OSCE helps children to break down ethnic barriers in southern Serbia

Getting Roma, Serbian and Albanian primary and high school children to meet and overcome prejudices rooted deep within the ethnically diverse communities of southern Serbia is not easy. But that is the goal that the Bujanovac-based NGO Community Resources Centre (CRC) is working towards.

Southern Serbia is characterized by an ethnic mix of Serbs, Albanians and Roma. While tensions have been contained since 2001, there is still potential for conflict between the ethnic groups. Raising awareness and mutual acceptance among the different communities is thus harder than it might seem at first glance.

"Negative prejudices prevail among the local schoolchildren. In a survey we conducted, 80 per cent of the participants had a negative perception of kids from other ethnic communities," says Lidija Stojkovic, CRC Programme Director.

Furthering better understanding

"However, if children arrive at a better understanding of local customs and traditions of different ethnic communities, it will one day help in reducing inter-ethnic conflicts."

Breaking down the barriers between the ethnicities is the aim of the CRC's project "Multi-ethnic co-operation in education - the road to Europe", which has been supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia financially and logistically since it started in 2007. The CRC organizes extensive learning sessions for primary and high school children on various topics ranging from art and drama to EU institutions.

"It makes me very hopeful when I see how the children play and learn together at these sessions," says Martin Brooks, Municipal Co-ordinator of the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

Overcoming segregation

"However, at the first two training sessions, they would sit segregated and only chat with their friends from the same ethnic community. Fortunately, this has now changed."

Two high schools and two primary schools are participating in the project, one of each being Albanian and one mixed Serbian/Roma. Altogether, 235 children take part in the training sessions, with girls and boys equally represented.

The training sessions are given by 35 teachers and four Roma teaching assistants, who play a vital role in helping the Roma children when they encounter language difficulties or other problems, such as being discouraged from participating in the programme by their own families.

"Learning together with children of different ethnic backgrounds has taught me to put less emphasis on our differences," says Ilir Salihi, a pupil of the Albanian-taught high school in Bujanovac. "I've realized that we are interested in the same questions in life and have similar dreams for our future and for our families, even if our views differ on some issues."

Milica Stosic, a pupil of Serb ethnicity, points out: "It is not about avoiding children from different ethnic communities in our free time, but since our schools are segregated we basically never get in contact with kids from other ethnic backgrounds. The different languages also make encounters more difficult. This has been the first time that I have spent considerable time with kids from other communities."

Looking to the future

Ibrahim Alishani of the CRC is aware of the fact that the mixed-ethnic training sessions are a big step in the right direction but that other methods are needed to ensure the success of the programme: "We are currently preparing a big party in May where all the kids will come together and present what they have learned in the training sessions.

"The drama class, for instance, will present a play on the customs and culture of each of the three communities. At the end, we will have a disco where the children from the three communities bring their own music. This will be important for the young children so they can have fun together in an environment without any pressure."

Edison Drmaku, a young student from the Roma community, adds: "These training sessions have been important to me in creating an understanding of the other ethnicities. I have become friends with Albanian and Serbian students, whereas before we would not even talk to each other.

"This programme has taught us all to respect each other - this is needed in a small town like Bujanovac with its 25,000 inhabitants, where each ethnic community makes up a third of the population."