DESCRIPTION
OF THE "ROMA SCHOOLS PROBLEM"
The
approximate percentage of Roma students aged 6-18
according to the research.
As
we have already mentioned the research cannot guarantee
that data is absolutely precise. Nevertheless according
to the summary of data in all districts we can make
the following statements:
The
pupils with Roma origin constitute approximately 10%
of the 6-18 year-old children in school; approximately
7-10% of Roma children in that age group do not
attend school. Most of these children are bilingual,
given that those who speak Romani language and Turkish
are more than those who speak Romani language and
Bulgarian.7
Some Roma, especially those in the northwest parts
of the country, seldom speak Romani language even
among themselves.
With
the exception of Smoljan and Blagoevgrad regions,
where the figures are smaller, everywhere Roma pupils
comprise 10-15% of children attending elementary school
(1-4 grade); around 10% of pupils in elementary school
(4-8 grade); and around 1% of those who attend secondary
school (8-12 grade).
Roma
receive most of their education in elementary schools
(1-8 grade). The research results show that part of
the girls leave school in 5-6th grade, while most
of the boys somehow complete 7th grade. After leaving
school the girls get married, and boys enter the "business"
- collect scraps, deal in the neighborhood; the most
nimble become the apprentices of the regional bosses.
In
the cities most of the children attend professional
training in specially designed classes, usually in
Roma schools. In most cases those who finish 8th grade
have a chance to continue their education. However,
in the villages, the 8th grade is the highest level
a Roma student can achieve. Immigrating to a city
in order to continue education is a very rare phenomenon;
even when this happens, completing high school is
even less possible, mainly because of financial difficulties.
(The desire to get education renders pathetic examples:
runaways, attempts for suicide, marriages, and selfless
family commitments: all a result of a pursuit for
a higher level of education).
Most
Roma complete their education in a Vocational Secondary
Schools (VSS); around 500 graduate from Secondary
Schools (SEC) or from high schools without specialized
profile; around 50 graduate from language schools
and departments.
More
than half of those who graduate from secondary schools
pursue a university degree - the majority attend the
New Bulgarian University in Sofia; the South-Western
University in Blagoevgrad; The Bourgas Free University;
the obscure branches of the Slavonic University, University
of Shumen. In other words, Roma enter universities
where admission levels are lowest, and tuition is
highest. Needless to say, these teenagers come from
rich and educated families, who receive additional
financial support from the non-governmental sphere.
Students in "St. Kliment Ohridski" University
of Sofia, the University of National and World Economy,
the Medical Academy - Sofia, the Technical University,
are an exception. Lately, there have been unsuccessful
attempts to offer female Roma college education -
as laboratory assistants, nurses, and pedagogical
assistants.
Almost
all of the schools in the villages of the regions
of Stara Zagora, Shumen, Sliven, Pazardjik, and Sofia
can be considered as Roma schools; the same is true
for the big Gypsy ghettoes in the cities of Sofia,
Plovdiv, Sliven, and Stara Zagora. A careful reading
of the data reveals that the greater part of these
schools are located north and south of the Balkan
Mountains: along the lines Vidin-Pleven-Turnovo-Shumen-Varna,
and Sofia - Ihtiman-Pazardjik - Plovdiv - Stara Zagora
- Sliven (YAMBOL) Burgas.
Problems
on both sides of the mountain are the same.8
According
to the summarized data of the research, the fundamental
problems9
are as follows:
All the interviewed
realize the hindrances; they stay at their jobs because
of the following reasons:
•
the special statute granted to social workers involved
with Roma, including payment incentive - 15
• special training of teachers working with
bilinguals - 35
• coordination with other institutions working
on the "Roma problem" - 10
• community support (parents, organizations)
- 35
• involvement of higher government structures
- 12
• no substantial difference when working with
Bulgarians or Roma - 8
TYPICAL INDIVIDUAL CASES:
Blagoevgrad
Every month pupils are issued an official document
as a proof that they attend school.
Burgas
"We take the children to the Sea Garden. For
them going out in the city is a great event."
