Education of Roma children in Latvia Deniss Kretalovs Secretariat of the Special Assignment Minister for Social Integration European Anti-Discrimination Policy Department

Statistical data – Roma population  1935 g. registered roma people (0,2 % of the total population)  2000 g. – roma people  2005 g. – roma people  2006 g. – roma people (0,3 % of the total population)  Romani leaders believe that the real number is somewhere between and  Roma NGO leaders regarding the number of Roma in the towns is Another are reported to live in rural areas and small towns.

Roma geography RIGA 1160 The official number comes from the 2000 census Daugavpils 366 Jelgava 1010 Ventspils 1031 Jēkabpils 300 Valmiera 237 Tukums 541 Sabile 91 Talsi 586 Preiļi 100 Kuldīga 255 Jūrmala 439

Families in Privately Owned Housing by Type and by Number of Children, 2000 Family typeFamilies with this number of childrenNumber of families Number of residents in this families and more All families Married couple with or without children Unregistered couple living together, with or without children Father with one or more children x Mother with one or more children x

Education Level of the Roma, 2000 Level of educationNumber% All Romani people aged 15 and above Primary school (grade 1–4 th) ,2 Elementary school (5–9 th) ,9 General secondary4016,7 Specialized secondary711,2 Less than grade 4th ,3 University260,4 No information ,2 Source: The 2000 Latvian National Census, LCSP, 2002.

The Number of Romani Children in General Education Schools in Latvia School yearNumber of students Studying in the Latvian language Studying in the Russian language 2005/ / / / / / Source: Ministry of Education and Science, “The distribution of children attending general education schools in the Republic of Latvia by nationality”

School Attendance  Census data indicate that many Romani people never did go to school, while an even greater number have attended only a few classes  Class attendance problems are typical both among Romani children in special classes for the Roma and among Romani children in ordinary schools  In Kuldīga, Tukums and Ventspils, researchers were told that all children go to the first grade. In Tukums this job is reportedly done by a representative of a Romani NGO. He visits Romani parents at their homes to convince them of the need for education. In Ventspils, this role has been undertaken by teachers. They also pay visits to the parents of Romani children who have been missing from school

Old Solution of problem - Special Schools for Roma children  Arguments for Special Schools for Roma children:  Romani children are more likely to attend school and continue their education if they attend special schools or classrooms for Romani children  because they don’t have to face discriminatory attitudes from other children and teachers  they don’t have to face a situation in which they do more poorly than their classmates on their schoolwork  they might feel better in an environment where they are amongst their own people

Information about Romani Classes in Latvia in 2003 Town/SchoolYear of establishm ent ClassesLanguage of learning No. of students, 2002/2003 Age of students Sabile Elementary School 1998Remedial class (Gardes 1-5) Latvian145–22 Talsi Elementary School 2001Remedial class (Gardes 1-2) Latvian15- Tukums No.3 High School 2001Two remedial classes (Gardes 1-2) Latvian10 (grade 1) 8 (grade 2) - Kuldīga No.2 High School 2002Remedial classes (Gardes 1-6) Latvian Ventspils Evening High School 1987Ethnical classes (Gardes 1-6) Latvian Jelgava Evening High School 2000Remedial class (Gardes 2-5) Latvian

Arguments in opposition to separate programs and schools  There are two main arguments in opposition to separate programs and schools: - First, (a) this is a form of discrimination, (b) Romani children are never competitive with other young people in education and in the search for employment, (c) The quality of teaching in these schools tends to be lower than the norm - Second, (d) separate schools are a form of segregation which keeps Romani children away from others, (e) this is not development of the successful integration of Romani people into the society of a country

New Solution of problem – implementing preschool institutions for Romani children  The idea of implementing preschool institutions for Romani children goes from NGO “Center of the Education Initiatives ”  Realization of this idea is in Government level: National Action Plan “Roma in Latvia” , which has been supported by The Cabinet of Ministers in October 2006, consist of many projects for the implementation of this idea

The activities are planned in Action Plan to achieve following results  The Program “Assistant of the teacher for Roma” will be elaborated by specialists of NGO Center of the Education Initiatives (2007)  20 Roma assistants will be trained using The Program “Assistant of the teacher for Roma” ( ) and implemented in preparatory classes for Roma in regions inhabited by Roma ( )  Will be well furnished 10 ethnically diverse preparatory classes to introduce inclusive principles into education program (in 2008)  will be trained 30 teachers in programs of preparatory education used methodic “Roma child is ready for the School” by Center of the Education Initiatives (in 2007)  Will be organized the cycle of seminars “Teachers work within class where Roma children are being taught” for Latvian teachers, who teach Roma children (in 9 cities, in )  Will be organized public discussion with Roma parents participation “Roma children in the School” in cities inhabited by Roma (12 cities in year 2007)

Institutions and responsibilities  Secretariat of the Special Assignment Minister for Social Integration is responsible for implementation of Action Plan “Roma in Latvia”  In cooperation with NGO “Center of the Education Initiatives”, Ministry of Education and Science and self-governments, Roma NGO’s

Thank You!