The project "Together in education: Support for female students from rural areas" is focused on the development of support mechanisms for the prevention of dropping out of the education system among female students from rural areas. The project seeks to empower civil society organizations (CSOs) to support the education system to create stronger, more sustainable and dynamic CSOs, which will be able to contribute to the creation of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development in Serbia.

Project goals:

General goal: Empowering civil society organizations to participate in sustainable support for the prevention of dropping out of the education system among schoolgirls from rural areas.

Specific goals: 1. To expand knowledge about the challenges related to dropping out of the education system among schoolgirls from rural areas. 2. To develop and implement CSO support models for schools in working with schoolgirls from rural areas.

Target groups:

• Civil society organizations that provide support to young people in the regions of Vojvodina, western and southern Serbia - By participating in the project, CSOs will have the opportunity to develop new knowledge, skills and tools, as well as to prepare for the implementation of cooperation activities with schools, which will directly respond to the needs of schoolgirls from rural areas, who are at risk of leaving the education system.
• School communities from the territory of Vojvodina, western and southern Serbia that face the problem of leaving the educational system among female students - School communities face challenges related to insufficient flexibility of the system and insufficient human resources (teachers and professional staff) who could organize additional activities for students. By participating, the school community will receive support from CSOs for the implementation of activities related to human rights, gender equality and the prevention of risky behavior among schoolgirls.
  
• The Ministry of Education, local self-government units and other sectors dealing with education support - Through the development of analysis, and later public policy proposals, the above-mentioned actors will be informed about the situation in local communities, which will gain insight into the real risks faced by the education system in the case of early school leaving among girls from rural areas. Based on this, local actors will be able to develop measures to prevent this risk, by their competences
  

Main activities:

1. Mapping the reasons for leaving the education system - Based on the input that will be collected, BOS will analyze the current situation in detail with the aim of mapping the key challenges faced by female students in rural areas. An analysis of the challenges related to leaving the education system among schoolgirls from rural areas will be prepared, which will present risk factors, but also present potential models of cooperation that would enable systemic support for schoolgirls, with a special focus on developing/strengthening existing models of cooperation between CSOs and schools
2. Program for capacity building for cooperation between CSOs and schools - Based on the collected and processed data from the Analysis, BOŠ will develop a two-day Program for capacity development of CSOs for cooperation with schools in working with female students and prevention of dropping out of the education system. Program participants will be selected from the regions of Vojvodina, Western and Southern Serbia. 15 representatives of CSOs, schools and LGUs will be included in the Program
   
3. Piloting CSO support to schools in the prevention of dropping out of the education system among girls from rural areas - Three representatives from local CSOs will be in charge of implementing this activity, and their key role will be the organization and implementation of educational interventions (information sessions, lectures, campaigns or workshops) in schools that will help female students develop knowledge and skills and that will contribute to resilience in dealing with various barriers that affect the risk of dropping out of school. Through the project, at least 3 educational interventions will be implemented, which will include at least 30 schoolgirls who are at risk of leaving the education system
   
4. Development of measures for sustainable cooperation of CSOs and schools in working with schoolgirls from rural areas - The practical policy proposal will identify key problems when it comes to the reasons for leaving the education system and the role of CSOs in the prevention process, analyze the data obtained, and present the current legal framework as well as available support measures and examples of cooperation between CSOs and school communities. Furthermore, based on the results of the piloting, proposals for solutions and recommendations will be presented for the improvement of cooperation between CSOs and schools when it comes to the implementation of educational interventions related to reducing the risk of leaving the education system

Amount of donation: NOK 249,759.40

The project "Together in education: Support for female students from rural areas" is implemented by the Belgrade Open School within the regional project SMART Balkan - Civil society for a connected Western Balkans, which is implemented by the Center for the Promotion of Civil Society (CPCD), the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) and the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), and is financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway. The content of the project and this material exclusively belongs to the Belgrade Open School and does not necessarily represent the views of the Center for the Promotion of Civil Society, the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), the Institute for Democracy and Mediation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.