Training for life.

It has long been a widely established fact that education is one of the most significant  factors in improving the quality of life in a given society. What’s more, education is increasingly gaining ground as a determinative parameter of professional and economic success as individual level. Empirical research reveals that the refund on educational investment has reached its highest levels in the last 100 years (Goldin and Katz, 2000).

However, the potentials for a qualitative education still remain limited and largely determined by the individual and family background of each young person. The professed goal for “equal opportunities” is high up on the political agenda of most governments worldwide, but unfortunately the reality is still far from what is the true meaning of the term.

The promotion of equal opportunities, effective ways of interconnecting the family with the school, innovative methods of education and training have always been among the priorities of KMOP .

Throughout the 1980s and the mid- 1990s, KMOP carried out after- school support sessions remedial teaching courses for children living in the Perama area of Greater Athens. In 1999, initially with the support of the Swiss organization Limmat Shiftung, and afterwards relying on its own resources, KMOP implemented in Perama the programme “Prevention of dropping out of school” targeting children from 12 to 15 years old. The same programme was implemented in Municipality of Korydallos during the period 2002-2004 and in Thessaloniki during the period 2007-2008.

During the period 1990-95, KMOP implemented a series of vocational training programs, in different regions of Greece, individually targeting vulnerable persons. At the same time, the organization focuses on the implementation of specific programmes and actions aiming at the diffusion of know-how and the development of innovations in education and training of socially vulnerable groups. Indicatively are mentioned a) the realization of a congress in Athens in 1996 in cooperation with European Partners regarding a new perception of the role of parents in the education of their children, b) the implementation of the POD project regarding Professional training for parents of children with Down Syndrome (2007 – 2009), c) the CAFÉ project focused on parental support in the upbringing of their children (2009-10) and d) the participation in the ASK programme concerning the assessing of formal and non-formal skills of young people (2009-10).