Needs Assessment Study for the Roma Education Fund ......parts of Central Serbia, while there are very few of them in Sandzak and southeastern Serbia. Reading the Rroma settlements

Needs Assessment Study for the Roma Education Fund Background Paper

SERBIA

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Version of September 2004. Please send comments and updates to: [email protected]

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Needs Assessment Study for the Roma Education Fund

Serbia (without Kosovo)

I. Situation Analysis 4

1. Socio-Demographic Data 4 1.1. Population and Geographic Distribution 4 1.2. Sex, Age and Family Structure 5 1.3. Groups, Language, Culture and Religion 7 1.4. Education Structure 8

2. Socio-Economic Status 9 2.1. Poverty and Social Aid 9 2.2. Employment and Types of Jobs 11 2.3. Housing Conditions 12 2.4. Health 12 2.5. Social Status, Discrimination and Assimilation 13 2.6. Particularly Vulnerable Groups 14

3. Education – Enrolling, Quitting and Completing School 15 3.1. Right, Problems and Discrimination in Education 15 3.2. Pre-school Education 17 3.3. Primary (Compulsory) Education 18 3.4. Secondary Education 22 3.5. Special Education 22 3.6. Higher Education 23 3.7. Education of Adults 24 3.8. Education in Minority Language 25

1. Education Quality and Student Performance 26 4.1. Student Performance 26 4.2. Education Quality 27 4.3. Education System 28 4.4. Teaching Personnel 30 4.5. School Conditions 31


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II. Legislation and Strategic Documents 32

1. Relevant Federal and Republican Legislation 32

2. Relevant Strategies, Bearers and Implemented Measures 33 2.1. Strategies 33 2.2. Institutions and Bodies – Bearers of Implementation 36 2.3. Affirmative Action Measures 37

3. Action Plans 38

III. Analysis of Programs and Projects 40

1. Non-Governmental Organizations Engaged In Roma Education 40

2. Programs/Projects 42

2.1. Analysis of Programs/Projects 42 2.2. Inclusion of Roma Children and Youth into the Education System 43 2.3. Major Roma Education Programs and Projects Implemented to Date44

IV. Proposal of Programs and Activities for Roma Inclusion Decade 49

Literature

Appendices Appendix No. 1: Listing and Description of NGOs Appendix No. 2: Listing and Description of programs/project Appendix No. 3: Basic Draft Action Plan for Education Appendix No. 4: Draft Budgets for Strategies and Action Plans Appendix No. 5: Map of Geographic Distribution of Roma Population Appendix No. 6: MoE data on Roma students by districts Appendix No. 7: Roma population in Niš, data from Local Strategy Appendix No. 8: Roma population in Kragujevac, data from Local Strategy


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I. Situation Analysis

1. Socio-Demographic Data

1.1. Population and Geographic Distribution

According to the latest Census conducted in 2002 a total of 108,193 Roma lived in Serbia without Kosovo (79,136 in Central Serbia and 29,057 in Vojvodina).1 In comparison with the 1991 Census 2, according to which the number of Roma was 94,492 (70,126 in Central Serbia and 24,366 in Vojvodina), Roma population in Serbia has increased for 14 percent.

2002 Census Serbia Central Serbia Vojvodina Population - Total 7,498,001 5,466,009 2,031,992

Roma 108,193 79,136 29,057 Roma - percentage 1.44% 1.45% 1.43%

There are no reliable data about the size of Roma Community since many people do not register their place of residence, they frequently migrate, and the social mimicry is also present. Center For Ethnicity Research conducted a research on the initiative of the former Federal Ministry Of National And Ethnical Communities, now Federal Ministry Of Human And Minority Rights, the research which numbered a total of 593 Roma settlements with over 100 inhabitants or 15 families were registered with total population of 201,353 native Roma and 46,238 Roma displaced from Kosovo.3 This data substantiates the presumption of Rroma population being significantly and evidently larger that the official Census proclaimed, even though this data also missed to cover all Rroma communities (like settlements with fewer than 100 inhabitants, the settlements were Rroma live fully integrated, etc.).

In the opinion of some Roma leaders, Rroma population stands somewhere between 800,000 and 1 million. The most common estimations made by experts indicate that the number of Roma living in Serbia is somewhere between 450,000 and 500,000 (about 6 percent of the population). It is unclear what are these estimations based on, but it is the figure treated in Serbia as the most realistic one. Bearing in mind that MoE’s currently developing Action Plan For Education Improvement For Rroma based on the estimation of 450000 Rroma population, that numer has been adopted to use in this report, as well.

Minorities comprise 17.14 percent of the population of Serbia without Kosovo; the largest minorities are Hungarians (3.91%) and Bosniaks (2.19%)4. The Roma are the third largest minority, however, if the estimated number of 450,000 Roma is accepted, they are the largest minority.

1 Census of Population, Households and Apartments in 2002, Final Census Results, Population According to Age and Sex 2 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia 3 Ibid. 4 Census of Population, Households and Apartments in 2002, Final Census Results, Population According to Age and Sex


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The largest percentage of Roma population, compared to the majority population, is present in five districts in Southern and Southeast Serbia: (Pcinjski – 5% Jablanicki – 4%, Pirotski – 3%, Toplicki – 3%, Nisavski – 2%), and three districts in Vojvodina (Srednje-Banatski – 2.7%, Severno-Banatski – 2.4% and Juzno-Banatski – 2%).5

The research determined the highest density of 593 registered Roma settlements could be found in Belgrade (102 settlements), in northwestern part of Central Serbia, in Vojvodina and in some districts of Southern Serbia. Roma settlements are also numerous in middle parts of Central Serbia, while there are very few of them in Sandzak and southeastern Serbia. Reading the Rroma settlements in Serbia distribution map (Appendix No. 6), we must exercise caution, as the settlement density doesn't match neither with the numbers of inhabitants in the settlements, nor with the numbers by counties/regions. The most densely populated settlements are the ones in the South of Serbia, numbering several thousands of inhabitants. The same goes for the settlements in large cities, like Adice in Novi Sad with approx. 6,000 and Beograd Mala in Niš with over 6,500. Large settlements are. 6

The same research shows the following distribution: out of 593 settlements, 44,8% are rural, while 52,7% are urban. Of the 593 settlements, 31% are suburbian, 23.1% are in villages, 21.7% in cities and 2.5% at other sites. A total of 47.3 percent of larger Roma settlements were built at the beginning of XX century.

Size of Roma settlements in Serbia 7 No. of inhabitants 100-199 200-499 500-999 1,000-1,999 2,000-4,999 5,000 and more

No. of settlements 314 179 61 22 13 4

1.2. Sex, Age and Family Structure

Sex structure

According to the 2002 Census, women comprised 51.4 percent within the general population, while within the Roma population they comprised 49.6 percent. Within the general population, in all groups bellow 30 years of age there are more men, while in groups over the age of 30 there are more women. Within the Roma population, there are more men in all groups bellow 50 years of age and more women in groups over the age of 50.8

Age Structure

Average Age (2002 Census)

General population 40.2 Serbs 40.5

Roma 27.5 Other Minorities 42.8

5 Census of Population, Households and Apartments in 2002, Final Census Results, Population According to Age and Sex 6 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia 7 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia 8 Census of Population, Households and Apartments in 2002, Population – Religion, Mother Tongue and National or Ethnic Affiliation According to Age and Sex

- Roma are the youngest ethnic community due to high birth and mortality rate;

- The only minority close to the Roma in terms of age are the Albanians with the average age of 29.6 yrs.

- Roma are almost two times younger than Slovenians (54.9 yrs.) and Germans (43 yrs.), which ar the oldest national communities.


