Step by Step Foundation – North Macedonia

The COVID 19 pandemic in the year 2020 affected the lives of people, around the globe. The closing of schools, had an impact on the way of teaching and on the progress of the students because teachers, parents and students were overwhelmed with the changes that had to be undertaken in the schools and they needed support to overcome the difficulties as a result of the pandemic.

The flexibility awarded by SCIK in identifying and trying possible solutions to the interruption brought by COVID-19, allowed the “Step by Step” Foundation to offer a significant number of workshops with the project schools, reaching ultimately some 2.500 children through their teachers and families. The psycho-social support and workshops for school staff and parents about addressing the difficulties during the COVID-19 and re-establishing respectful communication among students and among family members were accepted with the most positive and enthusiastic response.

Despite all the difficulties, in the last quarter of the year, the “Step by Step” Foundation managed not only to fulfil the modified plan but to support and mobilise the teachers and families.

The interest, participation and involvement of all who took part were much greater than anticipated, and the numbers reached higher than the expected reach. Here are some of the comments received from teachers:

“We express our satisfaction that these workshops introduced new helpful tools which will benefit us to overcome our difficulties with online teaching, supporting children during the COVID-19 crisis, as well as raising awareness regarding cyberbullying among students and families.”

”We need more workshops of this kind to be held, to help us meet further challenges that schools and families face.”