Education Fund for Roma

The poverty and the peripheral existence of the Roma minorities in the Eastern European countries (about 10 million people) can become an explosive problem in a united Europe over the medium term.

The situation of Roma with regard to education is especially critical due to their difficulty in gaining access to it. Roma children are often assigned to schools for the mentally or physically handicapped or special schools with lower standards. This diminishes their chances for the future. It is estimated that 60-70% of the Roma children in Macedonia are attending special schools, 80% in Montenegro and 50-80% in Serbia. A large number of children end their schooling after the primary level, and only 20-25% go beyond the obligatory level. The number of Roma who complete courses in a college or receive other advanced training is negligible (less than 1%).

However, in the political and social context of those transition countries education can play a decisive role in conveying values of tolerance and can lead to an improved mutual understanding between the population and the Roma minorities. For this reason, the SDC is participating in the Roma Education Fund and thus supporting activities in five countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia.

The sphere of activity supported by the Fund is based on the World Bank’s detailed analysis of the situation and on the concerns of the Roma minorities in the various countries of the region. The Fund serves as a financial instrument and as a platform for information and strategy, and not as an implementing organisation. Resources are used to strengthen national strategies for Roma in the individual countries. The emphasis is on reform of the educational system and on the expansion of existing projects that have already achieved good results. The inclusion of Roma in all stages of decision-making and implementation is one of the guiding principles.

For the purpose of disbursing financial means, the term education is interpreted in a broad sense. This allows support of both formal and non-formal education and competence building for children as well as for adults.

Supplementing the efforts of the countries concerned in this area, the resources of the fund are to be used to develop and foster projects with the following objectives:

• Securing access to obligatory schools with the help of various accompanying measures;
• Improving social integration through a revision of the curriculum and through partial instruction in Roma languages;
• Measures for integration and desegregation;
• Facilitating access to kindergartens and pre-school structures;
• Improving access to secondary schools and higher education and the furthering of adult education.