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Age Breakdown – 2002 Census

General

population %* Serbs %

Other minorites %

Roma %

0 - 4 342,344 4.6 272,757 4.4 57,300 4.9 12,287 11.4

5 - 9 394,596 5.3 318,975 5.1 64,076 5.4 11,545 10.7

10 - 14 439,830 5.9 358,139 5.8 71,118 6.0 10,573 9.8

15 - 19 495,651 6.6 408,643 6.6 76,909 6.5 10,099 9.3

20 - 24 512,429 6.8 425,216 6.8 77,489 6.6 9,724 9.0

25 - 29 504,566 6.7 419,992 6.8 75,854 6.4 8,720 8.1

30 - 34 476,447 6.4 394,288 6.3 74,670 6.3 7,489 6.9

35 - 39 486,009 6.5 400,366 6.4 78,551 6.7 7,092 6.6

40 - 44 531,828 7.1 440,374 7.1 84,364 7.2 7,090 6.6

45 - 49 621,553 8.3 522,444 8.4 92,726 7.9 6,383 5.9

50 - 54 571,353 7.6 482,300 7.8 84,322 7.2 4,731 4.4

55 - 59 389,185 5.2 315,850 5.1 70,207 6.0 3,128 2.9

60 - 64 443,784 5.9 372,460 6.0 68,482 5.8 2,842 2.6

65 - 69 460,406 6.1 391,879 6.3 66,296 5.6 2,231 2.1

70 -74 387,284 5.2 329,395 5.3 56,526 4.8 1,363 1.3

Over 75 392,815 5.2 327,431 5.3 64,441 5.5 943 0.9

Unknown 47,921 0.6 32,329 0.5 13,639 1.2 1,953 1.8Total 7,498,001 100 6,212,838 100 1,176,970 100 108,193 100

*Percentage by age breakdown compared to total of each population.

Estimated number of Roma children and youth: According to the 2002 Census, 32% of Roma population falls within the category of 0-14 years of age (i.e. round 2.3% belongs to a 1-year age category. If these data are matched against the estimated number of the overall Roma population, the following estimates can be made:

Estimated Number of Roma Children Pre-school age (0 – 6 yrs of age) 62,100

Primary school age (7 - 14 yrs of age) 82,800 Secondary school age (15 – 18 yrs of age) 41,400

Family Structure The research covering 700 Rroma and 350 Rroma-neighbouring families (in the first step the sample was per quota, and in the second per casus) indicates that the average interviewed Roma family has a bit more than 5 members. More than half of those families have over five members, while 7.9 percent are very numerous, with over 11 members. Quite often, the families comprise several generations with large number of children. There is an


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obvious tendency among more educated Roma, who live in bigger cities, to have less numerous families – two or three generations with lesser number of children. 9

1.3. Groups, Language, Culture and Religion

Groups In Serbia, Roma are distinguished according to regions they had come from as Turkish, Wallachian, German (Belarus) and White Roma (variance of Turkish). No data are available on differences in the economic standings of these groups.

Language According to data presented in the 2002 Census, 76 percent of Roma declared Roma language as their mother tongue. The language spoken depends upon the country of origin of the particular Roma community as well as the language spoken by majority population in the environment. Ashkalia and Egyptians who took refuge from Kosovo speak Albanian language only, and some Roma (particularly children) speak only Roma or Roma/Albanian mixture.

Majority of the Roma are bilingual, they use both Roma language and the language spoken by majority community, particularly those integrated in the life of the community. Roma who live in segregated settlements most often speak only Roma language. There is an obvious distinction between urban environments; e.g. in Kragujevac they are almost not familiar with Roma language at all, while for instance in Nis, a large number speak Roma language while lot of them have no command of Serbian language.

Vast majority of the interviewed 700 Roma families in mutual contacts speak Roma language (71.4%), Serbian (13.6%) and “mixed language” (11.8%). A small number speaks Hungarian, Albanian or some other language (2.7%). Among Roma dialects, the most commonly used are Arlija (41.7%) and Gurbet (23.4%).10

Culture Life in poverty and in the vicinity of other people affected the changes of cultural and other Roma values. Nevertheless, they kept their customs and beliefs. They have broadened their culture by accepting, altering and adjusting their neighbors’ values. Like in other nations, Roma customs are related to significant events, such as wedding, birth and death.

Roma culture is of narrative character and, consequently, significant part of its contents has already been lost. It is not known by other people and quite often by Roma themselves. In literature and particularly in movies, it is presented in twisted form, in accordance with the prevailing stereotypes. The Roma Community does not have a common attitude towards the Roma culture values they wish to nourish or the manner in which they want to do so. There are many reasons for that: poor Rroma are preoccupied with mere survival to take interest in cultural issues; many want to integrate in the majority population and are reluctant to promote their cultural values; there’s no concordance over what are the authentic values of Rroma culture and tradition due to mixing with other cultures and differences between different groups of Rroma.

9 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia 10 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia


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Religion Roma in Serbia are Orthodox (in all regions) and Muslims (Southern Serbia, Roma from Kosovo), while in Vojvodina, to a lesser extent, they are also Catholics. Wallachian Roma are Orthodox, Turkish Roma are Muslims. Dispersion of religion is mainly a result of the country of origin and the majority population in the environment. The Roma who took refuge from Kosovo are mainly Muslims, while some of them convert to Orthodox religion and even change names in order to fit more easily into the new environment. There is an increased interest among experts and Roma themselves for researches and publications about Roma language, customs and culture. They contribute to better familiarization with these matters, however, they are often of local character and do not offer an overview of the entire Roma population in Serbia.

1.4. Education Structure

According to the 1991 Census, there were 36.6 percent of Roma without even a single primary school grade, 26.1 percent did not complete the primary school, 28.3 percent completed primary school, 8.1 percent completed secondary school and only 0.9 percent completed high school or college. A whole 62.7 percent do not have complete primary education and 34.8 percent of those are illiterate. Although respective data from the 2002 Census are not available yet, based upon results of some researches recently conducted in some settlements, no significant changes are expected.

The report Roma and Education – between needs, desires and possibilities has been made by the NGO Roma Children Center, in cooperation with Trocair, Ireland. The report is based on the research conducted in 4 major cities (Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac). Techniques used are: focus groups (two per each city, respectively), “deep” interviews (12 per city) and polls. Out of the 5,000 interviewees (from 4 towns) over 15 years of age, 15.6 percent had never been included in any form of regular education: 26.1 percent had commenced but never completed the primary education (1.5% in special schools); 39.6 percent completed primary education (0.9% in special schools); 8.3 percent commenced secondary education and 5.1 percent completed it; 6.2 percent completed the craftsmanship education; 0.7 percent completed some higher school or college while 0.3% commenced but never competed such education.

Education structure of the Roma is significantly lower than the average in general population, average for all minorities, Serbs and most of the other minorities. There is a substantial inequality in realization of rights to education of certain national and ethnic groups. The Roma, Wallachians, Muslims and Albanians are definitely in the worst situation. In all minority groups, women are less educated than men (even lesser than the national average difference between the men and the women). This information is from Comprehensive Analysis of Primary Education in FRY, which has been conducted by UNICEF during 2000-2001, in cooperation with MoE and with help of UNESCO; all in the course of preparations for the Education Reform. This report comprises evaluation of the following parameters: Structure of the Educational System; Resources; Access to Education and learning possibilities; Quality and efficiency of Education and Education Outcomes/Results.


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Education Structure – 2002 Census (%) w/o PS PS SS HS/C

General population 33.0 25.0 32.2 8.9

Serbs 33.8 24.1 32.5 8.9

All Minorities included Roma 38.5 27.4 26.2 6.8

Roma 62.7 27.1 8.1 0.9

Hungarians 39.1 26.9 28.3 5.2

Walachians 69.9 19.2 8.3 1.9

Albanians 34.6 34.3 22.4 5.0

Low level of education of Roma affects possibilities for employment, thus affecting material position and quality of all aspects of life, such as running a household, bringing up children, fulfilling the rights, etc. In terms of education, the most endangered are the women and the other vulnerable groups.

