Óscar Romerocollege is a large school in Dendermonde offering primary ed.+general, technical&vocational secondary ed. in different fields. Appr. 3000 sec. students are in different dpts based upon field of interest: ‘Languages & Sciences’, ‘Economics&IT’, ‘Technics&Engineering’, ‘Wellbeing&Society’ for 14-19 yrs old. There is a separate dpt for the 12-14 yrs old, a center for ‘Learning&Working’ and a dpt for foreign-language newcomers. Our institution focuses on high-quality education for all, regardless of background&abilities, offering guidance&support based upon needs&talents. The dpt ‘Wellbeing&Society’ offers classes in Human, Health&Social Sciences and Day Caring & has appr. 600 students & 100 staff.

Although in Belgium men and women are believed to be equal, reality is often different, with a pay gap, more women in poverty, increasing violence against women &/or misogynistic statements&situations. This influences the opinion& everyday school life of our students, impacting their well-being. We live in an urbanized region in Flanders with an above-average unemployment rate & increased poverty, adding to the current tendency for people to focus on their personal situation&profit, leading to discrimination, racism&decreasing tolerance in general. Moreover, the number of migrant students has increased significantly, adding to difficulties in tackling gender-based intolerance/discrimination. The vast majority of our students are girls&when preparing them for higher education, the lack of digital competences& language skills is striking. Despite efforts, this problem is persistent&we search for new approaches. Conducting an int. project will not only enrich the scope of didactic/pedagogical methods to educate students in the above topics. We are confident that participation itself will change&broaden our students’ view&improve important competences for higher education, job prospects&later life.

Participation also responds to the continuous search of the school to offer students challenging assignments related to their curriculum (social, human and cultural sciences, history, languages, IT) in a realistic context.

As a partner we can contribute by sharing experience in previous int. projects & expertise in project assessment& implementing project activities into the regular curriculum a.o. to ensure a lasting impact. We can also offer advice to anticipate/solve frequent problems.

In our dpt. we have a consistent team of teachers&staff involved&experienced in int. projects & a broad support next to this team. For this project, Nele Huys, history teacher, & An Fierens, coordinator, will organize all project activities together with principals&teachers. We can also count on the expertise of the other dpts & support of the school board, as internationalization is an essential element embedded in the pedagogical project of the school. In case of changes, the coordination will be assigned to another member of the team.