Skopje, 15 December 2021 (MIA) – Three elementary schools in Skopje, supported by the Youth Center for Equal Opportunities, have joined forces to conduct activities included in the Step Forward Together project as part of the Building Bridges Fund. “The project aims at organizing joint school activities for students from all communities speaking different languages so as to increase interaction, understanding and integration in a school environment,” said the project’s coordinator Tatjana Boshkovikj. The Building Bridges Fund is a joint project launched by the Ministry of Education and Science, the Swiss government and the OSCE Mission to Skopje with support provided also by the governments of Ireland and Austria. “At the moment, the Dutch embassy and the governments of the United States, Italy, Slovakia and Luxembourg are active supporters in addition to the OSCE Mission to Skopje. The Education Ministry is engaged in the project since 2018,” said Boshkovikj. The project, implemented throughout November and December in Lazo Trpovski and Avram Pisevski elementary schools in the municipality of Karposh and Liria elementary school in Chair municipality, includes various activities that promote multiethnic integration in education, such as research, watching movies, debates, sports competitions and a closing event to present the findings. “With the multicultural education project we want to create equal opportunities for all students, including those from different ethnic and social groups, which reflects the diversity in the society in North Macedonia,” stated Lazo Trpovski school principal Sonja Jovanovska.