Low and inadequate levels of education have been identified as one of the main causes of Poverty in Serbia. The link between education and poverty and the importance of education for the reduction of poverty, is best demonstrated in the following table. According for the Survey on the Living Standard of the Population the majority of the poor (over 60%) only have primary school education or are primary school drop-outs, while only 2% of the poor are highly educated, (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Serbia).

Poverty in relation to educational level in Serbia in 2002. (population over 15 years of age)

% Population at risk of falling below the poverty

line

% of the poor

Relative poverty

risk

Structure of all

Population over 15

Structure of the poor

Depth of

poverty

Severity of

poverty

Unfinished primary school 36.1% 21.5% 102.5% 17.5% 35.4% 5.1% 1.8% Primary school 25.4% 14.3% 33.9% 23.3% 31.2% 3.1% 1.0% Secondary school 15.1% 6.9% -35.1% 47.5% 30.8% 1.2% 0.3% College 7.8% 2.9% -72.8% 5.1% 1.4% 0.4% 0.1% University degree 5.6% 2.0% -81.4% 6.6% 1.2% 0.4% 0.1% Total 20.0% 10.6% - 100% 100% 2.2% 0.8%

Survey on the Living Standard of the Population 2002.

2. Socio-Economic Status

2.1. Poverty and Social Aid Poverty is widespread in Serbia as a consequence of unfavorable political and economic circumstances that have prevailed over the past ten years. In 2003, the Government of Serbia adopted the Strategy for Poverty Reduction in Serbia, which is based upon findings of the Survey on the Living Standards, which indicates that in Serbia, in 2002, 10.6 percent


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of the population, or 800,000 citizens, were poor (daily expenditure of US$ 2.40); however, only a minor transferal of a poverty line (to US$ 2.90) would increase the percentage of the poor to 20 percent or about 1,600,000 citizens. Out of the 2,000,000 children, 200,000 are endangered by poverty, whereas an extra 400,000 are at the verge of it. The survey did not encompass the most endangered population categories, such as Roma and part of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Besides the basic indicators on the extent, depth and severity of poverty, the analysis pointed to the following characteristics of poverty in Serbia: Poverty in Serbia is closely related to educational level; The unemployed were most at risk of poverty; The elderly (over 65) make up almost a quarter of the total number of poor; Children also represent a category with an above average risk of poverty; The most vulnerable are housholds with five or more members; Poverty in serbia has beconme a rural phenomenom; The region with the highest level of poverty is Southeastern Serbia. Particularly vulnerable and economically and socially excluded groups: Refugees and IDP; Roma; Persons with disabilities and women. (Strategy for Poverty Reduction in Serbia).

Roma fall within nearly all poverty-stricken categories and the Strategy therefore focuses on them in the part entitled Reduction of Roma Poverty. The problems that produce generational poverty of Roma, have been categorized in 4 groups: Employment, Education, Health and Housing. Low level of economic activity and high unemployment rate are quoted as basic indicators of social and economic status.

In addition to the aforementioned survey, the research The Many Faces of Poverty, Research on Child Poverty in Serbia, UNICEF, conducted in 8 districts (4 undeveloped, 3 with large share of Roma population and one with large number of internally displaced persons) indicates that child poverty has many faces and encompasses economic, health, educational and cultural deprivation. Violation of children rights is a consequence of poverty and also comprises lack of fulfillment of the right to education. In this respect, the children of Roma and internally displaced persons are in the worst position.

Most of the Roma are poor, without permanent job and, consequently, any social security. According to the 1991 Census, the share of supported persons among the Roma was 60 percent and among the Serbs 36.6 percent, whereas the percentage of workforce was almost equal. The highest share of Roma within the general population is found in the South of Serbia, in poorest and most undeveloped municipalities. Economic position of Roma is determined by irregularity of income related to the type of work, the unemployment rate growth that is a consequence of a long-term stagnancy of economy and economic transition in progress, and a low demand for less qualified workers in the labor market, Draft Strategy for Integration and Empowerment of Roma (see detailed presentation of the document on Chapter II, 2.1. Strategies).

Compulsory social insurance, which is provided for employees and farmers, comprises retirement, disability and medical insurance. Constitution of Serbia guarantees social benefits only to persons who cannot work and do not have any means for living. The right to social benefits is provided only to individuals and families whose income is lower than the existential minimum. Over the past two years, thanks to foreign donations, the overdue family allowances were paid for 26 months and now they have been paid regularly. In 2003, social welfare benefits from the state have been received by only 35,000 families, with


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additional 15,000 receiving these benefits from foreign donations. The size of the benefits is directly related to the average salary in the given Municipality, so in poorer Municipalities the benefits are lower.

Since most of the Roma are unemployed, they have no possibility to enjoy the benefits of social and retirement insurance. For some Roma families, social assistance is the only source of regular income, although its amount is not compatible with basic needs and has not been paid regularly. A lot of Roma people do not even fulfill these rights, mainly because of lack of knowledge, rather complicated procedure and lack of personal identification documents.11 One of the goals set by the long-term strategy of the Ministry for Social Affairs is taking care of children deprived of parental supervision, by decreasing the number of children in social care institutions and providing support for development of foster-care and providing benefits for children’s natural families. Out of the total number of children accommodated in social care institutions, 34 percent are of Roma nationality; re- integration of “kids from the streets” is of particular importance.12

Within the Roma community, as well as within the majority and other minority communities, there is an obvious economic stratification. Some members stand out for their economic strength, most often those who worked abroad or those who gained property in some other manner. The Roma who live integrated into the society, particularly those living in bigger cities, who have higher degree of education, also have a better economic position.

2.2. Employment and Types of Jobs

According to the 1991 Census, 58.2 percent of Roma population comprised the working contingent (15 – 64 years of age). However, only 27.2 percent of Roma were engaged in active work in comparison to 46 percent in general population. The unemployment rate was 4 times greater within the Roma population than within the majority population.

According to the 2002 Census, 59.6 percent of Roma population comprised the working contingent. Respective data on percentage of population engaged in active work is not available yet, but bearing in mind the economic conditions in the country, no improved situation should be expected.

Due to low education structure and discrimination practiced by the employers, Roma have access only to difficult, low paid, unappreciated and seasonal jobs. According to the 1991 Census, 40 percent of the employed Roma worked as workers, mainly doing some manual work. Certain number was categorized in groups of workers in service industry and professionals and artists (categorized musicians irrespective of formal education). Among Roma engaged in begging, there is a high percentage of children forced to do so. Children become involved in commercial activities at an early age, which is also a reason why they give up education.

Researches indicate that only 18.6 percent of household patrons/housewives are permanently employed, whereas 68.4 percent are not employed, 8.3 percent work occasionally, 1.6 percent is on paid leave while 2.6 percent are pensioners. Following

11 Draft Strategy for Integration and Empowerment of Roma 12 Draft Strategy for Integration and Empowerment of Roma, 75/76


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sources of income are most often specified: employment, agricultural works, crafts, smuggling, begging, selling recycled materials, seasonal works, social aid, pension, aid provided by relatives, humanitarian aid, grey economy, digging through garbage and money received from abroad.13

2.3. Housing Conditions

The Roma mainly live in settlements- favelas. Basic characteristics of these settlements are unhealthy and substandard housing, deprived ambiance, poor communal facilities, exclusion from the system and unregulated status. It is estimated that about two thirds of Roma live in hardest housing conditions and worst living environment. About 80 percent of Roma live in poor areas and settlements, thus being in worst situation in comparison with all other ethnic communities. 14

Research that encompassed 593 Roma settlements throughout Serbia indicated that: 43.5 percent are slums and unhygienic settlements, 44 percent are partly arranged and 11 percent are arranged; 42.7 percent of the settlements are made of uncomfortable housing objects, 5.3 percent of barracks and 1 percent of huts. Most of the settlements do have the store, electricity and road structure; There is 9.2 percent of settlements without electrical power grid; 33.6 percent of settlements have no water supply system, while in another 18.6 percent it is not accessible to everyone; There is no sewage system in 65.1 percent of settlements, while in another 10.25 percent it is not accessible to everyone; Police Station can be found in the vicinity of 25 percent of settlements, whereas the arranged playgrounds can be found in the vicinity of 19.8 percent of settlements.15

A whole 50 percent of Roma households have toilet outside the house, while one third do not have it at all. The problem of disposal of waste materials is particularly significant, since only 18.2 percent of households have appropriate waste disposal conditions.16

Types of Settlements

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Suburban settlement

Slum in the village

Slum in the city

Village

Others

1 7

2.4. Health

Small number of Roma is encompassed by systematic medical check-ups due to unemployment. Children who do not attend educational institutions do not get vaccinated. Over the past several years, financial participation for healthcare services has increased, so they have become inaccessible for the poor, while Roma also encounter a negative attitude

13 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia 14 Draft Strategy for Reduction of Poverty in Serbia, 262 15 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia 16 Health of the Roma, Final Report 17 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia I

28% of Roma settlements in Serbia were planned, 34.6% were illegally built, and 35.4% were illegally expanded.


