Teachers will learn more about effect of migration on children

About 150 class teachers from the districts of Cimislia, Anenii Noi and Calarasi are taking part in training courses about the effect of migration on children as part of the project “Social Inclusion of Children Left Behind in Labour Migration”, implemented by the Child Rights Information Centre (CRIC). According to Daniela Platon, monitoring and assessment coordinator of the project, the three-four day courses are attended by form teachers of the fifth-tenth grades and deputy directors for education from 30 settlements from three regions that are most affected by labour migration. The courses have such topics as the consequences of parents’ migration on the emotional and social development of the children, the specific needs of migrants’ children, strategies and activities needed to develop independent life skills in these children, ways of providing psychological support, out of school activities that contribute to children’s comfort, activities involving parents that intend to migrate etc. After the courses, the class masters will use the acquired abilities and knowledge at educative hours and during out of school activities. As part of the same project, the Centre worked out the pocket book for migrants’ children “Home Alone”, the book “My Child Home Alone” intended for parents that work abroad and the guidebook for professionals that work with such children. The project “Social Inclusion of Children Left Behind in Labour Migration” is implemented by CRIC in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Youth, with resources from the Swedish Organisation Radda Barnen (Save the Children), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the International Organisation for Migration. According to a study carried out by CRIC with the support of UNICEF in 2006, the children whose parents are abroad are often in difficult and unpleasant emotional states – become sad, feel isolated and insecure and cry. In most of the cases, these children have poor results at school as they are not supported by the parents and do not have enough time to prepare for the lessons, but also because they are convinced that the studies are useless. The study also shows that the lack of supervision on the part of adults and of opportunities to organise the free time, the possession of financial resources and peer pressure make migrants’ children more vulnerable to risks related to consumption of dangerous substances, school abandonment, early sexual relations and bad behaviour.