Center for education & practice
About the Center for Education and Practice
The idea of establishing the Center for Education and Practice (CEP) arose after students and professionals had expressed their desire to come to the Service for Support in order to take a close view of the work with clients and to practice their knowledge, gained at the university.
In 2001 a lot of students of the humanitarian subjects looked for opportunities from the organization to improve their knowledge and acquire practical skills. Lecturers from the Plovdiv University "Paissii Hilendarski" and the Veliko Tarnovo University "Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodiy" shared the necessity of a base for the students, where they could put their knowledge and skills into practice.
Meanwhile the negotiations with the representatives of the Department of International Development on the project "Together Against Violence" provoked us to think about development of paid modules for education, which could give the opportunity for partial self-financing of the organization.
We chose the CEP to start its programs at the Plovdiv University, because of students' great interest in the activities of the organization. The executive body and the lecturers from the Plovdiv University showed their deep interest in our initiative. In the process of our meetings we made clear the students' needs and negotiated the possibilities for presenting the CEP and including counselors from the foundation in the education program of the Plovdiv University.
During the presentations the students displayed interest and readiness for their inclusion in the CEP. The analysis of inquiries, held among the students, showed the fact that 60% of the students declared their desire for additional education in a training form with realistic prices. The inquiries and applications gave us the opportunity to develop subjects and modules, corresponding to the declared needs of education.
The young and qualified professionals, offering modern types of education in the form of games, in which different parts are played, work in small and big groups, discussions on particular cases and lectures, excited the interest in the CEP.