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of some healthcare workers. Whole 29.8 percent of Roma settlements do not have in the vicinity any medical institution/facility whatsoever.18

The data on nutrition as significant health determinant clearly indicate the seriousness of the problem and are significantly different in comparison with the general population. A whole 24 percent of Roma children and youth do not ever consume milk and dairy products, 70 percent of children eat meat less than once a week, while 40 percent never eat fresh fruits and vegetables.19

The data from the FAO’s Food Security Project in FRY indicate substantial difference between the Roma and average population in Serbia. In the majority population, 7 percent of households are “food insecure with hunger”, whereas in Roma population this share is 68.1 percent. A whole 84.7 percent of Roma households are “food insecure” and 47.2 children are “food insecure with hunger”. 20

The level of basic hygienic habits is rather low. One third of the children never brush their teeth and almost never wash their hands. Roma demonstrate insufficient care for their own health and there is also a substantial impact of traditional way of life, particularly upon the health of girls and women. The percentage of smokers is 80 percent, twice as high as within the general population. The most common health problems are chronic diseases (growth of TB), asthma, skin diseases among children and significant number of deliveries at home.21

Health status of Roma is conditioned by unemployment, poverty and lack of both general and health education. Increasing employment and education level would contribute to improvement in health status. With integration to the educational system, children would be covered by regular medical examinations and vaccines. It’s important to work on development of hygienic habits and providing preconditions for maintaining them in the settlements. This would not only prevent diseases, but also contribute to fight the prejudice and discrimination towards Roma. Rejection of Roma by others (particularly by parents of other children in the educational institutions) sometimes relates directly to the fear of infectious diseases caused by living conditions and lack of hygiene.

2.5. Social Status, Discrimination and Assimilation

The Roma obtained a status of national minority in 2002, by the Law on Protection of Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities, of the FRY. Low economic power and educational status results in the fact that the Roma almost have no social power at all; except for a small number of individuals, they are entirely absent from political life and administrative structures. A large of Roma people in Serbia are not registered and have no personal documents, thus they are unable to fulfill their fundamental civil rights.

The majority population, as well as other population, has developed an attitude of stereotypes and prejudices towards the Roma, end demonstrates an expressed social distance. The Roma are exposed to more or less disguised discrimination that is reflected in impossibility of employment even when they do have required qualifications, difficulties in

18 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia 19 Health of the Roma, Final Report 20 Draft Strategy for Integration and Empowerment of the Roma 21 Health of the Roma, Final Report


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fulfillment of rights, verbal and physical attacks and maximum severe court sanctions even for minor offences. Roma are exposed to the process of being assimilated by the society; wishing to protect themselves, they also contribute to this process. Wishing to adjust to the community, the Roma accept religion, customs, language and values of the majority community. Assimilation is most obvious in big cities, particularly among the Roma who are already integrated into the society with the rest of the population.

It should be emphasized that different researches indicate different degree of prejudices, stereotypes and social distance towards the Roma. Due to political and armed conflicts in the territory of former Yugoslavia, negative attitude towards some people was or still is present within the majority population, so, the attitude towards the Roma is getting better. However, Roma are still among the first five peoples not perceived by Serbs and minorities as friendly.

2.6. Particularly Vulnerable Groups

IDP: According to the data presented in the 1991 Census, 45,745 Roma lived in Kosovo, and most of them left Kosovo after 1999. In Serbia, there are some 19,000 persons with a status of internally displaced persons. The exact number is not known but it is definitely greater than the official figures since a total of 46,238 Roma displaced from Kosovo live in 593 settlements.22 Most often they live in illegal settlements or unofficial collective centers without even elementary conditions for living. They have no information about their rights and services they may use, they do not speak Serbian language, have no documents and, consequently, no right to receive humanitarian aid.

Repatriated Roma: A large number of Roma left the country and sought asylum in Western European countries, particularly in Federal Republic of Germany where, according to estimations, some 25,000-30,000 Roma from Serbia and Montenegro enjoy the status of temporary protection. However, most of these people have been refused the asylum so they will be repatriated in near future.23 Exact number of the already repatriated Roma is not known. They face serious difficulties related to existential problems, no language knowledge, and lack of proper documentation and validation of diplomas. Resolution of problems of this Roma population should be sought in cooperation with the states from which they are repatriated. If some 30,000 Roma are expected to return, and the census data indicate that 30 percent of their population is younger than the age of 15, within this category only there will be some 3,000 children who will have to be included in pre-school and primary education.

Position of Roma women is distinguished for all characteristics of a typically subordinate position of women; they are often the victims of twofold discrimination, both as women and as Roma. They enjoy a limited degree of autonomy within the family, they enter the process of biological reproduction rather early, they are active during the entire period of fertility, they take care of a large number of children and, at the same time, they are also engaged in economic activities of the family.

Kids from the streets – Roma children without parental care, whose exact number is not known and whose living conditions are exceptionally hard. A total of 250 children and 22 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia 23 Draft Strategy for Integration and Empowerment of the Roma


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youth under the age of 24 have been registered in the city of Belgrade only. There is no defined approach to this population; what age is treated as children and youth without parental care, and which of them are treated as the homeless.

Problems of these populations, that are extraordinarily substantial, have been handled mainly by the NGOs and not by competent institutions, i.e. educational, social care, etc.

3. Education – Enrolling, Quitting and Completing the School 3.1. Rights, Problems and Discrimination in Education

Right to Education

The Constitution of Serbia - Education shall be accessible to everyone under equal conditions, Article 32.

The Law on Bases of Education System: Citizens of the Republic of Serbia shall be equal in fulfillment of the right to education, irrespective of sex, race, nationality, religion and language, physical and mental constitution, social and cultural origin, material status, political orientation or other personal quality, Article 4. The education system shall provide: accessibility of education; opportunities for education under equal conditions even in economically undeveloped regions, as well as in socially, i.e. culturally less supportive environments, Article 2.

Problems in Education

Problems of Roma education have accumulated over the years since there was neither systematic approach to their resolution, nor the willingness of competent bodies and institutions, which have justified the insufficient engagement by the lack of Roma motivation.

Poor families cannot bear the expenses incurred by children education. They hardly utilize possibilities for subsidized pre-school education provided by the law for the poor families. Both primary and secondary education is free of charge, however the textbooks and accessories are rather expensive. Children do not have proper clothing and footwear, whereas the aid provided is not sufficient. In the school year 2001/2002, 9.6 percent of Roma children completely or partially received textbooks and accessories, 4.7 percent received clothing and footwear, and about 5 percent received financial aid for excursions.24 There is no elaborate system of scholarships for pupils of secondary schools and students.

The network of schools and kindergartens is not conformed with Roma needs, which are a results of the way of life. Most of the settlements do not have a regulated status and there are no respective plans to build school buildings. It is necessary to jointly treat the status of settlements and planning of educational institutions network.Locations where most of the Roma live are far away from educational institutions and quite often not connected to public transportation.

