Both the ROM-ACT consortium and the Roma and Traveller women involved in the project believe that validation of learning outcomes can play an effective role in enhancing employability as well as increasing motivation for lifelong learning. However, the consortium’s experience in assisting 47 women that validated their prior learning in the past two years stresses that Roma women have often to overcome several barriers to undertake such a process. The role of providers and civil society organisation thus happens to be fundamental in making it become a reality.
The ROM-ACT guide
The last product of the ROM-ACT project is addressed to providers and civil society organisations which are interested in unveiling and valorising competences that Roma people accumulated throughout their life, mainly through non-formal and informal learning.
The ROM-ACT guide presents suggestions gathered via communicative discussion groups held with Roma women, Roma organisations and adult education centres in the concerned countries. While suggestions are formulated in broad enough terms to ensure adaptability to different contexts some may be only partly applicable due to the specificity of cases, the resources available and validation arrangements at country level. The document shouldn’t be considered as step-by-step guide, but as a list of tips and possible ways to act.
“Understanding, raising awareness, putting the participants at the centre and cooperating with other stakeholders are the main points of a winning strategy that we would invite providers and civil society organisations to adopt” says the project officer of EAEA, Francesca Operti, author of the guide.
The document is available in 6 languages (EN, ES, FR, CZ, RO, HE).
The ROM-ACT network
Although the ROM-ACT project will come officially to an end at the end of June, partners agreed to continue working at the national and European levels to make the validation systems accessible and inclusive for vulnerable groups. Indeed, the consortium is convinced that the project did a first step towards this, but more work is needed to empower more Roma women to undertake validation processes and thus to progress in their private, professional and educational life.
“We decided to create a network around the project so that providers and organisations interested in the topic could exchange good practice with other European colleagues” announced the project coordinator, Natalia Fernandez (DROM KOTAR MESTIPEN) “Let’s continue working together to build accessible and inclusive validation systems for all!” Learn more at www.rom-act.eu.
Text: Francesca OpertiPhotos: Serena Gamba