Education

Education of the Roma in Slovakia

 

The issue of the education of adult Roma and Roma children is currently dependent on the amount of contributions. The first partial Education methodology of adult Roma outside of the education system was created only as a consequence of preventive activities and education programmes of adult Roma, realized by civil associations and foundations. These materials are not available to the public and are intended only for the internal needs of their authors (Kolthof, Lukáč, 2003).

 

Strengths in the field of education of the Roma in Slovakia

  1. Number of enrolled pupils: in Slovak education system, the level of the enrolling of children reaches almost 100%. Each child is registered for mandatory school education and its registration is monitored by the self-administration and office of social services. Based on the school attendance of the pupil, the parents are entitled to social and children benefits.
  2. Scholarships and free meals: part of the social reform in the years 2003/2004 was the introduction of subsidies for school meals and scholarships for children from families taking social benefits at primary and secondary schools.
  3. A teacher assistant: addendum to the Decree No. 408/2002 (1631/2002-secretary) the Ministry of education introduced the profession of a teacher assistant. In cooperation with a teacher, a teacher assistant is becoming the point of contact for Roma children and at the same time serves as a positive role model. In the school year 2005/06, kindergartens and primary schools employed 973 Roma teacher assistants, which were financed by the Ministry of Education.
  4. Normative system of financing per pupil: decentralization of power and new financing per pupil through norm, increased the competition among schools. Since there are no exact measurements, it is probable that this measure increased the interest of ordinary schools in keeping Roma pupils.
  5. Zero classes: the pilot project „zero classes“ began in the school year 1992/93, while the „zero year“ works as a preparation of Roma children for attending school. The preparation class is focused on helping the children to adapt when moving from a domestic environment to a completely institutionally different environment. The goal is to create a space for the acceleration of personal development of each child, while it helps the adaptation to a multicultural environment.
  6. Scholarships for the support of Roma students with their studies at secondary schools: Office of representative for Roma questions secures financing for the support of registration of Roma pupils at secondary schools. Resources are used to make things easier for the gifted, however socially disadvantaged Roma students with their studies at secondary schools (Roma Education Fund, 2007).

 

Weaknesses in the field of education of Roma in Slovakia

 

  1. Segregation and a high number of Roma children in special schools for mentally challenged children: In many schools the children are placed in separated classes (or separate facilities are build near Roma villages). In some locations, the Roma children are almost automatically placed in special schools for mentally challenged, which is manifested in an increased number of segregated “Roma“ schools.
  2. Structure and financing of education system: we have insufficient data on the number of Roma children in pre-school facilities, primary schools (special schools for mentally challenged), secondary schools, etc. Insufficient statistical data on the situation of Roma children in the educational system is caused by the fact that the data originate only from the members of the ethnic group themselves. Parallel data from other sources also exists (e.g. school principal research, which gathers alternative information), but this data is not verifiable.
  3. Question of education quality: strictly Roma schools and Roma only classes and other forms of segregated education create serious obstacles in the approach to quality education and moving Roma children to higher education cycles.
  4. Implementation insufficiencies in the integration of the Roma: politicians and the leadership of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic frequently cannot recognize and assign adequate severity to the issues of Roma children in the educational system and they do not approach them as priority issues. (Roma Education Fund, 2007).

 

References

  • Kolthof, W., Lukáč, M. 2003. Zlepšenie podmienok pre vstup mladých Rómov na trh práce, SK 0002.01 a grantovej úlohy VEGA č. 1/0457/03 Kvalita života – kvalitou sociálnej práce a vzdelávania dospelých. ISBN 80-969073-0-1 Dostupné na:  http://www.ff.unipo.sk/kvdsp/download/Zbrnk/ZbrnkPHARE-VEGAPrsv2003.pdf
  • ROMA EDUCATION FUND. 2007. Návrh na zlepšenie vzdelávania Rómov na Slovensku; Hodnotenie krajiny a strategické zameranie Rómskeho vzdelávacieho fondu. Roma Education Fund. 2007. ISBN: 978-963-9832-05-3 
Description of the situation

The issue of the education of adult Roma and Roma children is currently dependent on the amount of contributions. The first partial Education methodology of adult Roma outside of the education system was created only as a consequence of preventive activities and education programmes of adult Roma, realized by civil associations and foundations. These materials are not available to the public and are intended only for the internal needs of their authors (Kolthof, Lukáč, 2003).

 

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