24 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia


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Position of Preschool Institutions and Primary Schools and Roma Settlements25

Preschool Institutions - % of settlements Primary Schools - % of settlements Within the settlement 15.9% 21.5%Less than 1 km 21.7% 30.0%More than 1 km 20.0% 27.3%Not in vicinity 41.0% 20.0%Other 1.4% 1.2%

Comprehensive Analysis of Primary Education in FRY findings show that network of Primary Schools in Serbia provides generally good accessibilty. Approx. 70% of settlements have a primary school. 8,3% of the total school population in Central Serbia (mostly in the underdeveloped mountainous areas) and 3,3% in Vojvodina attends incomplete schools – 4-grades only outposts of larger schools. Schooling from 5th to 8th grade has to be continued in the larger schools, to which location students need to travel. Over 23,000 students aren’t provided/don’t have available transport, resulting in their walking 4-15 km to the schools. Data on whether there are Rroma students in this group and in what number is unavailable.

Comparison of data from the two researchs (presented above) indicates that while in total approx. 70% settlements Serbia have a primary school, such is the case with only 21.5% Rroma settlements. School is far away for 11.6% of primary school students in Serbia in total, but it’s far for almost 50% of Rroma students.

Educational institutions do not have sufficient funds even for regular programs and maintenance of schools, let alone the special programs.

The Roma often do not perceive the value of formal education, and the uneducated parents can hardly help their children in the learning process.

Large percentage of total Roma children has a double half-linguility, lacking a proper basis in any of the languages (Draft Strategy for Improvement of Education of Roma in Serbia). This means that they are not proficient in either language, either in Roma or Serbian (or Hungarian or another language spoken in their environment. Data on this issue are unavailable and our findings are based on information from the Roma community and NGOs. Also, a large percentage of children enroll in Primary Schools without knowledge of the language of schooling.

Discrimination in Education

The Law on Bases of Education System

Within the institutions, all activities are prohibited that endanger, disdain or discriminate groups or individuals on the basis of race, nationality, language, religious or sexual affiliation, physical or mental constitution, age, social and cultural background, material status and political orientation, as well as encouraging of such activities. Physical violence and insulting of personality of children and adults are prohibited. Discrimination includes

25 Roma Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities for Roma Integration in Serbia


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any employment or exclusion of differences aimed at prevention or fulfillment of rights, Article 46.

Rights of children and pupils are fulfilled in compliance with the verified international agreements, this and special laws, whereas the institution is obliged to ensure their fulfillment and particularly the right to: respect for personality, protection from discrimination and violence, same Law, Article 95. The student, parent or foster parent can file a written complaint to the School Principal in case of inappropriate employees’ treatment of the student, within 15 days from the day when the said case has happened. The School Principal shall decide about the complaint, in consultations with the student and parent, within the term of 15 days. The employees are obliged to report violations of the child’s right, Article 95.

The Law on Alterations and Amendments of the Law on Primary Education (Articles 1 and 29) and The Law on Alterations and Amendments of the Law on Secondary Education (Article 1 and 28) also prohibit the activities that jeopardize or disdain groups and individuals on any bases, physical punishment and insulting of child personality. The laws stipulate financial penalties and dismissal from the teaching process of all those who violate such prohibition, encourage such activity or do not prevent it.

In educational institutions, Roma children are often exposed to both concealed and public discrimination demonstrated by the teaching personnel, school management, children and parents from the majority population, reflected by sitting in the rear benches in classroom, negative attitude of educational personnel and parents, other children’s rejection to play with them and verbal and physical assaults. Even the more serious forms of violations of children’s rights have not been sanctioned.26 Although the anti-discriminatory legal regulations have been significantly improved over the past two years, that is a short period in practice and it is necessary to define the procedures more precisely. The anti-discriminatory system in education is discriminatory for the Roma since it is not adjusted to them, they must know the rights and administrative procedure and file written complaints. Supervisory service of the MoE and its local departments is not trained to monitor and sanction discriminatory activities in educational institutions, so, its development in this field is required.

3.2. Pres-school Education

System: Pre-school education was regulated by the Law on Social Care of Children, which was abolished in 2002. The programs of work were (and still are): All-day program for children of up to 7 years of age, they were not compulsory, parents had to pay part of the expense and poor families were subsidized. Beside regular groups, there were also groups for children with special needs, for hospitalized children, etc. Preparation for school – two forms: 5x5 and 2x3 fours per week. It was compulsory only in Vojvodina and free of charge. Beside the regular ones there were also groups for children with special needs, hospitalized children, etc. Primary schools had possibilities to realize preparation programs for children from minority groups. The law for this filed is still in preparation. Presently, this field is regulated only by the Law on Bases of Education System that prescribes compulsory, free of charge preparation one year before enrollment in school as of 2006, in

26 Draft Strategy for Improvement of Education of Roma in Serbia


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duration of 4 hours per day, which can be organized in kindergartens and primary schools. The system comprises 181 pre-school institutions with large number of premises.

Capacities of pre-school institutions are small. There are no precise data on how many children they can enroll. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Serbia cites that a total of 22% of the overall pre-school population attends state pre-school institutions. According to the Ministry and Education and Sport 2003/2004 school-year data, 162, 825 children or 32.9% of the total 1-7 year-olds attended state pre-school programs; 50.6% od the total 5-7 year-olds attended pre-school programs. UNICEF’s research The Many Faces of Poverty (conducted in 8 districts: 4 undeveloped, 3 with a large share of Roma population and one with a large number of IDPs), encompassing 677 families show that 11.8 percent of the children under 3 and 44.4 percent of 4-6- year olds attended pre-school institutions. These data show that the attendance of children is not uniform and is smaller in underdeveoped districts and districts with a large Roma and IDP population.

Roma children: There are no official data on the numbers of Roma children in pre-school institutions, and the Roma and Education research merely cites that only 7% of Roma children attend official pre-school programs, but does not specify the age of the children. Some of the reasons for the low attendance of Roma children are distant location of institutions, way of life, bad experiences, distrust in institutions and their non-adjustment to the needs of Roma children. Consequences of the lack of pre-school education are substantial, particularly since the families are unable to compensate it. The children often do not get adequate family upbringing, they are either not taken care of while the parents are at work or they are looked after by elder brothers and sisters, they do not have toys or any didactic material. Lack of adequate early stimulation makes them unprepared for school and determines their unequal position among the other children of same age.

Over the past years, there is an increase in number of children encompassed by various extrainstitutional programs realised by NGOs in Roma settlements and educational institutions. However, the exact number of those children is not known although, according to some estimations it is about 1,000 – 2,000 per year. Programs are usually intended as preparation for enrollment in school, they are not always of a required quality and, whenever they are conducted in Roma settlements, supervisory and monitoring services of the MoE have no insight in the programs.

It is estimated that number of Roma children of pre-school age is about 60.708, less than 10% percent is encompassed by pre-school formal (7%) and informal (1.6–3.3%) education, whereas the children of the age bellow 3 are not encompassed at all.

3.3. Primary (Compulsory) Education

System: Attendance of primary eight-year education is compulsory for all children from the age of 7 to the age of 15. The pupils who complete attendance of the 8th grade can extraordinarily take respective class exams by the age of 17. The system is comprised of 1,150 schools, many of which have various premises and detached classes.

Enrolling, Quitting and Completing the School: In the Comprehensive Analysis of Primary Education in FRY we find that there's no reliable information on primary education coverage, due to unclear data on students from refugee, IDP and Rroma families. On the basis of the household survey in 2000, it's been estimated that 97.4% of primary-school-


19

aged children in Serbia are enrolled in primary schools. According to the UNICEF research findings (The Many Faces of Poverty, conducted in districts which are undeveloped and with large number of Roma and IDP), 11.4 percent of children in the research sample do not go to school, whereas in Vojvodina this percentage is even higher – 17.5 percent. This indicates that in the underdeveloped, higher IDP and Roma presence areas larger percentage of children remains out of the educational system.

