Page 46 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

Guiding at-risk youth through learning to work
Lessons from across Europe

weekly meeting. Many of the activities are informal. They go to a park, gallery,
sports centre or swimming pool where they have the chance to get to know one
another, build a relationship based on trust and discuss issues affecting the
young person.
The combined scholarship and mentoring project Ultravaló (For the journey)
in Hungary is an example of a mentoring project which takes account of the
needs of young people at different education stages. Students at lower
secondary level are supported by their mentors in applying for upper secondary
studies. Upper secondary level students are guided through activities that equip
them with knowledge about further study, training and employment options.
Young people in vocational schools are supported in their efforts to find a work
placement, which is usually an important part of their studies. These activities
have been put in place to prevent young people from disengaging from school.
These examples have shown that mentors can play a key role in assisting
Roma students in schools, and thereby their academic performance. The
mentors also monitor student progress and help control their attendance. They
are able to understand better the student’s personal situations and potential
problems. Indeed, many mentors often act as ‘second parents’, encouraging and
motivating students and providing help and advice to overcome personal or
school-related difficulties (Roma Education Fund, www.romaeducationfund.hu/).
At first glance these mentoring projects seem very similar. There is, however,
anecdotal evidence to suggest that, in practice, small changes in project
approaches can have a far-reaching effect on the way they support most
vulnerable young people from the Roma community. The first difference concerns
the selection process. The Hungarian mentoring project led by the Soros
Foundation, accepted students from the Roma community only, whereas the new
national programme selects students on the basis of their socioeconomic
background. This means that a larger number of young people have the potential
to benefit from additional support and the selection decision is no longer linked to
ethnicity. However, the larger target group can reduce the opportunities for the
most vulnerable members of the Roma community, who are often in most urgent
need of support, to benefit from the programme.
Whereas the Soros Foundation project accepted joint applications from
students and their chosen mentors only, the new national project accepts
applications only from teachers who are in charge of the selection process. This
takes away the flexibility of the project and the ability of students to choose their
own mentor. Further, as schools are responsible for applying for funding (instead
of the mentee and their mentor) the attitude and initiative of the head teacher

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