Description

Many Roma children don't go to school because their parents can't afford their education. This decreases the chance of finding a job in the future. Roma children also often speak Romani, their mother tongue, but not the national language of the country live in.

Transcript

Importance of Education for Roma Children Female: Roma TV and radio stations across Eastern Europe are now linking up for the first time, sharing programs and information, bringing more of their communities in touch with decisions affecting them. The broadcast also give the main populations an understanding of what it’s like to be Roma. Better education is at the heart of the decade. Many families can't afford to send their children to school. The uneducated can't find work and the cycle continues. Across eastern and Central Europe, less than one and five Roma children continue their education beyond primary school. Alexandra Raykova: What I have observed in my daily practice is that this new generation, which is 14 to 15 years old, which came after or has grown up after the transition in our country suddenly are illiterate. And it’s a pity because these children are not having any perspective for future. Female: Roma children grow up speaking Romani, their mother tongue and often have a poor command of the national language where they live. This means they are treated as outcast at national schools often segregated into Roma only classes. Some place in schools for learning disabilities, some never venturing from the Romani schools and the settlements. Many children dropped out early, disillusioned, disadvantaged. But there is hope for a new generation. In Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria when 90% of Roma are unemployed, Sasho Aleksandrov is an enrolment coordinator integrating Roma children into local schools in nearby Pleven. Sasho Aleksandrov: Hungarian unemployment made me concerned that people had to become more motivated in order to find work. That means through education they could find jobs. The older generations are earning their living by scavenging in the junkyards and garbage cans. The younger generations who are included in the regular schools will have a completely different understanding and a perception about life. I'm trying to be a friend to my son. He's 9 years old. Now he's in the second E of the program. I need a special help at school. I don’t want him to need special help as well. Female: But bringing Roma children into mainstream education and helping them feel comfortable requires approaches from many quarters. Miglena Taseva is one of the students from 52 settlements across Bulgaria who attended a six-week course at Veliko Tarnovo University to train as a Roma teaching assistant in national schools. Miglena Taseva: I admitted that when I first arrived, I thought about going back home. But then when I met the others, we like each other and I decided to stay in order to learn something new and to pass on what I have learned to children. My dream is to have a job, to be capable and independent. Female: Back in here hometown land, Miglena is brining Romani culture and language into the local classroom as well as helping Roma children get up to speed making way for better understanding and less discrimination. Female: I like her very much. She teaches us and helps us with anything we find difficult. Filiz Husmenova: The teaching assistants are very important in such bilingual environments. In this environment, they are essential for the students to accept the new teaching materials. Obviously, I hope this policy will continue with the community’s if we get opportunities from the European partners especially in the places where we have less successful results.