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Roma and Travellers in public education

Roma and Equal Access to Education

Brussels, 28-29 April 2006

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•EU Agency located in Vienna, Austria (37 staff)

•Primary task “… to provide the Community and its Member States with objective, reliable and comparable data at European level on the phenomena of racism and xenophobia in order to help them take measures or formulate courses of action within their respective spheres of competence.”

Council Regulation (EC) No 1035/97 of 2 June 1997, Article 2. 1.

EUMC

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•European Racism and Xenophobia Information

Network (RAXEN)– 25 National Focal Points (NFPs) in EU Member States

– Consortia of NGOs, research centres, etc

– Selected through open international competition

– Contracted on annual basis renewable twice

– Collecting all publicly available official and unofficial data and information on issues related to racism and xenophobia according to common EUMC guidelines

EUMC data collection

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• EUMC Annual Reports

• 2003 ‘Breaking the Barriers – Romani Women and Access to Public Health Care’ (OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities – CoE Migration and Roma/ Gypsies Division)

• 2004 Comparative Education Report (EU 15)

• 2004 Comparative Report on national strategies for minority schooling (covering 10 CEEC accession and candidate countries)

EUMC and Roma

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• During 2004 RAXEN collected all publicly available data and information on the situation of Roma and Travellers in education– 25 national studies

– Kurt Levin Foundation background analysis

• EUMC report (forthcoming)– Enrolment, attendance and attainment

– Segregation

– National education policies, measures, initiatives

– Responses by the EU, CoE, OSCE, UN

Roma and Travellers in public education

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• Equality of opportunity is a key European value

• Equal access to education is a fundamental right: determines future life chances and acts as the main vehicle for social mobility

• No one should be prevented from enjoying the benefits of education due to their race or ethnicity

• Education key instrument for social cohesion (Lisbon strategy) providing knowledge, developing skills, shaping attitudes and empowering young people

Education

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• Despite the paucity of official data, particularly in the “old” EU MS, it is evident that Roma and Traveller pupils suffer from direct and systemic discrimination, in all MS despite differences

• Severe inequalities in the access to and benefits from education can be traced in the overall poor enrolment, attendance and attainment figures

Key findings – 1 –

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• Access to education is hampered by the operation of discriminatory mechanisms of exclusion and segregation and is further influenced by

– high unemployment,

– substandard housing conditions

– poor access to health services

• Member States have introduced elements of intercultural education and implemented variety of projects, but systemic changes are necessary

• It is essential to monitor the situation effectively to allow assessment of strategies and policies

Key findings – 2 –

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• Direct and systemic discrimination and exclusion

• Documentation required for enrolment

• Direct or indirect cost of education

• Absence of curricular material and resources related to pupils needs and life experiences

• Schools that are unaware of pupils’ needs

• Teachers that are not properly trained and supported

Factors affecting access to education – 1 –

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• Prejudice expressed in harassment at school

• Lack of pre-school education, language problems

• Placement in lower than age-appropriate grades

• Low educational level of parents affecting their ability to support their children in learning

• Demoralising low teacher expectations

Factors affecting access to education – 2 –

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• Enrolment and attendance in primary education is very low compared to national average

• Absenteeism persistent, common, serious problem

• Transition to secondary education is very low and dropout rates increase with age

• No evidence of participation in higher education

• Lower chances of attaining educational qualification leading to worthwhile employment opportunities

Enrolment, attendance and attainment

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• Czech Republic (UNDP 2005): 25% aged 12+ have completed primary education

• Denmark (2004) attendance rate around 66 per cent

• Greece widepread local resistance to enrolment

• Spain (2002) 50% attend primary school regularly, 35% per cent absent sporadically, 60% - 70% fail classes

• France (2003) 60% nomadic children enrolment; 2005 ECRI reports refusal by authorities to enrol

Examples – 1 –

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• Hungary (2003) 77% completed primary education

• Austria (2004) 60% completed only lower secondary education (under 26 age group )