Varna
In settlements close to the huge factories, where
a lot of Roma work, children have realized the need
of education, and study diligently. There Roma population
is "civilized." However, there are no textbooks
because they burn them for heat in the winter.
Vidin
"Our Gypsies do not live in ghettoes. Even Guenter
Verhoegen considers the neighborhood absolutely decent."
Vratza
Attitude is very important - the principal hires them
as taxi drivers, and they send their children to school.
Gabrovo
In the town of Sevlievo the construction of a school
building in Roma neighborhood "Balabanitza"
was intentionally avoided.
Dobrich
Usually girls leave school after the 8th grade since
their parents believe the children might be "tempted"
and prefer to have them at home.
Kurdjali
Social abnormality is observed at places - healthy
and sane children cannot talk.
Kjustendil
The school's equipment is in a poor condition and
the teachers collect whatever they can (cupboard,
carpets, equipment) from closed schools.
Montana
The richer families buy their children a diploma.
Pernik
"I was examining the child and it fainted from
hunger"
(in Trun).
Pleven
He had to get married while in secondary school so
that his wife could take care of his father and brothers.
Now he has four children and takes evening-classes
in Sofia. He and his wife raise cattle for a living.
He wants to study law ( of R. from Nikolaevo).
Razgrad
"Instead of attending school, some children go
helping the treasure-hunters."
Russe
Some children are socially abandoned, it is not clear
whether they are sane or not. In other places there
are children who do not have any ID, it is not clear
whether they are Roma or not.
Silistra
The parents do not allow the girls to attend school
after the 6th grade because they are afraid someone
will "steal her for a bride."
Sofia
(region)
"I think my daughter is in the 9th or 10th grade.
She is already a spinster and it's time she gets married."
Turgovishte
A child was threatened by his parents that if he does
not bring some money home he would be beaten up. The
child slept for a couple of days in a barn with an
insane man. We sent him in "Kinderdorf."
Shumen
"Journalists are trying to make up ethnic problems."
Yambol
"The teachers work hard. They painted the school's
walls."
Roma schools are a clear
example of the neglected Bulgarian educational system.
Being ignored most of the time, it reveals itself
to the public only in an occasional media scandal,
or some outrageous event. Although both the public
and the school communities have an intuitive understanding
of the problem, no one is likely to take action.
Such
statement is likely to surprise an outsider or an
independent observer; however those involved in "the
system" are well aware of this neglect of the
system. Probably this is why no one points out the
political reasons behind this "muddle",
and no one offers a solution.10
Roma are excluded from the political reality just
as they are excluded from the society. This phenomenon
is very similar to the line of generalization of individual
cases that the media follows, focusing on Roma crimes
and glorification of personal vengeance.11
However
the above mentioned conclusion can serve as a clarification
for the following statement: the existence, and success,
of the Bulgarian school (including the "elite"
schools) is made possible thanks to support coming
from outside the educational system - from the family
and the municipal structures. This might be explained
with the traditional social norm and esteem for good
education at any price. This traditional value has
been preserved at the price of a lot of domestic and
social sacrifices, made in the name of the next generation's
proper education. These sacrifices range from paying
for private lessons, buying presents for the teachers
and the principal, media lobbying, and go as far as
bribes to the government officials in cases of individual
problems or for providing government support to a
prospering school.
According
to all interviewed individuals, Roma parents cannot
offer similar support to their children. On the contrary,
Roma hope to survive with the help of their children
and the school. The school appears as the one institution,
which still links Roma people with the state and the
society. The lack of social alternatives is due to:
high unemployment (an average of 18-20% unemployed
in the country; 45-60% for Roma, and in villages the
percentage reaches its maximum values), expensive
health insurance, recent reduction of the army size,
expensive or lacking transportation, etc.
One
alternative source of support for Roma is the network
"Roma education - non-governmental field foundations."
