Previous Phases

We, at PEP, understand that schools are more than just a collection of cold and rigid rooms to keep the youth. On the contrary, schools should be a set of learning spaces that stimulate young people, encourage discovery and provide an environment that is safe and comfortable.

Working with local communities, including school boards, PEP goes beyond simple renovation to create cost-effective and sustainable learning environments that use modern, energy-efficient building materials to help municipalities conserve scarce resources and sustain quality schools. We are working with partners to develop “Green” schools which have environmentally-aware policies and encourage youth to apply good practice in and out of school.

Over the life of the project, we have improved the physical learning environment in 100 schools and we used “green” technologies to demonstrate the impact of comprehensive plan for energy efficiency on costs and learning outcomes.

School Renovations

So far, we have renovated at least one primary school in each municipality. By the end of 2010, four phases of the school renovations were completed. In Phase One, 8 primary schools were renovated, in Phase Two 32 primary schools were renovated, while one primary music school in Kavadarci was renovated in cooperation with the US Embassy in Macedonia. Additionally, 36 schools were renovated in Phase Three and 23 in Phase Four.

Currently, PEP is starting to implement Phase Five during which five schools will be renovated.

PEP’s work is based on the collaboration with the municipalities and schools. Great support is coming from the Parents and Teachers Councils as both parents and teachers are helping in the implementation of the projects and in the process of creating a better learning environment for the children. But these renovations are not just aesthetic; they create better conditions for teaching and learning, lower the costs for heating and are environmental friendly. We have reports from the renovated schools that they are lowering their heating costs and in this way they are saving money that can be used for other purposes.

Strengthening Capacities of School Boards

In October 2010, PEP has also launched the Program on Strengthening the Capacities of School Boards. As part of this program, eight schools will be renovated with strong involvement of their School Boards. The overall goal of this initiative is to promote the best School Boards into centers of excellence in school governance and to actively participate in school renovation activities following principles of accountability, transparency and democracy on the school level.

By participating in this activity, the members of the School Boards will acquire knowledge and skills that will help them exercise their rights and responsibilities and enhance the quality of education in their community.

Specifically, with this project activity PEP seeks to prompt a change in the work of the School Boards by providing them with training that fits the legally stipulated roles of School Board members and making them more visible and appreciated by municipality, school and parents.

During the project realization, the best eight School Boards will be presented with a real life task to take active part in the process of planning and prioritizing school needs for renovation. Their support, in-kind contribution and time would be used during the physical renovation of facilities and they would be also required to pay close attention to monitoring and supervising the intervention and maintaining the results from the implemented project. In addition, the members of the School Boards and PEP’s team will join forces to create better learning environment and improve the energy efficiency.

“Step by Step” Training

An important part of the School Renovations Component are the workshops on “Effective learning environment” and “Parental involvement” organized by our local partner NGO “Step by Step”, Macedonia in all renovated primary schools. Furthermore, each renovated school receives educational equipment to enrich the classroom environment for young children.

The training of teachers in preparation of effective learning environments for young children helps them gain necessary skills and knowledge to create classroom environment that is stimulating, safe and comfortable for all children, where individual competencies, personal learning styles and cultural values of all children are recognized and respected. This involves not only the physical environment but also the “climate of learning”- teaching the child how to learn, rather than what to learn and enabling each child to develop his own potentials. The training aims to provide teachers with notion and alternatives in classroom management and a range of choices in meeting individual children’s interests.

The general goal of the training on involvement of local communities and parents in school’s life is to stress the importance and benefits from parental and community involvement in the improv ement of the school climate and environment and to provide necessary skills for effective decision making and open discussion about issues that affect children. Through effective participation in their children’s education, parents learn that they could make difference and become successful advocates of their children.

Green Schools
 
The ‘Green School’ Activity is a project for coaching primary schools in the process of becoming environmentally-aware and energy-efficient institutions. This activity is also designed to make students and staff more aware of the importance of energy conservation. In the pilot phase we worked with five pilot schools, which served as models for other municipalities interested in similar savings. Afterwards, we worked with 15 other schools in cooperation with our project partners, the USAID Plastic Recycling Project. PEP monitors the savings from energy-efficiency and works with local governments and parents’ councils, to demonstrate how short-term investments can lead to reduced costs in the long run.