REF seeks applicants for the position of Director

The Roma Education Fund is seeking a new Executive Director

I. Introduction
The Roma Education Fund (REF) is seeking a new Executive Director to lead the organisation in the fulfillment of its 2010-2015 Strategy, approved by the REF Board in October 2009.

The REF runs six major programmes:

- Project grants to NGOs and governments
- Tertiary education scholarships to Roma students studying for BA, Masters and PhD.
- Policy development and capacity building
- Direct implementation of large-scale EU-funded projects
- Reimbursable grants to NGOs to ensure Structural Fund projects can start on time
- Communication and outreach

The REF annual budget has averaged around 6 million EUR over the last three years, but this is expected to increase over the course of the medium term strategy as the organisation becomes more successful in securing funding from European and national sources.

The Roma Education Fund is a headquartered in Budapest, Hungary, but has established foundations in Switzerland, Hungary and, most recently, Romania. The Executive Director serves as Executive Director for all three foundations. The Director is responsible to the REF
Board of each foundation.

REF Romania seeks a Country Director to its office in Bucharest

REF Romania seeks a Country Director

COUNTRY DIRECTOR
AUGUST 2010

Terms of Reference

Introduction

The goal of the Roma Education Fund is to close the gap in educational outcomes between Roma and non Roma.

REF manages six main programmes:

• Project grants to NGOs and governments
• Tertiary education scholarships to Roma students studying for BA, Masters and PhD.
• Policy development and capacity building
• Direct implementation of large-scale EU-funded projects
• Reimbursable grants to NGOs to ensure Structural Fund projects can start on time
• Communication and outreach
  

Invitation to bid for research project on teacher absenteeism in Romania

Invitation to bid for research project on teacher absenteeism in Romania

The Roma Education Fund wishes to invite tenders for a research project which will be carried out by the successful tenderer in Romania.

The specific focus of the research will be on teacher absenteeism and its impact on Roma children in primary school education.  You will find bellow the Research Specification document and the Literature Review document, that would guide you in designing your research proposal.

The deadline for receiving project proposal is 30th of September 2010.

All applications received after this date would not be reviewed and would not qualify for the competition.

REF seeks Country Facilitator for Romania

The Roma Education Fund seeks a country facilitator for  Romania

The Roma Education Fund, an international organization supporting quality education for Roma children, seeks a country facilitator for Romania to provide support to organisations requesting and implementing REF financed projects and to help in the coordination of REF country program in Romania.

The candidate should possess the following:

1. Speak fluent Romanian and have a very good command of the English language (written and spoken). Being a Roma speaker is a strong advantage
2. A university degree.
3. Experience of issues in education in Romania.
4. Excellent organization, administration and communication skills.
5. Experience in implementing and evaluating projects.
6. Good knowledge of issues related to Roma education and of the NGO sector in Romania and in the Decade Countries 
7. Be reliable and accurate with a proven ability to work in team but also ready to work on its own initiative
8. Driving license

REF/SP is now inviting researchers and experts in education

REF /SP seeks researchers and experts for a full scale study on drop outs

The Roma Memorial University Scholarship program (RMUSP) was established in 2001 with the funds of Open Society Institute (OSI) and administered from OSI Budapest office for 7 consequent years. Since 2007 it is managed by the Roma Education Fund (REF) Scholarships Programme. RMUSP operates in Albania, Bosnia-herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Turkey. Between 2001-2010 more than 6,600 Scholarships were given to Roma Students in Program countries to enable Roma youth pursue tertiary education in their home countries or the countries of their residence.

Roma Education Fund Scholarships Program is now inviting researchers and experts in education to carry out a full scale study of Drop outs, attrition tendencies and dynamics, as well as research the background for such tendencies within the evaluation framework of the Program. The focus of the Drop out study/evaluation of RMUSP will be 400 beneficiaries in 4 program countries.

REF seeks external evaluator for the Romaversitas programme in Hungary

REF seeks external evaluator of Romaversitas Programme in Hungary

EXTENDED DEADLINE 22 JULY 2010

Short background of the Romaversitas programme:

Romaversitas operates a comprehensive scholarship, training, and community programme for selected Roma university students in Hungary. The main goal of the programme is to increase the number of Roma students graduating university, through financial and academic support. Students accepted on the programme generally receive the following:

• A monthly scholarship, covering the cost of housing, books, and incidental expenses
• English or other language training
• Information Technology (IT) training
• Basic or advanced tutorial training
• Assistance with schools needs and personal problems
• Access to large group seminar programmes and small support groups

REF seeks Country Facilitator in Hungary

REF seeks Country Facilitator for Hungary

Background:
The goal of the Roma Education Fund is to contribute to closing the gap in educational outcomes between Roma and non-Roma, through policies and programs that support quality education for Roma, including through desegregation of educational systems in countries that have formally joined the Decade for Roma Inclusion.
The Hungarian Country Facilitator of the Roma Education Fund first task is to provide support to requesting and implementing organization for REF financed projects.
This support is provided on request of the organizations to facilitate smooth processing of project through the approval, contracting, implementation and evaluation cycle. The second task of the facilitator is to provide information to REF on Roma education issues in the concerned countries and help REF identify major policy or program and project implementation issues including areas for potential REF support. The third task of REF country facilitator is to provide information on REF to local stakeholders and facilitate communication and coordination between REF and other organizations involved in Roma Education.The country facilitator does not take decisions on projects or on policies on behalf of REF but ensures smooth flow of information between REF and all country based stakeholders and builds up capacity of local institutions as requested by REF. This means that he or she needs to have not only solid project management skills but very strong diplomatic skills and a good appreciation of when to refer an issue to REF and where to directly interact with the concerned organization. This also means that the Country Facilitator needs to remain in very close contact with REF headquarters. The Country Facilitator will be expected to travel frequently within the countries for which he/she is responsible.

REF seeks coordinator in Hungary

REF seeks EU Roma Pilot coordinator for Hungary

The purpose of the Roma Education Fund (REF) is to contribute to closing the gap in educational outcomes between Roma and non-Roma, through policies and programs to support quality education for Roma, including through desegregation of educational systems in countries that have formally joined the Decade for Roma Inclusion.

The REF has been awarded a grant to implement the early childhood education and care (ECEC) component of the EU Roma Pilot. The successful application is entitled ‘A Good Start’.

It seeks:

• to scale-up access to quality ECEC services for disadvantaged Roma children
and
• to raise early childhood development outcomes for Roma children so as to enhance their school readiness and subsequent life opportunities.

There are 5,000 intended beneficiary children from ages zero to six in 16 locations across four countries: Hungary, Macedonia, Romania and Slovakia.

The Pilot will be managed and implemented through a cooperative partnership between REF, as the main applicant, three international partners—the International Step by Step Association, the Fundacion Secretariado Gitano and the Slovak Governance Institute—as well as several local Roma NGOs.
The total budget for the Pilot is 1.9 m EUR.