Quendra Hap pas Hapi - Step by Step Albania

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About

The mission of Step by Step Center-Hap pas Hapi Center (HPH Center) is to model and disseminate the democratic principles in Albanian Early Childhood Education while paying special attention to social and minority ethnic group settings.The main goal of the HPH Center is to serve as a focal point for Early Childhood Development in Albania. They focus on: 1. maintain the strong network of SBS program, and represent high quality standards; 2. consolidate a big network of teachers and parents and advocate on behalf of quality early childhood programs; 3. raise funds from third party sources in order to be sustainable; 4. disseminate child-centered methodology to all interested partners; -improve the quality of services in ECD offered in Albania; The Center offers consultation, training and technical assistance on Early Childhood Development to caregivers, preschool and primary teachers, parents, faculty members and students of SbS network.They collaborate with governmental institutions: Ministry of Education and Science (MOES), Institute of Pedagogical Studies (IPS) and Local Education Authorities (LEA-s). They also build partnerships with international and national NGO-s, which supports Early Childhood Development (ECD) in Albania. They also offer services to private network of kindergartens and schools: 1.Ongoing professional development of SBS network teachers and specialists in order to increase the quality of implementing the child-centered methodology and to expand the network of SbS teachers and classrooms. 2. Professional information sharing. The HPH Center publishes professional child-centered literature for creche, preschool, primary and higher education levels. They collect and publish Albanian teachers' experience in applying child-centered methods. Special attention has been dedicated to quality children's literature. 3. Evaluation and accreditation process for SbS kindergartens and primary schools. International Step By Step Association is the international partner in this process.

OSI Affiliation

SbS Center is a spin off of OSFA, even though the Step by Step Program was part of Albania Education Development Project. They plan to continue to collaborate with NOSA, which will replace OSFA from 2006. They are also member of ISSA another spin off organization of OSI, the umbrella organization of Step by Step NGOs.