Data on schooling have not been maintained on the basis of nationality, so, the insight in real situation over the past years in not possible. Preparation of the information system in the MoE is in progress and it is necessary to solve the problem of collection of information. The MoE collected data on Roma pupils for the first time in the 2002/03 school year, based upon information provided by the teachers. Even though the data are not reliable enough, incomplete (data for 2 districts are missing) and have not been processed yet, they are nevertheless relevant in view of preparations to establish a Database. Information related to the school year 2003/2004 is still being collected.

Data of the MoE on students for the school year 2002/2003

Students Roma Students

Total Total In regular classes In special classes

430,547 17,323 15,218 2,105

100% (4.02%) (3.53%) No data

Data of the pilot stage of national tests of educational achievements of 3rd grade students in Serbia in the 2003/04 school-year

The national testing was conducted by the Evaluation Center and supported by the World Bank Republic of Serbia Education Improvement Project. The data are currently being processed and only certain data are now available.

The tested sample was representative for the population of 3rd grade pupils in Serbia’s primary schools. Identification of Roma pupils was based on information provided by the teachers. Number of Roma pupils – Around 2,500 Roma pupils attended 3rd grade in Serbia, i.e. 3% of the total number of all 3rd grade pupils. Breakdown by sex – Boys accounted for 56% of Roma pupils and 51% of non-Roma pupils. This difference does not bear significance in terms of statistics and the conclusion that fewer Roma girls than boys attend school cannot be drawn. Educational level of Roma pupils’ parents – Data show that round 20% of the parents of Roma pupils have not completed primary schools, that 60% completed primary education and that 20% completed secondary education. The educational status of parents of Roma children is significantly lower than that of parents of non-Roma pupils. Staying back a grade - 5% of Roma pupils and 0.2% of non-Roma pupils stayed back a grade by 3rd grade, which is a difference of statistical significance. An analysis of the sample of pupils who have stayed back a grade shows 70% of them are Roma and 30% non-Roma.


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The MoE data for the school year 2002/2003 indicate a significant decrease in number of Roma children from 1st to 8th grade, but it is rather difficult to estimate respective numbers of dropouts since the numbers of children who commenced each grade is also unknown. The MoE does not maintain any records of reasons for quitting school, so it is unknown whether the children quit school or just move to some other school or a city.

Number of Roma children in respective grades I II III IV V VI VII VII

3,206 2,348 1,882 1,747 1,732 1,355 1,018 944

Small number of Roma children commence education, particularly from the most endangered groups: Girls are sometimes prevented by their parents since they have to prepare for marriage and household obligations (30 percent of girls enroll in school and 70 percent of boys do the same27); Children of repatriated asylum seekers, due to adaptation, lack of language knowledge, lack of documents on completed education and problems with authentication of diplomas; Children of seasonal workers due to frequent relocation; Children too old for regular education and too young for education of adults; Children displaced from Kosovo, with unresolved status, language barrier, without documents; Children-beggars without parental care.

During the compulsory assessment of readiness for enrollment in 1st grade, a significant number of kids is categorized and designated to special schools. This happens to majority of those kids since the tests used are inadequate and standardized for majority population, psychologists/pedagogues and members of the commission for designation are not familiar with Roma problematic, children do not know the language and have no knowledge, as well as due to pseudo retardness and educational deprivation. Even though there is an obligation that children from deprived environments which are designated to special schools should be retested after one year, quite often it does not happen so they are deprived of a chance to transfer to regular schools. Sometimes even the children enrolled in regular schools are directed to special schools. Parents who do not want their children to attend these schools do not know and cannot fulfill their rights. Wrong enrollment of children has been decreased over the past 2-3 years, mainly by the engagement of NGOs. Programs preparing children for school help the children learn the language in which they will be schooled and master the necessary skills to pass the 1st grade admission tests, which enable them enrollment in regular schools.

Many Roma children irregularly attend classes since they cannot comprehend lectures due to lack of language knowledge as well as of preliminary knowledge. Overabundant curricula require active parental assistance, which cannot be provided by uneducated families, and the schools are not interested to organize it in an adequate manner, even though they are obliged to do so. Consequently, the children have poor performance and loose motivation and self-respect.

Many of these children quit school, some during the first three grades and many more in the problematic fifth grade, when they encounter subject teaching and when the teachers have

27 Roma from Nisava, 18


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fewer contacts with children. Quitting is also affected by poor performance, engagement in work activities and taking care of younger family members, early starting of family.

In the city of Nis, 75 percent of Roma children enroll in primary school but only some 25 percent complete it. As much as 78.8 percent of Roma in Nis did not complete primary school. More than 50 percent quit school between 4th and 5th grade. Most of the Roma girls of the age from 13 to 14 and more, do not attend school; although, there is a decrease in tendency of Roma girls to quit school between 5th and 8th grade, girls quit school slightly more often than boys (52% against 49%).28

Problem of Ghettoization A particular problem is expansion of the process of ghettoization of Roma from the settlements in nearby primary schools, although the exact number of those schools is not known. Due to growing number of Roma children, children of other nationalities as well as Roma children from the families with better material position leave such schools. Teaching personnel encounter numerous problems and teaching quality becomes worse, so those schools gain characteristics of a deprived environment in which everyone is dissatisfied, the employees, children and their families. Those schools did not get any assistance from the Ministry of Education and the local community; their problems have been structured over the years and can hardly be resolved. It is necessary to prepare a plan of measures for those schools. Bearing in mind the plans for greater participation of Roma children in schools, decrease in number of children within the general population and opportunities provided to parents to choose the school, there is a reasonable risk that the number of such schools can grow bigger, particularly in the vicinity of Roma settlements.

Valid regulations envisage the existence of school districts and a school is obliged to enroll every child residing within its district. A parent may choose which school his/her child will go to. If s/he wishes to enroll the child in a school in a district in which the family does not reside, the parent must submit an application for admission to the desired school, which decides on the application with a view to its capacities. Children most often attend the school closest to their homes. The few children who go to other schools, most often go there because their parents opt for a school with better equipment or instruction, et al. Pupils rarely change schools; those that change schools most often do so because they moved, or had a conflict with their peers or teachers, or stayed back a grade, etc.

As they have the legal right to choose a school, parents of non-Roma children enroll their children in schools with a lower percentage of Roma pupils and the schools with a larger percent of Roma pupils in time become schools with majority Roma pupils. There is no legislation dealing with the issue of segregated schools, either preventively or by dealing with spontaneous segregation.

One such school is Vuk Karadžic u Nišu. It is situated near a Roma settlement, and over 80% of the enrolled children are Roma. In the 2003/04 school-year, all sixty children who enrolled in 1st grade were Roma. In the 2004/2005 school-year, 11 of the 35 enrolled first-graders were of Serbian and the rest of Roma nationality. The number of non-Roma pupils was small in the past as well and did not reflect the national breakdown of the population in the vicinity of the school.



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The example of the Niš school shows that the problem of seggregation has developed over the years and had not been dealt with either at the local level nor by the MoE. The school’s facilities are in a bad state, the quality of instruction is lower and the teaching staff is demotivated as it has no assistance in resolving the problems it is facing; the logical consequence of all this is that children from non-Roma or well- to-do Roma families do not enroll in this school. The school’s problems are being addressed by the OSF project Equal Chances (see description on page ...), in which CIP – The Center for Interactive Pedagogy and the Nis-based Roma Integration Center have been involved since the 2002/03 school-year. In addition to a series of project activities implemented in the school, the MoE, local MoE department in Nis and the city municipal administration have been encouraged to take a more active part in resolving the school’s problems. Solutions that may become a model for deseggrating other schools are expected to be defined within the project.

If the estimated number of Roma children of primary school age is about 82,800 and according to the MoE data about 17,300 attend schools, more than 65,500 should be included into the education system.

