Once a month, children from a Roma centre in Črnomelj, Slovenia, visit the local library. In this case they discussed about friendship and created a fairy tale on that topic.
Whether this is useful, will need to be assessed in a few years, but at least it is a start.
The education of children from Roma communities in Slovakia has long been on the fringes of public interest. The Ministry of Education recently announced a pilot project of a national school in the village of Rakúsy, which is to allow Roma children to be educated in their mother tongue. However, this step has sparked a debate about whether it will lead to a deepening of segregation.
Well, for us, this is clear. It is segregation and the results will not be good.
The mission of the civic association Chestnut Horse is the education, support and social development of people with health disabilities, people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and people from marginalized communities (for the last two, read “Roma”). The association also offers educational activities for pedagogical workers working with these groups in primary schools.
Good work and intentions, but a drop in the ocean, unfortunately.
An article about the representation of Romain Greece and Romania schoolbooks.
Good intentions, but stating that Roma arrived in the 14th century in Europe is also a misrepresentation …
They would never have had the opportunity to learn Greek …
So good intentions, and total lack of knowledge.
Michal Sivák, a gifted teacher and Rom has a job in a school in Bratislava. The problem: he can’t find an apartment as his applications are rejected because he is Rom.
He now says he won’t stay in education. What a waste.
Sejnur Veshall of the United Roma Party said that in the future Kosovo government, the emphasis should be on the spiritual heritage of the Roma, which he said is deep and deserves a more adequate presentation to the people of Kosovo.
Wishful thinking, unfortunately …
Not much on Roma nowadays in the French press. One teacher who helps young Roma in their education in Nantes, and a fire in a camp in the Southeast of France.
Czech Education Minister Mikuláš Bek has presented the new Framework Education Programs (RVPs) for nursery and primary schools which are supposed to strengthen the connection between knowledge and skills and focus on reducing inequality in the Czech education system. For the first time ever, institutions focused on supporting the Romani minority have significantly contributed to the design of the programs.
Let’s see what this brings. Schools are still segregated…
Following the controversy of the a deputy mayor who claimed that Roma are not genetically programmed for education, a blog about education and Roma. The blog’s intentions are good, as it states that “the poorer academic results of Roma children are caused by poor socio-economic background, not by their racial differences”.
Unfortunately, after noting that only 11,746 people registered as Roma in the last census, whereas estimates say there are around 300’000 Roma in Czechia, it goes on with percentages … 30% of children end up in special schools; 57% are long term unemployed, etc. How does one arrive at those numbers if one doesn’t know how many there are?
Actually, this is racist, albeit with good intentions.
The Municipality of Bari has published the call for proposals to implement an Inclusion and integration project for Roma, Sinti and Caminanti children and adolescents, funded under the National Inclusion and Fight against Poverty Program 2021-2027 with over 457 thousand euros. The specific objective is the.
Inclusion of Roma children and young people at school in Bari.
The Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK) wants to launch three national projects to support Roma communities in the first half of 2025. They will focus on helping municipalities draw on subsidy resources or supporting young Roma students. This was stated by the Director General of the European Programs Section of the ÚSVRK Ingrid Zúbková when reviewing the office’s activities over the past months.
On the other hand, they are also supporting segregating schools …
The Slovene government is working on a package of measures that address key areas such as access to education, housing conditions and security. Among the proposals is the mandatory inclusion of Roma children in kindergarten a year before primary school and the abolition of the higher child allowance for children who are not included in preschool education.
In plain text: if children do not go to Kindergarten, there’s no more money.
For young people from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, the Student Resource Centre opened its doors on Wednesday and the Additional Support for University Studies programme was launched. This initiative, led by representatives of these communities, was hailed as proof of the belief in the transformative power of education.
The Czech Roma Literature Publishing House “Kher” published a unique book for children aged four and up this year. It was written by Romani author Eva Danišová, winner of the Milena Hübschmannová Award. For the youngest readers, the book presents a Romani peer as the main character for the first time in everyday life situations and during preparation for first grade.
Bojana Rozman has been a Roma assistant at Bršljin Primary School for more than 13 years, and her work week is always dynamic. Providing learning assistance, working with a social worker, resolving conflicts between students and visiting a Roma settlement are just a few of the activities of many Roma assistants. Together with other school employees, they solve the problems of Roma students.
Vlado Rafael, the Head of eduRoma MGO says Roma children can also study to become psychologists in Britain. Here they end up in special schools.
The article addresses the largest misinformation about Roma and education currently circulating in Slovakia: What is the status of the lawsuit filed against Slovakia by the European Commission for the segregation of Roma children in education, what impact does their placement in special schools for students with mild mental disabilities, where up to 70-80 percent of them end up, have on the future of Roma, why, according to non-governmental organizations, the amendment to the Education Act will further exacerbate the problem, and how Roma students are treated differently in Great Britain, where many of them successfully graduate from universities.
In discussions about the Roma community, there are constant warnings about the need to improve the educational picture. Available estimates on the involvement of Roma in education show that the gap between Roma and the majority population is very large. Despite this, the situation has been slowly improving in recent years, and there are big differences within the Roma community. There is no official data.
“The myth that Roma are uneducated is not true,” Jože Horvat Muc, president of the Roma Association, told STA. As he estimated, there are “quite a few Roma who are educated” in Prekmurje. In the southeast of the country, however, the reality is different, as there are more Roma who do not finish school, he admitted.
Slovakia has been condemned by the EU for its de-facto school segregation of Roma children. The latest measures on de-segregation of schools voted by the Slovak parliament are being criticised by the association EduRoma. The parliament decided to ban two-shifts operations in schools and to teach Romanes in classes. EduRoma says that “In the name of language education, you will be able to officially separate those children from other children. You can segregate them in the name of language education, no one will tell you anything about it.”
93 Roma pupils and students will receive scholarships of 1,200 lei. The scholarships will be provided monthly by the Ministry of Education and Research. According to the authorities, the goal of the initiative is to reduce educational disparities and encourage young Roma to achieve academic success.
93 is not many compared to the Roma population of the country.
Two articles in the Slovak press about this new initiative of a school where teaching will be done in Romanes. This is presented a good idea in Slovakia and esopecially so by the government. The result will be a segregated school whose standards will be rock-bottom.
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