OSCE Skopje Mission helps train pre-school teachers to work in multi-ethnic environment

SKOPJE, 18 May 2006 - A series of seminars for teachers that ended today in Skopje focused on raising the standards of pre-school education and ensuring the inclusion of all ethnic groups.

Twenty school teachers of different ethnic backgrounds from five pre-schools from all over the country were trained under the project, which was supported jointly by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of Education and Science and the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje. The project built on similar successful work last year.

"We are confident that this type of project will further contribute, through the education system, to the peaceful and harmonious development of civil society, which would respect the ethnic diversity and the interests of all citizens," said Alenka Verbole, Education Development Coordinator within the OSCE Mission. "This kind of training will help prevent possible ethnic conflicts."

A number of recommendations from the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities were used to develop the training programme, methods and materials.

Ms. Zehra Memeti, the Head of Department for Protection of Children in the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, said: "With the realization of this project, the competencies of the pre-school teachers will be increased in their work with children from different ethnicities. We will continue to support this kind of multi-ethnic project in the future."