MONITORING MINORITY PROTECTION

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MONITORING MINORITY PROTECTION
EQUAL ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ROMA
EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP) in
cooperation with the Education Support Program
(ESP) and the Roma Participation Program (RPP) of
the Open Society Institute Budapest
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Introduction

• Follow-up monitoring project to the 2001 and
  2002 EUMAP monitoring reports on minority
  protection

• The monitoring will culminate in the publication
  of a series of reports covering Roma education in
  each of the eight European countries
  participating in the Decade of Roma Inclusion
  (2005-2015) and in the linked Roma Education
  Fund
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Hungary
• Republic of Macedonia
• Romania
• Serbia and Montenegro
• Slovakia

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Main aims of the monitoring

• Assess the implementation of government education
  policies for Roma
• The main focus of the monitoring is on how
  existing national policies and the legislative
  framework for Roma education are implemented at
  the local level. Special attention is given to
  planned or ongoing desegregation programs.
• The reports will also highlight areas in which
  existing international standards on minority
  protection and education need to be strengthened
  in order to reinforce provisions for minority
  education.

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Present specific case studies
Through the development of case studies in each
country, the monitoring teams will provide
detailed data on selected communities, which will
more clearly demonstrate the impact of
government policy.

• Case studies will include the following
  educational policies
• Desegregation
• Roma teaching assistant/mediator
• Romanes language teachers
• Educational materials and curriculum policy
• Teacher training and support
• Monitoring discrimination mechanisms at local
  level

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Provide data on key education indicators
The reports will outline and define key education
indicators, assess existing sources of data and
statistical information, and identify areas where
data collection needs to be improved. Data
collected through the case studies will also
give greater insight into the situation at the
local level.

• Education indicators monitored
• School age population
• Enrollment rates
• Percentage of children never enrolled in school
  (out of school children)
• Average number of years spent in school
• Average age at enrollment
• Drop out rates
• School attainment (population over 25 years)

Data are disaggregated for ethnicity, geographic
location and gender and presented by comparison
between Roma and general population.
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Promote consultation with Roma communities on
education issues

• A primary objective of EUMAP is to strengthen the
  role of civil society. This monitoring includes
  extensive consultation and dialogue with Roma
  representatives and communities. Roma NGOs and
  activists are team partners in each monitored
  country.
• In each country, on the selected locations for
  the case studies, will be organized consultations
  with Roma parents, Roma educational staff,
  representatives of Roma NGOs, Roma
  representatives in local councils (where
  existing), informal leaders of Roma communities.
• At the roundtables organized for incorporating
  feed back on the report will be invited Roma
  parents and representatives.

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Establish a framework for regular monitoring
throughout the Decade of Roma Inclusion

• With the aim to support the Decade of Roma
  Inclusion and the goals of the Roma Education
  Fund, a main objective of this project is to
  provide a ready framework for monitoring
  government progress in improving educational
  opportunities for Roma in the longer term.
• Each country report will examine the status of
  primary and secondary education for Roma in
  detail, including
• Administrative structure
• Organization and operation of the school
  system in each country, taking particular account
  of funding structures and the role of
  decentralization.
• Data on access
• Available data on enrolment and retention of
  Roma students in comparison with general trends.
  Where data is lacking, case studies will present
  indicative examples from selected communities.

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• Barriers to education
• Main constraints preventing Roma from fully
  accessing national education systems, including
• infrastructure limitations (preschool and school
  system capacity)
• legal and administrative requirements (formal
  procedures for enrolling in preschool and school)
• Costs (taxes and additional costs incurred by
  full participation to education)
• geographic isolation
• and language barriers

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• Segregation
• In the report, segregation in education refers to
  de facto segregation which we define as
  disproportionately high percentage of Roma pupils
  in a class or in a school. When estimating
  segregation we understand those classes or
  schools which range from 50 to 100 Roma pupils.
• Based on previous research data, we identified
  and monitor accordingly three possible pattern of
  segregation
• Segregation through placement in special schools
  for pupils with intellectual disabilities
• Separate schools with a majority of Roma pupils
  (informally called Roma schools)
• School classes with a majority of Roma pupils
  situated in mainstream schools (remedial classes
  or simply majority Roma classes)
• The reports will assess the extent of each type
  of segregation and will evaluate the impact each
  of these forms of segregation has on access to
  quality education

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Education quality

• The operational definition of quality education
  as defined by our monitoring is measuring three
  broad dimensions
• Systemic educational input
• Educational processes which take place inside the
  school
• School outcomes reflected in pupil achievements
• Indicators will include
• School infrastructure
• Human resources
• School results (national examinations, repetition
  rate, participation in national competitions,
  curricular standards)
• School community relations
• School inspections
• Through the case studies we will asses also less
  visible factors affecting quality of education
  such as teachers attitudes and expectations as
  well as school culture and atmosphere.