Tag Archives: Education

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Education in Slovenia

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Education in Slovenia

Eleven Roma students from the Kher šu beši Day Center visited the mayor of Trebnje, Mateja Povhe, after regularly attending school and center activities. The mayor emphasized the importance of education for achieving their dreams and encouraged the children to continue attending school for better opportunities.

The municipality of Trebnje is actively promoting the inclusion of Roma children in education, recognizing it as essential for their personal development and successful integration into society.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Education in Slovenia

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Education in Slovenia

Borut Rončević, a sociology professor at the university of Novo Mesto and current minister of Eudcation in the Slovenian government, speaks about his plans and views. Specifically about Roma, he says there is a need for a comprehensive approach to addressing the challenges faced by Roma children in schools, emphasizing collaboration across various sectors including education, social policy, and local communities. He highlights the importance of accountability among parents, teachers, and the state in ensuring that all children, regardless of their background, achieve basic educational standards. He insists on the equal application of laws for school attendance, something that is being reproached to Roma regularly.

What he did not discuss is the profound issues of exclusion and racism faced by Roma in the region.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Scholarships

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Scholarships

The ROMEA scholarship program has long helped young Roma men and women overcome financial obstacles associated with studies. In addition to scholarships, it also offers them mentoring, educational activities and the opportunity to meet other students regularly.

The annual scholarship is 15,000 crowns (620 euros) for high school students, 21,000 crowns (870 euros) for students of higher vocational schools and 26,000 crowns (1075 euros) for university students. The support is intended primarily for expenses related to studies, such as textbooks, school supplies, travel, tuition, courses or other costs that may be an obstacle for students and their families in continuing their education.

Since 2016, the program has awarded 805 scholarships worth a total of almost 14 million crowns and supported hundreds of students from all over the Czech Republic.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Rom and Doctor

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Rom and Doctor

Ján Deme, an eye doctor from Slovakia, discusses the challenges and successes of being a Roma in the medical field, emphasizing the importance of role models and community support for aspiring Roma professionals.

He highlights the need for systemic changes in the Roma community to foster more doctors, advocating for sustainable and effective solutions rather than just financial aid.

Deme shares his experiences in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic, noting the differences in healthcare systems and expressing a desire to contribute positively to his community while maintaining his professional identity.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Education in Slovakia

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Education in Slovakia

Milan Dulina, the director of a school in the Luník IX district, emphasizes the need for systemic changes to improve education for Roma children and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

He highlights the importance of community involvement in schools, noting that hiring local staff has led to better discipline and respect among students.

The school has achieved notable successes, including sports achievements and a reduction in absenteeism, by fostering a positive environment and engaging students in their education.

News Eastern Europe Romania

Education Project

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Education Project

A total of 820 Roma children received educational, social, and psychological services as part of an inclusion program, with over 6,000 participating in intercultural dialogue activities to foster understanding among children from different backgrounds.

The project aims to improve access to education and increase school attendance for Roma children in 15 localities, with over 95% promotion rate among monitored children, indicating effective interventions.

The initiative, supported by the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation and the Ministry of Education, also developed a common methodological package for educational institutions and created a unique monitoring database for Roma population data.

Moldova News Eastern Europe

Moldova and Education

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Moldova and Education

Several articles in the Moldovan press about new measures regarding the integration of Roma in education. Starting from the 2026-2027 academic year, special admission quotas and scholarships will be available for Roma students in schools, colleges, and universities, with 10% of available spots reserved for them.

Roma students will be exempt from admission fees and can access funded places, with a total of 120 individuals receiving financial support, including monthly scholarships of 1,200 lei.

The initiative aims to eliminate barriers to education for Roma children and ensure equal opportunities, as stated by Ivan Duminica from the Ministry of Education and Research.

Moldova News Eastern Europe

Moldovan Mediators

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Moldovan Mediators

The Moldovan government approved changes to the regulations governing community mediators to enhance their effectiveness in assisting Roma families in accessing public services.

Community mediators will now have expanded responsibilities, including identifying vulnerable individuals and facilitating their contact with relevant public services. The reform includes ongoing professional training for mediators and aims to improve service quality and resource efficiency, promoting social inclusion and educational access for Roma children.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Education in Slovakia

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Education in Slovakia

Education for children from marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia faces significant challenges, particularly regarding language barriers, as many children arrive at school speaking Romani or a Romani-influenced Slovak. Teachers report that the school system often fails to accommodate these language differences, leading to misinterpretations of children’s abilities and creating additional stress for both students and educators.

There is a call for systemic support, including the return of Roma language assistants and a shift in perspective to view Romani as a valuable part of children’s identity rather than a hindrance to learning.