The
most frequently mentioned partner NGOs, sponsors and
programs are:
•
Balkan Foundation "Diversity" (often referred
as Professor Hristo Kiuchukov) - 45
• Open Society Foundation - 40
• Euroroma - 30
•
Religious sects (undefined) - 28
• International Center for Minority Studies
and Intercultural Relations (IMIR) (often Antonina
Zheliazkova) - 26
• Interethnic Initiative - 24
• Programs of the Regional Inspectorates of
the Ministry of Education and Culture - "Let's
Bring the Children Back to School" - 21
• Future for Bulgaria - 14
• S.E.G.A. - 14
• Bulgarian Red Cross - 13
• Step by Step Program - 12
•
Karitas - 10
• Evangelists ("sect") - 9
• Istikbal Foundation - 7
• Youth Christian Organization YMCA - 5
• Siorensen Children Foundation - 5
• "Amaribah - Our Luck" - 4
• The British Embassy - 4
• Austrian Airlines - 3
However,
no foundation is powerful enough, to provide the actual
governmental and public support for solving the problem.
Moreover, the research shows that in many places the
support of smaller foundations is not directed towards
the schools, the children, or the community but is
kept within the foundation for its members' own benefit.
This results in a useless mediation between outside
donors and the needy. In addition, there is an expectation
for outside assistance, and the feeling of personal
innocence.12
Having in mind the above stated trends, Roma schools
are not an exception but a permanent characteristic
of a society in transition from poverty to misery,
such as the Bulgarian one, as well as for Roma society,
which is in transition from misery to social inadequacy.
The educational system appears extremely important
in this process because social differences are exhibited
from an early age; and the educational process in
its essence requires postponement of present needs
in the hope of future compensation. Most Roma, and
an increasing number of Bulgarians and Turks, are
stuck in the lowest levels of misery. The fight for
physical survival consumes all resources, which otherwise
might be directed towards mastering the social minimum
(which includes education). The state, and the society,
has also restricted their support for the educational
system. The problems of the educational system engage
public attention only in times of scandals and admissions
exams.
A COMMON FUTURE
All
Roma schools are part of a certain reality, and if
the tendencies which dominate Bulgarian social life
do not change, this reality may pose a threat to the
whole society. It is characterized by:
•
stable levels of emigration of capable and educated
individuals.
• demographic crisis; migration towards the
bigger cities;
• lack of investment in the sphere of education.
• segregation of pupils according to place
of settlement, income, ethnic origin or sex.
• unequal opportunities for citizens of minority
origin (especially Roma and Turks) to get education,
health insurance, job, income, government employment,
etc.
• lowering of educational requirements, and
degradation of the quality of education.
• degradation of values through media images.
The
assumption that the number of such schools will increase
in places where Roma exceed 30% of the population
is realistic, given the fact that Bulgarians, Turks,
and Roma who have the necessary resources leave these
schools. Roma School is left to the poorest, who despite
the common demographic crisis rise in numbers (the
figures from the 2001 census are not known yet, but
it might be speculated with a degree of certainty
that Roma in Bulgaria already comprise around 9-10%
of the population, and in the age group 9-16 the percentage
rises to 15%).
THE "IMMOBILITY" OF ROMA
At
the end of the 1980s around 300,000 Bulgarian individuals
from the Turkish community left the country for political
reasons, as part of the so-called "regeneration
process." In the decade that followed, during
the so-called "transition period", another
800,000 young and educated Bulgarians emigrated with
the hope of better economic and career opportunities
(these include acquiring a university degree abroad,
which often times turns out to be a cheaper alternative
to the one in the motherland). This irretrievable
loss of human capital is aggravated with the traditional
migration to the cities. Around 20% of the country's
population lives in the Sofia region, and another
20% inhabit the other 6-7 big regional centers. This
phenomenon leads to the concentration of human capital
in several regions, and consequently the depopulation
of other regions. In turn centralized government measures
have to be introduced, including education.
This
demographic mobility does not affect Roma people,
because to a great extent the ability to migrate depends
on the educational level, knowledge of languages,
and the access to sophisticated information technologies
in a poor country, such as Bulgaria. From a demographic
and educational perspective this leads to strong concentration
of Roma, and Roma schools, in the villages. In the
last fifty years the Bulgarians, and their children,
have steadily migrated to the cities, but it was in
the last decade that the number of pure Roma schools
grew significantly.
