Structural Dimensions of Roma School Desegregation Policies in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

Scrutiny of the socio-economic exclusion of the Roma in Central and Eastern Europe has brought attention to the widespread practice of school segregation of Romani children who are automatically placed in classes for the mentally disabled or shunted into separate and inferior schools and classrooms. It is now widely recognised that such practices adversely affect the educational development of Romani children, which in turn dramatically constrains their possibilities to succeed in adult life. Thus far the legislative changes and political commitments to desegregation and integration measures have delivered limited outputs and outcomes. While national programmes face implementation challenges at the local level, the grassroots initiatives are rarely mainstreamed into wider policy strategies. At the end of the day the status quo is preserved. Given that little analytical effort has been made to explain the causes of desegregation failure, this article aims to address the void. It argues that the narrow desegregation aims prevents creation of comprehensive approaches sensitive to structural dimensions of segregation and discrimination. It builds on the policy design theory in order to capture the impact of discourse and policy content on the implementation outputs.

Constrangimentos e oportunidades para a continuidade e sucesso das pessoas Ciganas

“…e não acrescenta mais nível de escolaridade ou de qualificação). Pereira (2016) no estudo realizado num Centro de Emprego no distrito de Aveiro constatou que há pessoas ciganas inscritas há mais de 10 anos e que nunca foram chamadas para uma proposta de emprego ou de formação profissional. Os técnicos entrevistados neste estudo reconhecem a existência de pouca "oferta" de emprego e de formação que se ajuste a este tipo de inscritos nos Centros de Emprego (sem escolaridade mínima obrigatória) e a pouca abertura dos empregadores para aceitação destes candidatos.…”

“…No entanto, a este nível, persiste um desfasamento entre as necessidades reais dos desempregados ciganos inscritos nos Centros de Emprego e as possibilidades de ofertas de formação profissional e de encaminhamentos para propostas de trabalho (Pereira, 2016;Gatti et al 2016).…”

New label no progress: institutional racism and the persistent segregation of Romani students in the Czech Republic

“…These schools are formally classified as standard schools but there is mounting evidence to show that they deliver lower standards of education and constitute a substantial problem, not only in the Czech Republic but across Central and Eastern Europe. This problem has been widely discussed in the literature and thus will not be addressed here (see O'Nions 2010;New 2013;Rostas and Kostka 2014;Ryder et al 2014). …”

“…As Ryder et al (2014, 520) argue, 'the creation and maintenance of separate schools is linked to the cultural and political powers of a privileged majority able to legitimise the power and control of the status quo'. Similarly, Rostas and Kostka (2014) argue that research on Roma inclusion has focused too much on individual policies at the expense of critiquing structural barriers to change. Education is a key site of institutional racism as it reflects social values and reproduces the status quo through such organisational and procedural structures as: how teacher training is conducted, how pupils are taught, assessed and disciplined, and how procedures are monitored and evaluated (Figueroa 1991, Gillborn 2002.…”

Equal Access to Education: An Evaluation of the Roma Teaching Assistant Program in Serbia

“…The attendance of these so-called special schools has a negative effect on educational attainment and on later labor market outcomes (O'Higgins & Brueggemann, 2014). Thus desegregation policies are necessary and governments have committed to desegregating schools, but their implementation has not been successful (Rostas & Kostka, 2014). Conversely, affirmative action policies are an important tool for increasing the access to higher education for Roma (Garaz, 2014).…”