Nobody can be born to promote responsibility, anyone

Nobody can be born to promote responsibility,
anyone has to learn how to be responsible.
It is important to naturally show the children from their early age what they can affect by their behavior and what
their interest can mean to others. Children perceive such behavior very positively and take it as a natural part of
life. It makes sense to promote the concept of social responsibility throughout all educational levels, ranging from kindergartens. NONE CAN BE BORN SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE, ANYONE HAS TO BECOME THOUGH! That is exactly the project of Responsible
School about. It is such school that besides the classic education of pupils perceives
cultural, social and educational activities of local area.
The Certificate of Responsible School, which is awarded by the Association of
Social Responsibility (A-CSR), can be obtained by schools at all levels of educational system by adopting the Basic Principles of Responsible School in the
following fields: 1) Ecology 2) Activities in Local Community 3) Relationships
towards Students 4) Conditions for Employees 5) Health and Nutrition. Adaptation of the principles is not a single step and may not be performed just once,
it should be practiced continuously in a long-term run. We do not want to certify
schools, we want to show them that social responsibility (CSR) is not an empty
phase and that it plays an important role for future behavior
of our society. A-CSR does not supervise, enforce or asses
actions of involved schools.
A-CSR relies on the responsibility of each participated school,
its transparency and own interest in initiating steps regarding the Principles, which
is basically the main point. Responsible School represents a network of members under the portfolio of the Association of Social Responsibility. The project
leads schools to accept the Principles and apply them within their everyday
life, proactively look for projects and activities that will be in line with those Principles, support them and spread the main goals of the project.
Any school that adopts the Basic Principles of Responsible School and decides to
actively participate and support any field from the spheres of interest, receives the
Certificate of Responsible School issued by the Association of Social Responsibility,
in a cooperation with partnering professionals and experts in charge of the criteria (Skutečně zdravá škola, Recyklohraní, APERIO aj.). The participated school
also gets the access towards fresh information, published materials and individual
consultations.
The Association of Social Responsibility decides on the certification of Responsible School in collaboration with professional guarantors, especially experts from
non-profit organizations, educational playground and private sector.
The field of Ecology has been for instance guaranteed by Recyklohraní, the
school recycling program under the auspices of the Ministry of Education,
Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic. The main target is to deeper the
knowledge of students in the sphere of recycling waste and ensures that
they will have a personal experience with taking-back used batteries and
small electrical equipment. By that the Responsible School involves students
into environmental projects, supports recycling and ecological and green products, educates pupils and students in environmental tasks, etc.
The Principles of Health and Nutrition have been prepared by the citizens‘ initiatives Skutečně zdravá škola, which aims to change eating habits in kindergartens and
schools. Healthy child nutrition is essential not only for the health of the kids but also
can positively affect their behavior and academic performance. Responsible School
supports seasonal and local (regional) food, when preparing lunch it offers at maximum one sweet meal a week, in case
there are more variants in choosing the meal there is one vegetarian (but does not mean sweet) option, during the day
pupils have the opportunity to refill empty drinking bottles by non-sugar drink (water, unsweetened tea), etc.
Responsible School also support the work-life balance of its employees, respects human rights, does not discriminate
on the basis of gender, age, race, religious status or other aspects, it cares for its employees, support their professional
growth and voluntary activities. The expert guarantor for the Principles of occupational field and conditions is APERIO Společnost pro zdravé rodičovství.
Responsible School respects child and parental rights, eliminates social discrepancies and conflicts, actively fights
against bullying, supports the development of local communities, social, cultural and leisure activities and involves into
public life of the city, cooperates with regional businesses and institutions, supports connectivity with the labor market
(social supply and demand) and collaborates with employers and employment offices and agencies, and so on.
Any school that obtains the Certification is also committed to A-CSR to submit an annual report covering the actual situation of proceeding activities and progress within the Basic Principles of Responsible School. The school also requests
for an extension of Certification.
The general director of Recyklohraní, Ilona Johnová Koukalová, has voluntarily joined the project, we have also involved two university-students as interns. The project is guaranteed and led by the managing director of the Association of
Social Responsibility, Lucie Mádlová, in cooperation with experts and professionals from NGOs, academics and educational institutions. The expert guarantors are currently Recyklohraní, o.p.s., community initiative Skutečně zdravá škola
and APERIO – Společnost pro zdravé rodičovství.
The project has been financed voluntarily, but we got very positive feedback and we have been contacted by many
organizations that are interested to support us. At the moment we are discussing the possible forms of partnerships.