Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy and Portugal. When analysing the situation in five countries that are very different both culturally and geographically, we noticed that there are no proven good model solutions to prevent premature dropping out of school. The thematic scope of the project is so important for participating
organisations and target groups because this problem appears irrespective of the country or the type of facility.
Representatives of cooperating organisations believe that in order to prevent premature school dropout, it is necessary to develop a systematic approach encompassing simultaneous activities at several levels: working with teachers and educators, working with parents and working with students.
The project will help recognise vulnerable people, with problems, with special needs, and will also suggest how to organise work and responsibilities of a team that deals with these individuals.
When implementing, we will consider together how to cope with that, since dropping out school often entails a sense of powerlessness, meaninglessness and extreme lack of motivation in these people.
A motivating factor that ensures the success of this project is an innovative approach to cooperation and joint development of outcomes of people working directly with students, with methodological
support of psychologists/experts. They will be involved in conducting workshops, which will provide
inspiration for others. As a result, the participants will have a chance to share their reflections, experiences, good practices, which will lead to common outcome.
The outcomes of this process will be presented in the form of a model Guidebook.
In order to solve existing problems, one can use new, innovative instruments; though it is also possible to adapt solutions proven to be effective in other countries, regions or in other contexts, e.g. in relation to other target group.
A significant factor fostering these actions can be experiences of adult people who struggled with this problem, so that they have a wider perspective, not only from people who left school at some point in their lives, but also from those who made an effort to come back to the education system.
During implementation of the project and after its completion, every country will have an opportunity to share knowledge with colleagues from their facility or even other similar institutions in their region,
which will allow not only to inspire others to act, but will also promote joint European actions. The organisation will conduct regular diagnosis of the problem, whereas the outcomes of the action will be subject to monitoring and evaluation.
This is a project, the outcomes of which by enhancing competence of educators will be valuable contribution to the European area of skills and qualifications.
It will have a local, national and European dimension, and the end-users will be learners with reduced social opportunities or with disabilities.