Applications for the RYCO Superschools Exchange Scheme are open now. This newly established opportunity for schools, students, and teachers aims to support the peacebuilding and reconciliation processes and intercultural learning and dialogue among schools, students and their communities. By participating in this programme, secondary schools will have the chance to apply and, if selected, implement school-to-school exchanges as well as to participate in the programme’s activities dedicated to their capacity building, networking and cooperation.
The programme, which will be implemented in the next three years will focus on supporting schools to develop and conduct youth exchanges as well as to design a regional school exchange scheme which will enable secondary school students to participate in a long-term RYCO exchange program. Every secondary school, public or private, from the Western Balkans is invited to apply and implement these exchanges, and thanks to the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), exchange expenses will be covered for all selected schools.
Through the online platform www.superschools.net, an interested school should register, create online profile and find a partner school from a different Western Balkans six territory (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia), then identify and propose the common activities during the exchange in the application. The implementation of the first year exchanges shall take place from February to May 2022 and each partner school shall organize one exchange visit to the partnering one, with a group of 10 to 20 students and 1 to 2 teachers lasting between 6 and 10 days.
Through the exchange scheme, students and teachers will have a chance to travel, present themselves, their schools and customs to their hosts and learn new things about local communities in different parts of our region.
To apply until 28 October or for more information, visit www.superschools.net or contact the RYCO Local Branch Office closest to you.
Background
About the Superschools programme
Superschools is a RYCO programme for school exchanges in WB6 with the objectives to support the peacebuilding and reconciliation process and intercultural learning and dialogue among schools, students and their communities. The programme is part of a multi donor project “Western Balkans School Exchange Scheme” co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) together with the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO). The project has a total budget of €5.5 million and contributes to the overall objective of increasing skills and knowledge of young people in the Western Balkans by enhancing education systems and promoting cooperation in the region, through establishing a regional school exchange scheme.
About RYCO
RYCO is an intergovernmental organisation that stewards and promotes regional and intercultural cooperation of young people within and among six Western Balkans societies. RYCO’s programmes focus on creating opportunities for young people to engage in activities that build mutual understanding and reconciliation in the civic, social, educational, cultural and sports domains. RYCO initiates and participates in policy making and advocates for reform. It supports the development of a political and social environment that empowers and facilitates youth exchange.
RYCO puts young people at the centre of its work and believes that they should be creating a culture of mobility, intercultural exchange and reconciliation. Young people should also be active contributors to democratic development, social and economic prosperity, and European integration in an increasingly open Western Balkans region. Six Western Balkans societies should be providing proactive support to youth exchange and youth engagement within the region and across the region.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
