Engagement Mentoring as a tool for supporting the positive narrative of Romani children and their enrollment in the education system

Engagement mentoring of Romani people is a process that aims to support and empower Romani children& youth in their educational and career development. It is based on the idea of using positive role models, such as successful Romani professionals, to inspire and guide the mentees in achieving their goals. Engagement mentoring can also help to foster a sense of belonging, identity, and self-esteem among Romani people, as well as to challenge the negative stereotypes and discrimination they face in society. Through the PAL Enroll project, we have aimed to improve the access, quality, inclusion, diversity, participation, and empowerment of Roma children in education in Greece, Belgium, and Italy. The beneficiaries had assessed the need to train and support 265 Roma school mediators and assistants who can facilitate the communication and cooperation between Roma families, schools, and other institutions. But also, had been designed and introduced an innovative curriculum and mentoring methodology for facilitators that can help Roma children and youth in their learning process and career guidance. PAL Enroll capitalized on the existing European experience in the field of Roma education and mediation, involving 1250 stakeholders.

The PALEnroll enhances the role of the intermediator in intercultural relations and education, providing them with a mentor approach tailored to support them to guide disadvantaged youngsters. The project is a transnational collaboration between three EU organizations: PAL Network, CUBE ΑΜΚΕ, and Women20, and targets Roma and other minority communities in Europe. The main objectives and activities of PALEnroll were: • To capitalize on the existing European experience in the process of providing counseling services to marginalized people. • To adapt the existing knowledge into an innovative training curriculum for intercultural mediators/mentors. • To introduce a reliable and effective mentoring methodology aiming at supporting Romani youth and children in the educational process and career guidance. • To upgrade the existing skills of social workers, counselors, and trainers in the field of Romani support services. • To develop a mentoring handbook for trainers working with Roma and other minorities, including mentoring procedure guidelines, best practices, case studies, and evaluation tools. • To translate and localize the mentoring toolkit into the partners’ languages (Greek, Italian, and French).

The main achievements of the PALEnroll project are: # The development of a mentoring toolkit for trainers working with Roma and other minorities. The handbook includes mentoring procedure guidelines, best practices, case studies, and evaluation tools. The toolkit is based on the existing PAL mentoring model but adapted to the specific needs and contexts of the target groups. # The translation and localization of the mentoring toolkit into the partners’ languages (Greek, Italian, and French). The translation ensures the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of the toolkit, as well as its accessibility and usability for the trainers and learners. # The testing and validation of the mentoring toolkit in each partner country. The testing involves a sample of trainers and learners from Roma and other minority communities, who use the toolkit in their educational settings. The validation involves collecting feedback and data from the participants, as well as conducting an external evaluation by experts.

• Inception meeting with 20 participants • 6 online discussions on the development of the handbook with 64 participants • 6 round tables with 64 participants on the assessment of the handbook • Facilitator training for engagement mentoring in education, consisting of 6 modules with 40 hours duration. • International teaching and training event with a 5-day duration linked to the piloting of the six training modules in the practical and theoretical part and focusing on the feedback received from the 17 trainers and facilitators invited. • Training Handbook of 120 pages and its translations in EN, Greek, French, and Italian • The dissemination and exploitation of the project results and outputs, including creating a project website, social media account, 3 newsletters, and presentations with impact on 10.231 people. • The quality assurance and monitoring of the project implementation, setting quality standards and indicators, conducting internal and external evaluations, and ensuring ethical compliance. • The management and coordination of the project activities. The management involves defining the project objectives, scope, budget, and resources.