Historical Background

The government in the Malopolska province in 2003 introduced the position of Roma Teaching Assistant (RTA). Some Romani assistants were previously employed in the province in 2001, within a pilot project. The recruitment of RTAs was sublet to local Romani associations and 24 Romani assistants were trained. In 2002, 15 top RTAs took part in a training organized by the Educational Society of Malopolska (MTO), funded by a grant from Phare Access to gain leadership skills.

At the 2004 Council of Europe Conference on Education in Timisoara, it was stated that after a three-year duration of the RTAs pilot project, the attendance of Romani children in school has improved and is now at the level of average school attendance. Contact between the Romani children and teachers improved as a result of RTAs work. Teachers were also motivated to learn more about the Roma and actively promote mutual respect to children of Romani background.

The government continues to fund RTAs from the Program for the Roma Community in Poland (PRCP). In 2004 the government program on Roma, after a 3-year pilot stage in Malopolska region, was expanded to cover the entire country and given a time frame of implementation from 2004 to 2013. This means that the RTAs will be employed in all regions of Poland. It is reported that over 100 RTA positions were to be created for the 2004 and 2005 PRCP implementation. Approximately fifty RTAs started to work in the beginning of school year in September 2004 and the second half is to start in 2005. In addition, there are 7 RTAs paid beyond the Government Program, by local governments or, in 2 cases, by Parish Roma School.

RTA Job Description

The RTA has the following duties:
Providing assistance to Romani children and their contacts within the school
Building a positive image of the school and the benefits of education
Supporting children emotionally
Re-affirming the Roma culture
Promoting the Roma language
Recognizing difficulties or talents exhibited by the Roma pupils
Helping and mediating in any conflict situations
Providing children with books and stationery (and drawing attention to any gaps in this respect)
Monitoring attendance and progress in study
Mediating in contacts between the school and the children's homes
Providing notice about Parent/Teacher meetings and encouraging parents to attend and monitor their children's progress
Encouraging parents to actively participate in school life (as trip counsellors, during artistic performances, etc.)
Recognizing family and financial situations as probable obstacles to study

Contact with the pupil's family home is an important element of the assistant's work. The RTA is also responsible for providing information about the Roma culture and its specific character to both pupils and teachers. This said, the RTAs in the educational system of Poland have no pedagogical role, which is reserved to a supporting teacher. Allegedly, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education and Sport, will organize training for RTAs and for supporting teachers, where the RTAs will be introduced to some pedagogical approaches. This training will be conducted in the middle of the year.

Legal Framework

Based on the Program for the Roma Community in Poland.

RTA Training

The training of RTAs, which has been provided by a local educational Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), the Educational Society of Malopolska, consists of a nine-day training. At the end of the training each RTA is provided with a handbook for RTAs and a video of the training workshops. The local NGOs take over the task of monitoring the performance of RTAs in their job and lobby in support of successful integration of the RTA in the school-working environment. As reported by the Educational Society of Malopolska, prejudice and bias of teachers often complicates successful integration of RTAs.

The training consists of lectures, educational games, discussions, brainstorming, group exercises,work with a video camera and includes the following modules:
Mechanisms of confidence building and integration
Awareness of the role of education
Functioning of the school and the child in school
The role of a Roma assistant
Elements of developmental psychology
Effective communication
The role of non-verbal communication
The role and meaning of self-presentation
The mechanisms of racism and xenophobia
The cultural identity of the Roma
Teaching assertive behaviour
Teaching practical skills
Activating motivation for work

Appendix: Relevant Documents

- Program for the Roma Community in Poland
- Educational Society of Malopolska

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