Only 20% of Roma children included in this study are included in preschool education, as indicated by the Roma Early Childhood Inclusion (RECI+) Report, carried out by the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences in cooperation with the Open Society Foundations (OSF), UNICEF and the Roma Education Fund (REF). The Study was presented today in the “Quality Education for Roma Children” Conference. RECI+ Report contains a number of recommendations to increase the inclusion of Roma children in educational and other services, in order to contribute to a reduction in their exclusion and improvement of their living conditions. Five sites with a high Roma population were included in this study: Kozari putevi, Capraške poljane, Parag, Darda and Vodnjan/Galižana.
Although the RECI+ Study showed that crèches and kindergartens were evaluated by respondents as a good form of early childhood education and care, many parents do not enrol their children on account of shortage of preschool places for children, a lack of Roma educators or assistants, transportation costs and other additional costs for kindergarten, as well as fear of discrimination and lack of effective communication. This occurs despite the current positive measures and incentives for integration of Roma children into preschool education.
In spite of an increase in the number of Roma children enrolled in primary schools from 4,186 in 2009 to 5,470 in 2013, according to RECI+ Study only 24% of Roma adults in the Croatia study sample finished primary school, and merely 8% finished secondary school. While poor living conditions seriously affect health of Roma families, practically 18% of adult respondents do not have any health insurance. As many as 40% Roma households have bad nutrition which is detrimental to their health, causes chronic diseases in adulthood and frequent dropouts. The majority of Roma families included in the RECI+ Study were beneficiaries of some type of social welfare benefits (87%), whereas 46% reported that social welfare benefits were their main source of income.
The Report includes recommendations the implementation of which would facilitate access of Roma to education, such as free transportation, compulsory (two-year) quality preschool education programme, sufficient number of places in institutions, engagement of Roma children in extracurricular, cultural and sports activities. Access to integrated preschool groups should be ensured for all Roma children, to avoid Roma community based preschool provision that is de facto ethnically segregated.
Also, the local communities should provide all Roma families with small children with adequate living conditions (drinking water, sanitary installations, heating, electricity). The appointment of professional counsellors and “advocates of learning in Roma community” who would work in counties, cities and towns and municipalities with a significant number of Roma inhabitants Is also recommended, as well as home visits of experts in home care, paediatricians, general practitioners/family physicians and epidemiological services, in the area of infants and children’s healthcare.
In addition to the Study presentation, the Conference also included the presentation of outcomes of “Quality Education for Roma Children” and “Support Network for Roma Children REYN Croatia” projects financed by the EU Funds, which are being implemented by the POU “Korak po korak”(”Step by Step”) in cooperation with its partners. About a hundred experts in the area of education, inclusion and the rights of Roma children, such as educators, teachers, expert associates, school principals, activists, representatives of Roma organisations, representatives of local and national authorities and international organisations, participated in the Conference.
RECI+
The RECI+ Study is carried out in Serbia, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Croatia was the first country where the second phase of RECI+ Study was conducted, which implies the inclusion of Roma researchers and assistants in the Study teams. The RECI+ concept is also strongly geared toward advocating targeted policy improvements for early childhood, service provision and practice.
To read the full report in English, click here.
To read the full report in Croatian, click here.
Media relations:
Marin Ilej, milej@unicef.org, 01 303 1647 ili 099 349 4579
Nikolina Mucko, nmucko@unicef.hr, 01 3031650 ili 091 296 4109
Tom Bass, tbass@romaeducationfund.org, 0036 1 235 8030