• Slovenia (2003) 98.2% of unemployed Roma in Dolenjska had not completed primary education (national average 4 per cent); 1.5% with some vocational qualification

Examples – 2 –

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• Slovak Republic (2003) less than 1 per cent attended pre-school; (2003) less than 20% continued after primary school

• Finland (2004) absenteeism affecting 30 per cent; 2% participated in pre-school education; drop out rate up to 18% (national average close to zero)

• United Kingdom (2003) attendance rates of 84% for Key Stage 2 (10 to 11-year-olds) and 47% for Key Stage 4 (14 to 16-year-olds)

Examples – 3 –

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• Formal and informal segregation practices persist

• Sometimes as the effect of policies and practices and sometimes as result of residential segregation

• Segregation takes different forms– within a classroom by sitting Roma pupils separately

– separate classrooms within the same school

– “ghetto” schools (areas with high concentration of Roma)

– placement in “special schools” for the mentally disabled

Segregation

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• Over-representation of Roma pupils in special education common phenomenon in Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, despite efforts to reduce it

• Wrongful assignment has far reaching negative consequences for future employment opportunities, reinforces negative stereotypes and contributes to social exclusion

• Parents, but also teachers, are often not adequately informed and aware of the negative effects

Special schools

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• Most Member States have no specific educational policies targeting Roma and Travellers, but address their needs in a wider anti-discrimination and/or intercultural education policy framework

• Few Member States have integrated intercultural education into national programmes and curricula, most implement projects rather than implement systemic changes

• There is little information regarding monitoring, evaluation and measurable impact of such projects

Policies and measures – 1 –

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• Some Member States have taken steps to reform, but progress is slow mainly due to local government and parental resistance

• Policies and measures often pursued within a segregated school environment – Roma as problem

• Roma and Travellers involved only in implementing not design and planning of policies and initiatives

• Few, mostly CEE MSs, especially Hungary, are introducing reforms

Policies and measures – 2 –

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• 1984, European Parliament urges the Commission to take appropriate action

• 1986, Commission presents the “Liégeois report”

• 1989, European Council landmark resolution on “School provision for gypsy and traveller children”

• 2004, Inter-service Working Group on Roma coordinated by DG EMPL involving 14 DGs

• 2005, Commission notes its particular concern regarding the situation of the Roma

EU response

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• Directive 2000/43/EC focuses on the principle of equal treatment of persons irrespective of their racial or ethnic origin covering training and education

• Bans direct and indirect discrimination, alongside harassment, on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin

• Action programmes providing funding for projects– Comenius Action (Socrates Action Programme)

– Grundtvig Action (Socrates Action Programme)

– Leonardo Vocational Training Action Programme

– YOUTH Community Action Programme

EU legal and policy response

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• Council of Europe played key role in policy regarding Roma and Traveller education since the 1960s

• Recommendation (1969) 563 “On the Situation of Gypsies and other Travellers in Europe”

• Series of other recommendations and resolution

• Specialist Group on Roma, Gypsies and Travellers

• European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF)

• OSCE Contact Point Roma and Sinti Issues (1994)

• OSCE Action Plan Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti (2003)

The work of the CoE and OSCE/ODIHR

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• CERD (2000) General Recommendation XXVII on Discrimination against the Roma

• 2002 UNDP extensive survey among Roma in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania found on average 19% Roma children attending school

• Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005 – 2015 (education defined as priority area - Roma Education Fund)

UN – World Bank

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• Roma and Traveller pupils continue to present a challenge to educational institutions in all MS

• Effective action in few MS despite pressure from EU and international bodies

• Policies have greater impact when local communities are representative organisations are directly involved in both designing measures and implementing them

• Pre-school education is key to improving school attendance, attainment and performance

Conclusions – 1 –

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• Social deprivation influences access to education and it is therefore necessary to provide financial means that will enable pupils to schools

• Mainstream curricula and textbooks could play a significant role combating stereotypes

• Access to education is a basic human right: enforcing it is a challenge requiring coordinated efforts and strong leadership and political will.

Conclusions – 2 –

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Thank you for your attention