3.4. Secondary Education

System: Secondary education is not compulsory but it is free of charge for the enrolled students. The system of secondary education comprises grammar schools (general and specialized), professional schools, mixed schools, art schools, secondary schools for education of adults and secondary schools for children with special needs, the Law on Bases of Education System. Out of the total number of 550 secondary schools, there are 327 professional schools attended by 75 percent of the secondary school students. General secondary schools last 4, while professional secondary schools last 2, 3 or 4 years.

Roma students: Roma rarely enroll in secondary schools, particularly the ones of general orientation (grammar schools) that enable further education as well as the more prestigious professional schools. They mainly attend two-year or three-year professional schools in which they can enroll more easily since there are no enrollment/qualification exams. These schools are supposed to enable the entry into the world of work, however, the teaching quality is unbalanced, the curricula are not adjusted to the economic needs, they are not open for the local community needs and they have become the source of unemployment. There are an extraordinarily small number of girls in secondary schools. Only one third of Roma girls who complete the primary school enroll in secondary school.29 Young Roma who get to secondary schools are better motivated for education and usually come from the families already integrated into the society, which have better economic and educational position.

The number of Roma secondary school pupils is increasing thanks to scholarships, preparation for enrollment, Roma NGOs and affirmative action measures. In the 2003/04 school year, 39 Roma pupils enrolled in secondary schools, while some 40 will be enrolled in the 2004/05 school year thanks to the affirmative action measures taken by the MoE.

3.5. Special Education



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Until the year 2001, 15 percent of children and youth (bellow the age of 18) with special needs attended special schools, whereas 162,000 were not encompassed by the education system. The special education system is parallel to the regular one. Te network is unevenly distributed and institutions are mainly located in bigger cities. Some of the special schools are organised as boarding schools and provide children with textbooks, clothing and footwear.

Pre-school institutions may form development groups for children with special needs (37 groups) or may include such children in regular groups (no data on how many children are encompassed). Only 1 percent of these children are encompassed.

Primary education is conducted in special schools attended by children with the same form of special needs (in the 2000/01 school-year, there were 47 such schools with 7,560 pupils), and special classes in regular schools attended by children with same or different form of special needs (in the 2000/01 school-year, there were 211 classes in 70 schools, attended by 1,374 pupils). In the 2000/01 school-year, 8,099 children with special needs were registered in regular classes (the research was conducted in only 97 schools, so the overall number of children is unknown).

The Law on Alterations and Amendments of the Law on Primary Education stipulates the manner of assignment of children at the beginning and during the primary education, composition of commissions for assessment of children with special needs, manner of decision-making in assignment of children and filing of parents complaints. The complaint is considered by competent municipal/city body based upon opinion of special medical commission. The parent is obliged to enroll the child in school designated by final decision, Article 18.

According to some estimations, Roma comprise 50-80 percent of the total number of children in special schools and special classes within the regular schools (in Belgrade 80-85%). Most of these children have been wrongly assigned.

The program implemented in special schools and classes is shorter and simpler than the one in regular schools, methods of work and low expectations from the children are inappropriate for their abilities. In such environments, Roma children cannot develop their natural capacities and become stigmatized by a label of children from special schools, although, they may feel safe if they comprise majority. Special classes in regular schools are ghettoized, children have no contacts with other children of the same age, and sometimes they work in entirely inappropriate premises.

Secondary education is conducted in: special secondary schools for children suffering from the same form of disability (in the 2000/01 school-year, there were 33 such schools with 1,269 pupils); special classes in regular secondary schools (in the 2000/01 school-year, there were such classes in 11 schools, with 50-90 pupils in each school); inclusion of children in regular classes. Children in special schools and classes are offered professional orientation with no career prospects and a low quality of education.

3.6. High Education

The system is comprised of: Higher education lasting 2 and 3 years and University education lasting 4-6 years (which also enables postgraduate and specialist studies).


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Studying is free of charge for regular students financed from the budget, textbooks are expensive and tuition fees are rather high for the paying students.

The number of Roma students is rather small in both of these forms. In the University of Nis there are only 45-50 Roma students among the total number of 10,000 students.30 There is no department for Roma Studies that could educate teachers for Roma Language and Culture. Romology Studies have been realized as a course for University of Niš students, while Teaching Council of Univeristy of Novi Sad approved School Of Romology as a course in the winter semester of the academic 2004/05. There are few Roma students who will be future teachers. During education, future teaching personnel do not acquire knowledge required for work with Roma children, youth and families.

The number of Roma students is increasing thanks to scholarships provided by foundations, and the activities of Roma and students NGOs that contributed to better information and preparation of the youth for enrollment in colleges/faculties. Information on students are not maintained according to their nationality, while databases are maintained within the University and faculties, so there are no unified data for the whole country.

3.7. Education of Adults

It encompasses professional education, acquiring of skills, professional development and informal education for persons over the age of 18 (although persons over the age of 15 may enroll), who are not enrolled in a secondary school or university/college. It is not legally regulated, practically there is no system, and it is marginalized in various aspects and is treated as a personal interest.

Formal education – leads to conference of nationally recognized diplomas and qualifications

Primary education of adults – There are 16 schools with about 200 classes, working by advanced program in order to enable the students to catch up with their peers and obtain the right to secondary education, where it is possible to regularly attend the 1st grade until the age of 17. Less than 0.5% of the population has not completed primary education. 31 Programs are inadequate (ad hoc reduced regular school curricula), the instruction and tuition methods are not adapted to the students’ profile, the teachers are inadequately trained and there are no textbooks. In some of these schools, Roma comprise over 90 percent of students, even though they are of a regular primary school age (too old for enrollment in regular schools, drop-out).32 An analysis of the situation in these schools is needed (number of Roma children/youths, performance and completion of such schools, prospects of transfer to regular schools, prospects of continuing education). The experience of the teaching staff in these schools should be incorporated in developing the program of work and other activities.

Secondary education of adults – Secondary schools were open also to adults until 1992, but have since stopped organizing classes, only the extraordinary exams. They are not equipped for work with adults either in terms of program or staffing, and the teaching content is not

30 Roma from Nisava, 18 31 Quality Education for All – Road to Developed Society 32 Roma and Education, 27-29


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suited to the needs of the users. A manner of acquiring professional secondary education has not been defined.

Professional education – professional training in the formal and informal systems. A lesser part of it is conducted in the formal (secondary vocational schools, junior colleges and universities), but it is mostly conducted in the informal education system. Training is provided for vocations which are not functional and for which there is no demand on the labor market. The system is undeveloped, rigid and the roles of institutions are not clearly defined.

Informal Education – education acquired outside the formal education system programs. Workers’, Peoples’ and Open universities have an unregulated status and may not organize formal education and issue valid diplomas, wherefore they have been excluded from the state budgeting system. Since the nineties, the number of these institutions has dropped by 2/3s and the existing ones are on the verge of survival.

Roma do not participate in education of adults, although they do have an extraordinary need for literacy courses, obtainment of professional qualifications, professional retraining, etc. Roma NGOs conduct various activities in the field of education of adults, and particularly women (literacy courses, improvement of parental skills, household management, etc.).

3.8. Education in Minority Languages

Members of nationa l minorities have the right to education in their mother tongue provided by the Constitution of Serbia, Article 32, and the Law on Protection of Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities, Article 7.

The Law on Bases of Education System provides this right in pre-school, primary and secondary education. Until better conditions are provided, a bilingual schooling will be provided or learning of minority language with elements of history and culture. Preparation of curriculum for these forms will engage the national council of the minority, Article 13. ...within the scope of higher and high education, departments and faculties shall be provided for education in the languages of national minorities or bilingual education of teachers for languages of national minorities, Article 14.

The Law on Primary School (Article 5) and the Law on Secondary School (Article 5), from the year 1992, regulate the right to education in mother tongue or bilingual education for at least 15 students, or, for a lesser number with an authorization of the Minister of Education. In the environments where such forms do not exist, curriculum includes the program in native language and culture. The Laws on Higher Schools and University also regulate this matter (1992, 1993).

