Roma Educational Exclusion - Central and Eastern Europe and the UK Natalie Stables Andrew Ryder This workshop will explore the segregation and desegregation of Roma education in Central and Eastern Europe  and compare this to the current UK situation

State POLICY The Role of Education Persecution Assimilation – Hapsburgs Genocide – Final Solution Assimilation – Communism Roma after the changes Question – What differences and similarities are there with the UK?

Education Policies “Education increases personal autonomy, providing the tools for adapting to a changing environment and a means of self-defence from the forces of assimilation; it makes it possible to break out of the passive rut of welfarism to play an active role in cultural and political development” Liégeois, 1998, 19 School Provision for Ethnic Minorities: The Gypsy Paradigm’, St Albans, The University of Hertfordshire

What Is Segregation? Council of Europe 2012 Policies and practices that separate Roma in education are to be found throughout the Council of Europe member states. Segregation generally is taken to mean separating people based upon their race or ethnicity. Direct Indirect

The NATURE OF SEGREGATION Segregation within the classroom Segregation by classroom ‘Ghetto Schools’ Special Schools – questions over diagnostic test and ‘informed consent’ ‘White flight’ Pedagogical Support – financial inducements Mono-cultural and teacher centred curriculum – culture of poverty Question – What similarities can you identify with the UK?

THE LEGALITY OF SEGREGATION The principle that education is a fundamental right, which should be free of discrimination is enshrined in international law: The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) Discrimination prohibited under the Council of the European Union Directive 2000/43/EC. International law also prohibits inhuman and degrading treatment which educational segregation can be classified as For a fuller discussion see ‘Stigmata: Segregated Schooling of Roma in Central and Eastern Europe’ (2004). Available at: http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1892

NON GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS Weak NGO sector Vidin – Bulgaria – bussing The primary goal of the project was to deliver educational integration for Roma children of the Vidin Nov Pat Romani settlement by transferring them to the Vidin’s mainstream schools. The project initially involved 300 Roma children but expanded in the following two years, reaching more than 700 children in the 2003–2004 school year, (70 percent of all children attending school in the Romani neighborhood of Vidin)

Decade national action plans Integration/Desegregation of Roma education is explicitly formulated as an objective in the NAP of Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. The Romanian NAP pledges to “eliminate segregated classes/schools by 2008. The Bulgarian NAP focuses on “…moving the Romani children out of the Roma quarters and closing the segregated kindergartens and schools by taking into account the parents’ preferences; moving the children who do not meet requirements for special education out of the special remedial schools”. The Czech government aims to “achieve full inclusion of children with socio-cultural disadvantage in the educational mainstream” through the system of funding of schools. The Slovak NAP declares an intention to “cut down the number of Roma children attending special elementary schools and special training facilities” but does not provide any mechanisms by which these should be achieved. CRITICISM - All the areas covered by the NAPs do not have clear methodologies and outcomes and indicators. The budgetary allocations are missing. Limited funding is available for areas of importance for reaching the Decade targets when it comes to Roma

progress in none of the legal frameworks is there a positive duty on public authorities to promote equality and desegregation. No specific measures to be carried out by the public authorities, educational and other relevant authorities, including carrying out ongoing monitoring and assessment of the outcomes of legislation. For instance, in none of the countries does the systematic mapping of segregated education exist

Decade Watch Scores 2005 - 6 Czech Republic 1.76 Country 1 Comparative Score – First figure Education in General – Second Figure Desegregation (measures available) – Third Figure Hungary 2.29 3.80 4 Bulgaria 1.84 1.60 1 Slovakia 1.82 Czech Republic 1.76 1 Romania 1.72 2.40 2 Score – 0 = No Action 1 = Sporadic measures, not regular or systematic 2 = Regular measures, not systematic or amounting to a pragmatic program 3 = Government program advanced but not integrated into policy 4 = Integrated policy setting standard for government action    Above table based on data in Decade Watch Roma Activists Assess the Progress of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2006 http://www.romadecade.org/decade_watch

DECADE WATCH 2009 Country Desegregation Score Romania 3.71 Czech Republic 3.22 Hungary 2.45 Slovakia 2.00 Bulgaria 1.50   Score: 5 points (very positive); 4 points (positive); 3 points (neutral); 2 points (negative); 1 point (very negative); 0 points (don’t know). Above table based on table on education impacts (Decade Watch Results of the 2009 by 300 experts

The European Union One of the most influential factors in promoting more inclusive education for Roma was the accession of the countries under consideration into the European Union Since the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 the EU has increasingly emphasized the importance of protecting ethnic and national minorities as a norm and as a political precondition for the accession of central and eastern European candidate member states. These ‘Copenhagen criteria’ state that membership requires that the candidate country has “..in addition to fulfilling certain economic criteria, stability of institutions and guaranteed democracy, the rule of law and human rights and respect for and protection of minorities are prerequisite for joining EU”. As Roma represent a significant minority in central and eastern Europe and their socio economic indicators are poor it was to be expected that the situation of the Roma would raise serious questions regarding the ability of EU accession states to fulfill the Copenhagen criteria.

EU Roma Framework Question – How can NATT feed into the Framework? The report on the EU strategy on Roma inclusion (2010/2276(INI) Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs drafted by the MEP Livia Jaroka is an important part of the process of devising a Roma framework which contains a motion for the European Parliament which was debated and approved in March 2011 and sets out the details of the proposed strategy including a number of measures on Roma educational segregation. One declared objective is “abolishing school and classroom segregation, also by creating an inclusive school climate and employing Roma school mediators” Leverage .- structural funds Question – How can NATT feed into the Framework?

Question – What measures do you think will bring about change? Compare your points with the list made by Decade Watch

WHAT IS NEEDED Conformity to EU and international law on equality and equal access to education and ensuring this is reflected in domestic law. Pedagogical reform based on a human rights related approach to education which improves teacher training and educational approaches in the classroom, including inclusive curricula, fair diagnostic tests with proper informed consent and access to quality pre-school education. The collection of reliable datasets collected through ethnic monitoring which indicate more accurately the scale, nature and location of segregation, which should be accompanied by rigorous inspection and monitoring of clearly defined and expected outcomes Public awareness and education of the wider public as to the virtues both moral and economic of desegregation Greater levels of resources and governmental support for the development of more localized Roma NGOs with grassroots constituencies thus providing key partners in Roma desegregation projects Proper funding for desegregation and educational inclusion and positive action measures to address educational disadvantage and to tackle social, economic and spatial exclusion. Full discussion of what is needed in ‘10 Goals for Improving Access to Education for Roma’ (2009) OSI http://www.romadecade.org/files/downloads/Education%20Resources/10_Goals_brochure.pdf

Resources for Further Research Ten years After – 2012 - (Ed Rostas, I) – Central European Press Roma Education Fund http://www.romaeducationfund.hu/ From segregation to inclusion - Roma Pupils in the United Kingdom , A Pilot Research Project http://equality.uk.com/Education.html