Education

In their studies and reports, international organizations constantly warn that Roma people are still excluded from education. The reasons for their exclusion are different. They can be linked to discriminatory practices still present in some countries, or to parental choices and decisions, respectively. Regardless of the origin of discrimination, low educational attainment, accompanied by illiteracy, means a continuation of a vicious circle of poverty and marginalization. 

In 2007, Directorate-Generale for Employment, Social Affairs and equal Opportunities at the European Commission published an extensive report entitled Segregation of Roma children in Education. In the same year, the European Court of Human Rights determined that in some countries Roma children were enrolled into special schools for children with mild mental disorders and issued a judgement that this is a violation of the European Convention of Human Rights on the basis of ethnic affiliation. Also, the reports of the European Commission show the necessity of greater inclusion of the Roma into educational systems. In December 2010, the study of the Commission’s project group for the Roma showed that the EU Member States still did not implement effective and proportional measures for tackling social and economic issues of the Roma population. Therefore, in 2011 a special document was outlined, i.e. EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up. The document claimed that the EU Member States include clear and explicit actions into their national, regional and local policies regarding the Roma community, also providing at least elementary education for all Roma children.

A research from 2013 conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights entitled Education: the situation of Roma in 11 EU Member States shows that only 42% of Roma children finish elementary school, while the European average is 97.5%. Only around 10% of Roma children go to secondary school. On average, 20% of the Roma aged 16 or more cannot read and write (the average for the non-Roma is 1.5%), only one of two Roma children goes to nursery (compared to three of four non-Roma children). In some countries, up to 35% of Roma children aged 7–15 are not included in compulsory schooling and only 15% of young Roma people finish general or occupational secondary school (compared to 64% of their non-Roma peers).

Foto: Romani children are gaining greater access to schools, resulting from education reforms. (Dejan Vekic/OSCE), available at: http://www.osce.org/bih

References:

• European Commission, 2011, An EU Framework For national Roma Integration – Strategies up to 2020, [online], 2011, available at:http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/discrimination/docs/com_2011_173_en.pdf
• European Commission, 2007, Segregation of Roma children in Education [online], available at: http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/Segregation%20of%20Roma%20Children%20in%20Education%20_en.pdf
• European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2014, Education: the situation of Roma in 11 EU Member States [online], available at:  http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014_roma-survey_education_tk0113748enc.pdf