Lack of preschool education increases the risk of early school abandonment, the need for special education, the rate of unemployment and crime.
For the second year in a row, Alex Fund donors have made it possible for Ovidiu Rom to expand its efforts to get every poor child in Romania in preschool and kindergarten.
In partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Education, Ovidiu Rom has invited Romanian mayors to apply for grants to help them get all children in their community, age 3-6, into early education programs. Impoverished parents receive $15 a month in food coupons if their children have perfect attendance. http://www.alexfund.org/programs
Last year 1,300 children in 19 communities qualified for the aid. The attendance rate almost doubled over the previous year and increased every month, rising to 84% in March. In all participating communities, attendance over this period was the highest in the last three years – and many local coordinators noted that it was by far the highest attendance rate EVER in their communities. Ovidiu Rom plans to add 3-5 new communities for the 2011 school year.
Go to press release on Alex Fund website: Romanian Mayors Invited to Apply for Fiecare Copil in Gradinita (“Every Child in Preschool”) Funds
Save the Date: July 14
Friends of will host an evening with renowned pianist Matei Varga
at the Essex House, Manhattan.