Europe

Roma Education

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Roma Education

Danijela Dimitrovska highlights that Roma communities in Europe face significant barriers in education and employment, with 36% unemployment among Roma and 56% of young Roma not engaged in education or training.

She emphasizes the need for education, vocational training, and support systems to enable equal participation in the labor market, while also addressing discrimination and racism as major obstacles. Dimitrovska calls for greater integration of Roma into society and warns that Europe cannot afford to exclude millions of young people, especially during times of labor shortages and social challenges.

While her position and statements are correct, the use of percentages is definitively not. There are no definitive population numbers for Roma in Europe. And if one doesn’t know, the population, percentages are meaningless.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Schools and Roma

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Czech Schools and Roma

Romani children face prejudice, bullying, and violence in schools, with nearly half of teachers admitting to having negative personal feelings towards them.

A new project by IQ Roma Servis aims to empower Romani mothers to advocate for their rights and their children’s rights through community legal advisors. It operates a center in Brno for parents and children, including a preschool club that helps children transition to kindergarten and teaches them social skills. The club aims to prevent children from feeling marginalized and encourages them to communicate any discomfort to their parents.

A new project called “Aven savore džas anglal” is training Roma mothers to advocate for their rights and those of their children, with the goal of empowering them to become legal advisors in their communities.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Kindergarten and Roma

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Kindergarten and Roma

An article about the fact that there are almost no Roma in Kkindergarten in a Slovenian region that has several Roma settlements. According to the article:

Although there are many Roma people living in the municipality of Šentjernej, and around 70 Roma children attend primary school, this is not reflected in kindergarten enrolment. According to the principal, not a single Roma child currently attends the kindergarten.

“Despite our efforts, we have not managed to collect enough applications for a shorter program funded by the state and intended for children who do not attend kindergarten before entering school.”

Italy News Western Europe

Inclusion Project

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Inclusion Project

The “Inclusion and Integration of Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti Children and Adolescents (RSC)” project is an institutional initiative aimed at combating school dropout, educational poverty, and social exclusion, funded by the National Inclusion Programme and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).

News Eastern Europe Romania

Roma Slavery

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Roma Slavery

An article stating that Romania is intending to include an optional module in teaching history about the slavey of Roma in the country. Well, it will be optional, and they downplay it as “forced labour”.

Recently the Romanian church denied its involvement in the slavery, even though the church held Roma slaves.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Award

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Slovenia: Award

This year, the Andragogic Center of Slovenia awarded the Roma Academic Club an award for exceptional achievements in the field of lifelong learning in the Pomurje region.

The Roma Academic Club, which is based in the municipality of Puconci, has been operating since 2008. It was founded by a group of students from the Roma community with the desire to connect individuals who share a common goal, education.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Petition

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Bulgaria: Petition

A petition is circulating in Bulgaria requesting that only Bulgarian literature be taught in primary schools. They state that foreign literature can be studied later, once “children already have a solid national foundation”. In the case of Bulgaria, this is somewhat ironical, as Turks, Armenians, Roma, Greeks, and many others are part of the country and its history…

Moldova News Eastern Europe

Moldova and Roma

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Moldova and Roma

A roundtable discussion at Edinet (Moldova) City Hall brought together representatives of the government, relevant services, and the Roma community. Photo: SP

Why are children from the Roma community in Edinet dropping out of school en masse, while adults are unable to find work? At a roundtable discussion on Roma rights in Moldova, this was addressed directly: with figures, stories, and without the usual excuses. The discussion on Roma community integration quickly expanded beyond the formal agenda to address migration, poverty, and mistrust, which continue to undermine even existing support mechanisms.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Romanes in Serbia

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Romanes in Serbia

Teaching Romanes with cultural elements is one of the key mechanisms for preserving the identity of the Roma community in Serbia, but also an important instrument for strengthening intercultural dialogue and tolerance in modern society. Through the educational system, this subject goes beyond the framework of mere language acquisition and becomes a space in which students develop awareness of their own origins, history and cultural heritage.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Romanes and Schools

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Romanes and Schools

A discussion was held in Belgrade about improving Romani language teaching, with a special focus on the position of teachers, greater student coverage and the need to introduce long-term, systemic solutions into the Serbian education system.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Special Schools

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Slovakia and Special Schools

A Rom frokm Slovakia was honoured by the Association for Culture, Education and Communication (ACEC) for successfully promoting the re-diagnosis of a Roma boy from a special school, thanks to which the boy was able to continue his education at a regular elementary school in Zvolen.

Well, it says effectively a young Rom was sent to a special school for mentally disadvantaged children just because of his etnicity.

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