Profil školy

SPARK as an acronym stands for the Academy of Social and Pedagogical Sciences for Romany Communities which was established in September 1^st 2005. The school was founded by Ms. Irena Adamova, MA, whose main aim was and has been since to change the rigid stereotypical and prejudiced opinion of the majority of population towards Romany minority.

One of the Academy’s main priorities is education and further establishment of new secondary schools in the Eastern Slovak region. As the title of the Academy suggests, the school is targeted at those students who are supposed to work in Romany communities in order to raise educational standard, cultural and social awareness of the issues facing Romany people. The Romany people have a powerful past, vibrant culture and a will to survive that no one can ever extinguish. We believe our graduates will be able to help them nourish their traditions as well as establish ways of their active participation in the events outside their communities.

 

The school tries to act in the most unprejudiced way possible providing a chance for everybody, no mater what their ethnic, cultural, social and gender background is, and is strongly opposed to any form of segregation.

 

Desire and ability to create, the will to reach beyond acquainted knowledge has fascinated mankind since the beginning of its existence. When the word creativity is mentioned, what the majority of people imagine instantly is its connection with art. Talent and ability to create are some of the things our students are familiar with, yet our aim is to use their creativity as a tool for problem-solving processes which may lead them to the invention of new methods. These methods, we believe, will change the rooted opinion they might have learned via insufficient tutoring caused by the lack of tolerance of the former prejudiced societies.         

It is necessary to help them learn to develop such skills. In case of our school it is done mainly through personal contact with the target environment and its thorough understanding. Our students have a wonderful opportunity to be a part of this process. They visit Romany communities in the form of regular excursions and practice where they learn to cooperate with other institutions providing social care in the targeted areas. They also acquire necessary knowledge about crime-solving startegies and ground social work. It is absolutely vital that our students should get accustomed to the environment they were brought up in and are willing to return to  richer in terms of experience and knowledge. Only through their active involvement our ambition will thrive on success.