As
can be seen from the diagram, it is exactly in Roma
schools that most Roma children acquire their education.
This leaves them with little hope for desegregation,
which in turn would result in the depopulation of
large regions. The ghostly ethnic settlements around
the Southern and Western border present a vivid example
of disappearing social life in places that have been
inhabited for centuries.
Roma
living in villages present yet another problem for
the Bulgarian society, and in particular for the educational
system. Traditionally, the Bulgarian educational system
has been neglecting education in the villages, and
as a consequence village children are offered little
chances to acquire proper schooling. The greatest
number of schools being shut down are in the villages
because of inability to follow normative documents,
lack of funding and teachers. Thus, the poorest and
less adaptive children are left without the choice
of education in a fast changing social environment.
Except for the cases where there is a concentration
of children in the boarding schools, which account
for almost half of Roma children in borderline and
poor regions, the problem has not been taken care
of (in the Northwestern part of the country where
the percentage of unemployed aged 18-24 years is the
highest in Europe; also in the regions of Kustendil,
Silistra, and Pernik). Thus, apart from the great
number of abandoned schools, there are a lot of uneducated
children, especially girls, whose parents fear to
send them away from parental control.
The
low-education and no-education trends in villages
affect Roma girls most seriously. Given the rising
number of Turkish Roma, the chances of getting education
will be additionally complicated by sex discrimination.
In
summary, the village school is a projection of the
household misery, and the shortsighted economical
approach to education, which is still not a value
for Roma.
Certainly,
this grim picture holds for many of the schools in
villages and small towns where Bulgarians and Turks
study. This is so not only because Roma dominate these
schools, which is defined by settlement pattern, but
because of the low government subsidy level for education
and science (one of the lowest government subsidy
levels in Europe, in one of the poorest countries
in Europe). The state considers educational expenses
the duty of municipalities and families, and as a
consequence imposes higher direct and indirect taxes,
and social security requirements. Low-paid and unmotivated
teachers and disappointed parents should be also taken
into account and one might get an idea of the whole
picture. Teachers and parents who do not fall pray
of lethargy due to insufficient social recognition
would respond in the best of ways by entering the
sphere of double-standard education - which is an
unregulated system of educational services active
on a personal level, similar to the black economy
- and thus secure a good chance for their children
of being admitted to one of the elite schools and
universities in the country or abroad.
Almost
no Roma people cherishes such dreams, because they
have neither the chance to try, nor the example to
follow. In addition to all the problems, common for
Bulgarian education, Roma people suffer from a traditional
underestimation of the benefits of education, such
as success in life.
The
most common explanation is that education is not a
value; one cannot postpone the acquisition of immediate
benefits in the name of some future success. This
characteristic is strengthened by the common practice
of outside support for the educational system. It
is additionally supported by the "theory"
that Roma cannot and do not want to study, but they
can sing and dance; so, let's keep them in school
with free meals and classes in music. Financial aid
in the form of free school meals is the most common
and hypocritical form of concern for Roma.
The
research shows that as any child, Roma child would
prefer to spend an hour in an Internet class or play
computer games, to a free breakfast. Roma families
are often angry with their children, who would spend
the money from collecting scraps and herbs on playing
computer games, rather than bringing the money home.
In the Internet clubs children spend their time playing
computer games, trading among each other valuable
objects and thus receive the education and acquire
the skills that the schools cannot or do not want
to give or even make inaccessible to Roma children.
Certainly,
Roma are estranged from the school due to economic
and social reasons. These reasons appear to be similar
across the country, as it is shown by the following
trends for the country.
The
higher level of education, mainly after elementary
school, is accessible for a very small percentage
of the urban Roma population. Apart from having to
overcome the barriers of the Bulgarian educational
system, Roma are faced with the social and psychological
attitudes in a society where educated individuals
with minority origin are a rarity. The attitude "educated,
but a Gypsy" might drown the best of aspirations,
and attempts for self-sacrifice. Thus, most of the
educated Roma lose their ethnic identity in secondary
school; upon leaving the neighborhood they lose any
ethnic, and group, identity.
