3.7. Monitoraġġ tal-istudenti f’riskju

Essunga, a Swedish municipality, transformed the ranking of its schools from the bottom to the top of the national school league tables between 2007 to the top in 2010. Essunga has three elementary schools and one lower secondary school (grades 6-9). With 5,500 citizens, it is one of the smallest municipalities in the country. The increase in levels of achievement is attributed to a research-based approach of inclusive education. For years, the three elementary schools in Essunga had consistently experienced low educational levels. An increasing number of students were refugees or in “family placements”. In 2007, only 76% of students were eligible for upper secondary school and 20% of these were placed in special education classes. These results compelled political and school leaders and school staff to identify targeted measures to address these challenges. The municipality focused on interventions at school and in the local community to prevent school absence and increase attendance.

Rapport li fih sejbiet ta’ riċerka kif ukoll intervisti ma’ studenti li ma jibqgħux jistudjaw. 379 żagħżugħ u żagħżugħa li ma lestewx l-istudji tal-edukazzjoni sekondarja għolja tagħhom jaqsmu l-esperjenzi tagħhom fir-rapport. It-tweġibiet ġejjin mingħand żgħażagħ li kienu involuti fi proġetti tal-Fond Strutturali Ewropew. Huma wieġbu għal mistoqsijiet dwar raġunijiet għal dewmien, x’seta’ sar biex jiġi impedut li l-istudenti ma jibqgħux jistudjaw u huma jaqsmu l-viżjoni tagħhom tal-iskola tal-edukazzjoni sekondarja għolja perfetta.

To improve student success and prevent early school leaving, the Malmaskolan established a Student Health Team, comprised of a school nurse, a special education teacher, the principal, the school counselor, the leisure-time pedagogues, the study and career counselor, a social worker, the school physician and a school psychologist. Since 2005, this Health Team has been the core for the development of teaching at the school, and is a hub for both teaching and school development. They have open meetings thrice weekly where teachers can discuss issues, and where a wide range of potential measures to support students is identified.

Il-proġett Preventing School Failure (PSF) kellu l-għan li jindirizza n-nuqqas ta’ inklużjoni u ġustizzja fis-sistema edukattiva, billi jenfasizza r-rabta bejn il-falliment fl-iskola u l-politiki inklużivi. Huwa kellu l-għan li jeżamina l-evidenza biex jissuġġerixxi li l-politiki tal-edukazzjoni inklużiva għandhom il-potenzjal li jipprevjenu l-falliment fl-iskola – kemm fir-rigward tal-individwi kif ukoll fis-sistema ġenerali. 

L-għan tar-rapport Nordic Projects to Combat School Dropout huwa li jittejbu u jiġu ispirati inizjattivi ġodda għaż-żgħażagħ, u li jinħolqu kuntatti ta’ arrikkiment bejn l-atturi u l-organizzazzjonijiet fir-reġjun Nordiku.
Ir-Riżorsa tal-Web Nordika dwar Tluq mill-Edukazzjoni Sekondarja Għolja kien proġett ikkummissjonat mill-Kunsill tal-Ministri Nordiku u mmexxi miċ-Ċentru tal-Assistenza Soċjali Nordiku bejn l-2012 u l-2015. L-għan tal-proġett kien li jikkompila eżempji tajba ta’ inizjattivi immirati li jżidu l-proporzjon ta’ żgħażagħ fir-reġjun Nordiku li jlestu l-edukazzjoni sekondarja għolja.
Fuq il-portal tal-web Nordiku, ġiet ippreżentata firxa kbira ta’ proġetti ta’ suċċess mill-pajjiżi Nordiċi. L-inizjattivi ġew evalwati b’mod esternament, u wrew riżultati pożittivi. Xi attivitajiet intgħażlu b’mod speċifiku minħabba l-karattru innovattiv tagħhom jew il-valur tagħhom bħala sorsi ta’ ispirazzjoni.
Minkejja d-differenzi burokratiċi u kulturali bejn il-pajjiżi Nordiċi, is-sitwazzjoni fir-rigward taż-żgħażagħ f’riskju li jitilqu mill-iskola hija simili ħafna. Id-differenzi huma xi drabi akbar bejn il-muniċipalitajiet u l-iskejjel milli bejn il-pajjiżi. Billi nitgħallmu dwar inizjattivi ta’ suċċess fil-pajjiżi Nordiċi, huwa possibbli li nsibu ispirazzjoni u għodod li jtejbu l-ħidma fl-għajnuna liż-żgħażagħ biex ilestu l-edukazzjoni sekondarja għolja tagħhom.
F’din il-pubblikazzjoni, jiġu deskritti għaxar proġetti li ġew ippreżentati fuq il-portal tal-web Nordiku dwar prattiki tajba. Uħud mill-proġetti tlestew, filwaqt li oħrajn għadhom għaddejjin. Xi attivitajiet ġew inkorporati f’xogħol ordinarju.

Rescur Isserfjar tal-Mewġ kien proġett ta’ Comenius tal-Programm ta’ Tagħlim Tul il-Ħajja ta’ tliet snin li żviluppa kurrikulu ta’ reżiljenza għall-edukazzjoni bikrija u primarja fl-Ewropa permezz ta’ kollaborazzjoni interkulturali u transnazzjonali.

The toolkit developed as part of the valorisation of the findings by the Reducing Early School Leaving in Europe (RESL.eu) research project aims to support practitioners working with youth in identifying and monitoring students and schools in need of greater care and support. It is primarily focused on the situation of those young people who are at risk of school disengagement and early school leaving. The toolkit is primarily dedicated to school staff: principals, teachers, educators, pedagogical counsellors, class tutors and school psychologists. However, it might be also helpful for other educational specialists working in education policies and in alternative learning pathways.

For Arvika, Centralskolan is a big school with students coming from the city centre and surrounding areas. Students are from very mixed backgrounds, including students from disadvantaged areas. Several years ago, the school had a significant number of students whose academic achievements after the 9^th grade were not sufficient for entering an upper secondary education. One of the key issues in Centralskolan, as well as in other surrounding schools, was that the student reading comprehension skills across various subjects were poor. Subjects of maths and science have been extra prioritised by Centralskolan as student results within those subjects were especially low. Therefore, the school has started practising an explicit teaching of reading strategies within specific subjects for grades 7 – 9. These reading strategies have been implemented together with scaffolding, which means that a teacher gradually empowers students to lead a reading and text comprehension exercise.