26.09.2014 Louis de Matignon Gouyon: half of the Rroma children from informal settlements do not attend school

Louis de Gouyon Matignon (2014) reports on the lack of education of Rroma children who live in the informal settlements of France. The lack of training of the children is partly due to the lack of appreciation of education by some parents, as well as the result of the fear of deportation by the French authorities. But above all, it results from discriminatory practices by French schools. Thus, some schools keep fictitious waiting lists to prevent Rroma from enrolling their children: “It is now assumed that 53% of Roma children do not attend school. The missing schooling of our young fellow Europeans (usually Romanians or Bulgarians) may result from the will of the parents to handle basic needs such as food, shelter or clothing with priority; or missing schooling may also result from a bad attitude or from a lack of funds on the part of schools: some schools apply fictitious waiting lists to discourage parents from enrolling their children. Some individual initiatives, based on private funds, such as the creation of small libraries or the establishment of courses by volunteers, are laudable, but they are not sufficient in order to prevent illiteracy among the Roma.” It must be stressed here that Gouyon Matignon assumes that 50% of Rroma children from the informal settlements do not go to school. This does not mean that half of the integrated Rroma children do not attend school. According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma are living in France. The vast majority of them is integrated, goes to work and sends their children to school. Gouyon Matignon therefore falsely equates the Rroma from the slums with all Rroma in France, which is not true. Many Rroma can read and write. Gouyon Matignon therefore unintentionally reproduces a stereotypical notion of the Rroma. But he is not alone with that: many other authors and institutions equate the Rroma with the visible Rroma from the slums (compare Pozycki 2014).