In this manner the example of the successfully educated
Roma is lost to the community. The community uses
other types of role models to create its identity
to the outside world: political representatives, rich
outlaw families, juvenile folk stars, and successful
sportsmen. The image is harmonious with the stereotype
vision of the "sport-show-media-success."
However, such ethnic integration and collective consciousness
is far away from integration through education.
I
think these issues are yet to be considered. Basic
understanding of human rights, dignity, and educational
values should be questioned not only in the light
of Roma example.
From
an educational perspective the neglected integrating
power of the school leads to the loss of linguistic,
cultural, and traditional identity. The spreading
disregard for ethnic differences turns integration
into assimilation. The almost total lack of Roma teachers
threatens the existence of the ancient Roma language,
known for its variety of regional accents. On the
one hand Roma language education as a mother tongue
is not offered in schools, on the other hand in most
of Roma settlements a "clean" language -
pure Bulgarian, Turkish, Roma - is not spoken in the
family environment either. The effect of these circumstances
combined with a lack of proper upbringing results
in a growing number of neglected children that are
virtually not fluent in any language, whose communication
is limited to the expression of their basic feelings
of hunger or pain. The phenomena of anomie, defined
by E. Marushiakova as the loss of social, cultural,
and moral reasoning, turns into socially inflicted
alalia.13
In
most primary Roma classes the mastering of reading
and writing skills is considered an extraordinary
success.
The
research shows few exceptions from this trend of almost
conscious debasement of the educational qualification,
which is a prerequisite for the community's self-consciousness
and its image from outside. The funny image of the
Gypsy who speaks broken Bulgarian, the media popularization
of Roma scandals and stealing, are factors, which
affect Roma community. The effect is a hostile attitude
as an act of natural defense. Roma stop their children
from going to school. At least ethnic genocide, outlaw
revenges, and search for collective gilt are unpopular
phenomena in the country.
The
enlightening work of Associate Professor Hristo Kiuchukov,
and the Diversity Foundation, is of national importance
for the enhanced educational level of Roma. Lately
Mr. Kiuchukov has succeeded in recruiting young people
from all ethnic backgrounds for scientific research
and systematic work in the field. The scholarship
competitions of the Open Society Foundation - Sofia,
and the work of the International Center for Minority
Studies and Intercultural Relations (IMIR) in Sofia,
present other possibilities for progress in this field.
Probably this is the reason why they were the most
frequently pointed out NGOs in the previously mentioned
survey.
Traditionally
Roma are divided in groups and social strata. This
accounts for another type of education, the apprenticeship
in the family: tinkering, blacksmith's trade, fortune-telling,
stealing. Even these ancient forms of clan socialization
and apprenticeship of knowledge start to fade away.
Like
all impoverished groups, Roma are turning to primitive
forms of life, which are limited to the gathering
of herbs and scraps, and the use of physical efforts.
Failure to attend school in the months of April, May,
and September, is explained with similar activities
typical for these months: gathering of herbs and mushrooms,
mass gatherings or stealing of grain. Along with prostitution
and stealing these activities are a reaction provoked
by hunger and the economic deadlock. The children
and women are the chief participants in these family-saving
activities, for which no special qualification is
required.
Relief schools for children with mental and physical
disabilities, correctional facilities, and the Social
Homes for Medical and Special Care for Children aged
0-16 (SHMSCC), are "Roma schools" in the
ethnic and technical meaning of the term. In all of
these facilities Roma children exceed 50% of tenants,
who have been assigned there after a courts decision,
a medical prescription or simply because their parents
left them. Often healthy children stay in such facilities
for the sake of receiving food and shelter. These
facilities shelter the nightmarish "contingent"
of 14,000 children abandoned annually. If one includes
the runaways, the lost, and the hungry, the picture
of foundlings and homeless in the facilities is complete.
Lately, the free mobility of people has allowed for
international trade with children, used for begging,
sex services, stealing, etc.
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