CIVIL SOCIETY: 269 PRACTICES
"Together for Children" Association was founded in Greece in 1996. It is a union of non-profit NGOs, that work in the field of child welfare and is managed by a Board of Directors composed of representatives of each member-organization.
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Combating school dropout
2nd & 3rd high school students
The program started as a pilot in 2015 and thanks to the positive results it continues until today.
Together for Children's innovative program "I'm in" aims to combat school dropout and emphasizes equal opportunities in education since this is the vehicle for children to claim a better future.
The program holistically approaches the phenomenon of school dropout, strengthening the learning level of the benefited students, supporting them psycho-emotionally and cultivating their social skills. At the same time, their family environment is investigated with the aim of improving the family's daily life on a psychological and practical level.
The program embraces 2nd & 3rd High School children who are at high risk of dropping out from schools of the 7th School Community of the municipality of Athens.
The purpose of the program is to help children who face learning, social or even financial difficulties and have low school performance to remain integrated in the school environment. The program offers free remedial teaching, counseling by school psychologists and meals during school hours in order to improve performance and reduce the risk of students dropping out. Also, participating students are offered stationery, essentials and new pairs of TOMS shoes.
The parents of the students meet the school psychologists once a month, but at the same time they also have the opportunity to visit the counseling center of "Together for the Child" for additional free sessions either individually or with the family. At the same time, up to five families with serious socio-economic problems are given the opportunity to be included in a free feeding program for 6 months by receiving coupons for purchases in large supermarket chains.
In addition to the teachers who teach in the program, "Together for the Child" also gives the opportunity to those teachers who wish to do so from the schools of the 7th School Community to be trained in matters of managing students with learning and/or socio-economic difficulties and dealing with crises in the school environment.
The total number of students who followed the program in 2nd and 3rd High School is 49. Of these students, 36 students completed the program.
Demographic data: The majority of students in the 2nd High School are boys (86%), while in the 3rd High School there are equal numbers of boys and girls. The average age is 14 & 15 years for 2nd & 3rd High School respectively. However, in both classes there are older students (up to 19 years old). The majority of students in both classes were born in Greece. The majority of students' parents were not born in Greece. The education of the majority of parents is classified as medium. The unemployment rate for fathers is 8% and for mothers 23%.
Regarding the results of the action, in the quantitative evaluation an improvement is observed in all the indicators for the students of the 2nd Gymnasium: "I like school", "I find the school subjects interesting", "I concentrate easily when reading", "I can complete tasks/exercises without help'. In the 3rd year of high school, no significant differences are observed between the beginning and the end, however the percentage of students who can complete their homework at home increases significantly (from 36% to 91%).
In the findings of the qualitative evaluation, a better understanding of lessons is observed, therefore, the self-confidence of the students in the morning school is strengthened and they participate more in the classroom. Also, the students claim that the program contributed positively to changing their attitude towards morning school, they consider High School necessary in order to become independent and enter the labor market, and the students of the 3rd High School are already dreaming about the future, having decided on directions at the Technical High School.
Finally, there are changes in the emotional and social development of most students, reduction of aggressive behaviors / improvement of school behavior in their morning school, better attitude towards the teachers of the morning school, strengthening of self-confidence in the classroom during the delivery of lessons and better adaptation to the school environment.
Athens
The program is implemented within the framework of the "Open Schools" program, an initiative of the Municipality of Athens, with the exclusive donor the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. At the same time, the "PROLIPSIS Urban Non-Profit Society of Preventive Environmental and Occupational Medicine" contributes to the program for the quality evaluation of the progress of the program and the provision of meals to the participants.
The program is implemented with the full financial support of the Mytilineos Group.
Together for Children is the implementing body of the program. Specifically, the program is coordinated by the Social Worker of Together for the Child, supervised by the Director of Programs and Finding Resources and promoted by the Communication Department of Together for the Child. At the same time, the workers of Hotline 11525 and the Counseling Center of Together for the Children offer the possibility of additional psychological support, while the beneficiaries are joined by the Responsible Social Worker of the program to combat poverty "I offer because I care" in actions to provide products (e.g. e.g. Christmas gifts, new pairs of TOMS shoes).
The program employs four (4) teachers and three (3) psychologists, who are external partners of Together for Children.
The benefits to Mazi for the Child are: attracting organizations to cooperate in the program in question and enriching it for the benefit of the students, promotion of the project of Mazi for the Child and its actions, strengthening the reputation of Mazi for the Child and its efforts for the purpose of relieving the child in need.
