The EU Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia have just released a report on Roma children in public education. It confirms, as many of us suspected, that in Greece there is segregation or no access to schools for these children.

(For backgound information and to read other posts I have done on Roma issues, click the link here)

A 1998 -1999 survey showed that 69.7 per cent of the sample aged 18 - 47 had never attended school, while only 10 per cent completed primary education, 2.1 per cent compulsory education and 0.9 per cent higher secondary education; 42.6 per cent of parents stated that their children attend school, but none in secondary education. Among the reasons given for not attending school 29.7 per cent suggested the racist behaviour of teachers, pupils and their parents. Nevertheless, 85 per cent believe that a better education would lead to better employment.

In 2004 the Ministry of Education claimed that the drop-out rate had fallen to 24% thanks to their efforts with the project "Integration of Gypsy Children in Schools".

However, this is not corroborated by any publicly available official enrolment statistics.

Believe me, I went to one of the settlements with the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and I found out that maybe one or two, of the scores of children I saw there, went to school.

For the full report via the GHM, read on.

In Greece, the last Census containing linguistic data in 1951 recorded 7,500 individuals speaking Romani. However, studies indicate that the number of Roma was always far higher than that. Survey data indicate a number between 150,000 and 300,000. According to the Treaty of Lausanne Muslim Roma resident in Thrace enjoy a special status, not shared by Christian Roma or Muslim Roma living outside the area defined by the Treaty.

Despite several literacy projects for adult Roma organised by the Ministry of Education since 1984, Roma literacy rates were found by a 1997 study to be extremely poor with approximately 60 - 80 per cent of nomadic Roma illiterate and the remaining 20 - 40 per cent functionally illiterate; practically no Roma children had received pre-school education, while a significant number of Roma children could not enrol at all due to the lack of necessary documentation and lack of proof of vaccination. A 1999 report by the Greek section of ‘Doctors of the World’ showed similarly that the percentage of literate tent-dwelling Roma in Athens was extremely low at around 6 per cent. According to the NFP report, existing data concerning Roma enrolment in Greece in the past years have not been reliable: Roma pupils are not recorded systematically in school registers, while some schools have reported that Roma enrol simply in order to collect an annual education benefit, but do not actually attend classes. A 1998 -1999 survey showed that 69.7 per cent of the sample aged 18 - 47 had never attended school, while only 10 per cent completed primary education, 2.1 per cent compulsory education and 0.9 per cent higher secondary education; 42.6 per cent of parents stated that their children attend school, but none in secondary education. Among the reasons given for not attending school 29.7 per cent suggested the racist behaviour of teachers, pupils and their parents. Nevertheless, 85 per cent believe that a better education would lead to better employment.

The Education Ministry claims that the implementation of the “Gypsy Children Education” project (Ekpedefsi Tsiganopedon) in 1997, followed up by the project “Integration of Gypsy Children in Schools” (Entaxi Tsiganopedon sto Scholio) in 2004, reduced dropout rates from 75 per cent to 24 per cent . However, this is not corroborated by any publicly available official enrolment statistics and a 2003 NGO report argued that still many Romani children are not even enrolled in school or drop out at a very early stage. In order to improve enrolment rates hampered in many cases by bureaucratic requirements for formal documentation and proof of vaccination, the Education Ministry established in 2000 the “Roma Student Card” enabling Roma pupils to enrol without further formalities. In 2004 a set of data published by the project coordinators showed increased Roma enrolment at primary school level from 25 per cent to 75 per cent and a reduction in the dropout rate. Yet, critics have produced evidence showing that the actual participation of Roma children in the Greek educational system remains very low. Meanwhile, reports by the NGO Greek Helsinki Monitor, as well as cases presented to the Ombudsman, highlight serious problems regarding enrolment and attendance.

In Greece, there are no official data regarding segregation of Roma pupils, but reports by the Greek Helsinki Monitor reveal strong parental reactions to the enrolment of Roma pupils leading to their de facto segregation in separate schools or classes, occasionally in different buildings, because such reactions allegedly tend to be adopted rather than critically addressed by local authorities, as well as schools. In a 2003 report it is argued that in a number of localities educational arrangements are racially segregated and in fact schools intended exclusively for Romani children have been established with tacit or even explicit government approval. Incidents of “white flight” are also identified in the report. Often such tensions are present in poorly resourced schools that are expected to deal with increasing numbers of pupils with particular learning needs in communities suffering from social exclusion.

A 2001 survey by Kappa Research commissioned by UNICEF in Greece, showed that, although 68.2 per cent of Roma respondents stated that education is good for children, as it can reduce poverty, they also argued that it is difficult for their children to attend school: 36.7 per cent considered that the greatest difficulty lies in the racist discrimination and social isolation experienced by their children at school. The 2002 report of the National Commission for Human Rights also suggests that segregation and racist discrimination remain very serious problems.

The official website of the Education Ministry notes the continued operation of two schools in Zefyri, Attica exclusively for Roma (3rd Zefyri primary school and 4th nursery school) without reference to plans for desegregation. There is no information regarding the presence of Roma in special education. Muslim Roma in the Thrace region along with ethnic Turks and Pomaks are entitled to minority education provided on the basis of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty. Education is provided in both Turkish and Greek and curricula are developed on the basis of bilateral agreements between Turkey and Greece.

In Greece, intercultural education policies and measures target immigrants and repatriated Greeks from abroad, but not Roma. Partly this can be explained by the official conception of Roma as a “disadvantaged social group” rather than as an ethnic group. The first major educational initiative targeting Roma was the government sponsored project “Education of Gypsy children” partly financed by EU structural funds and followed up by the successor project “Integration of Gypsy Children in Schools”. The aim of the project is the integration of Roma children into mainstream education through the improvement of enrolment and attendance rates and the development of curricular resources with elements of Roma culture for use by Roma pupils. Also, the cultural awareness of teachers working with them is to be improved. The project is not integrated into regular schooling, but is run as an add-on element and has attracted criticism regarding its scope and objectives as well as its impact, according to the NFP report. Roma were not involved in the design or the planning, but some were reportedly employed by the project contributing to educational and research activities.

During 1998 – 2001 the project was implemented in 30 areas, training about 3,000 teachers, producing new training and educational material, creating reception and supplementary teaching classes and organising events addressed mainly to non-Roma parents in order to create awareness of the issues. Since 2002 Roma families can also benefit from a financial support measure for families with an income of less than €3,000 annually providing an annual school benefit of €300 for every child enrolled in primary education. Critics have pointed out that although this will increase enrolment rates, the improvement of Roma pupils’ actual school attendance, performance and attainment will require a serious reconsideration of systemic elements in the education system and a comprehensive national strategy.