Establishment of education system in Roma language in practice requires elimination of certain impediments (lack of teaching personnel, nonexistence of textbooks and standardized Roma language).33

This education is most developed in Vojvodina, where it is conducted in five languages (Hungarian, Romanian, Ruthenian, Croatian and Slovak) in primary and secondary education, and it is conducted in Albanian in some primary and secondary schools in the

33 Draft Strategy for Improvement of Education of Roma in Serbia


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Southern Serbia. Higher and high education in minority language exists in Vojvodina for teaching occupations, as well as the departments for minority languages.

In the environments where teaching is conducted in Serbian, the pupils have an optional subject Native Language with Elements of National Culture, twice a week in all eight grades. In Vojvodina, it is regularly organized for four minorities, while it is organized in Bulgarian in several schools only.

There are no schools/departments where teaching is conducted in Roma language or bilingually; some attempts were made within some projects. The subject Roma Language and Culture is tough in several schools in Vojvodina, Lazarevac and Obrenovac.

There are no prerequisites for education in the Roma language at an level of schooling. Clear consensus on the Roma language in which instruction would be held, professional staff who could teach in the Roma language, textbooks, are all missing. Bilingual education is possible and needed at the pre-school and lower form primary level of education. This could be ensured by the introduction of Roma Teaching Assistants in pre-schools and primary schools. elective instruction in Roma Language and Culture ought to be organized where there is interest for such a subject in the Roma community and a sufficient number of pupils. Hitherto experience has shown the Roma parents and pupils are not very interested in the subject, but the factors that have effected their lack of interest need to be analysed in detail. It remains to be seen whether the Roma community does not have interest in this form of cultivating its identity at all or because of the subject content, the staff’s qualifications, the manner of instruction.

4. Education Quality and Student Performance

4.1. Student Performance Data on schooling have not been maintained on the basis of nationality, so, the insight in real situation over the past years in not possible.

The MoE data on student performance of Roma students in the school year 2002/2003 Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Total

1,035 2,087 4,735 2,915 3,298 14,070 7.4%* 14.8% 33.7% 20.7% 23.4% 100%

*Percentage of the total number of Roma pupils for whom performance data were available (14,070).

Since no data on student performance is available for all children, it is not possible to compare the performance of Roma children with other children. It is also not quite clear whether the children in category Unsatisfactory have completed the grade or not. Pupils with on or two unsatisfactory grades at the end of the school year have to take extra exams and if they do not pass them, they have to attend the same grade once again. The pupils with three unsatisfactory grades attend the same grade once again.

Data of the pilot stage of the national testing of school performance of 3rd grade pupils in Serbia in the 2003/04.g. school-year, Evaluation Center Grades in the Serbian Language, Mathematics and overall performance at the end of 3rd grade – Analysis of the grades and overall performance at the end of 3rd grade shows that Roma


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pupils have considerably lower grades in the Serbian Language and Mathematics and a lower overall performance (see below table).

Data on school grades of Roma and non-Roma pupils in Serbian and Mathematics and data on overall performance at the end of 3rd grade of primary school

Serbian Language Mathematics Overall Performance Grade Non-Roma Roma Non-Roma Roma Non-Roma Roma

1 0.9% 9.0% 3.0% 18.4% 1.5% 7.1% 2 9.0% 36.1% 13.4% 48.9% 1.4% 12.1% 3 19.5% 32.6% 21.7% 14.9% 12.2% 42.9% 4 29.5% 11.1% 29.0% 9.9% 29.2% 24.3% 5 41.1% 11.1% 32.9% 7.8% 55.8% 13.6%

Average grade 4.01 2.79 3.75 2.40 4.36 3.25

Performance at national test – If the tested pupils were divided into five equal categories, (1 – 20% very low performance, 2 – 20% low performance, 3 – 20% average performance, 4 – 20% high performance, i 5 – 20% outstanding performance), data show that most Roma pupils faill within the 1st category. If these categories were treated as a national grade in Serbian and Math, this would imply that most Roma pupils do not have even a minimal level of key knowledge pupils are to master in the first three years of schooling! (see below table). Moreover, the division would show that as many as 80% of the Roma pupils have below-average performance!

Education Performance of Roma Pupils at National Testing Category Serbian Language Mathematics

1 (20% extremely lower performance) 60.0% 59.4% 2 (20% low performance) 19.3% 21.0% 3 (20% average performance) 13.1% 11.9% 4 (20% high performance) 3.4% 5.6% 5 (20% outstanding performance) 4.1% 2.1%

4.2. Education Quality

Lowest education quality is provided to Roma children who are wrongly enrolled in special schools, since the program and manner of work are not adjusted to their abilities. Teachers educated ath te Faculty of Defectology, work in special schools and classes. Their college education trains them to work with children with special needs and they receive additional training afterwards. The quality of their training and work is similar to the general average quality of other teachers. Roma children in special schools usually have normal capabilities and the special needs teachers’ training is not adequate for work with them.

In regular institutions they often do not receive the education quality equal to the one received by other children, since they do not attend classes regularly, and the legally provided compulsory additional classes for children requiring learning assistance is either insufficient or irregular, so, quite often the curricula are not entirely accomplished with


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these children. Children are transferred from one grade to the other even though they lack necessary knowledge. This is particularly present in schools/classes with large number of Roma children. Teaching personnel suffering the pressure of majorit y community, enjoying lower social status, lacking community support and assistance, thus loosing motivation for work. Grading criteria are lowered in order to make the children motivated and keep them in school, to protect professional reputation of the school and ensure sufficient number of pupils. Lowered standards enable the children to get primary education diplomas but decrease their abilities for further education since they lack the knowledge required for enrollment in secondary schools, so the only schools remaining are the ones without enrolling/qualifying exams.

4.3. Education System

It is rather difficult to describe the education system, since the attained status is interlaced with the reform changes and changes of the reform.

Characteristics of the old education system (before reform), such as: extreme centrality, uniformity and lack of diversification, excessive regulation, focusing upon education goals and curricula instead of students, reducing of education system to the schooling system, orientation towards quantity instead of quality end efficiency34 had all affected a low Roma participation in education. The system did not have an inclusive approach to education; the institutions were not adjusted in terms of organization and program to the needs of children and families of the sensitive groups (poor, disabled, chronically ill, from deprived environments). The education system is not sensitive to the minority culture; programs, textbooks and the teaching process itself have very few contents that are the elements from minority culture and even if there are some, instead of promoting inter-cultural values and preparing children for coexistence, they are presented in a manner that generates new stereotypes and prejudices. Curricula have no contents related to the Roma language, culture and tradition; environments of educational institutions attended by Roma children have no signs in Roma language or other elements indicating that those children also use them.35

Education Reform 2001-2003

The reform commenced in 2001 includes decentralization, democratization, education quality improvement, coordination with economic sector, improvement of infrastructure and furnishing in institutions. The goal was development of open, righteous, measurable, efficient and regulated school system which contributes to: the economic revival of the state, the democratic development of the state, and its future European integration.

All stakeholders in the education process were involved in the reform processes. Experts in different fields took part in the work of committees focusing on the problems of decentralization, democratization, education and professional training and development of the teachers, quality education assurance, pre-school education, secondary vocational education, adult and lifelong learning, education of children with special needs, the development of a strategy for improving the education of Roma in Serbia, school curriculum design. The NGO sector was also involved, as it was recognized as an important

34 Comprehensive Analysis of Primary Education in FRY 35 Draft Strategy for Development of Roma Education in Serbia


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partner in the following fields: democracy and human rights education, training teachers on modern methods of work with pupils and training on tolerance, peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. Regional and international cooperation was developed at various levels.

The Key Changes Accomplished in This Period Until 2004: In 2003, the Law on the Bases of the Educational System was adopted; so-called umbrella law on pre-school, primary and secondary education, which defines the matters of legal framework and national interest in this field, and which institutionally supports all reform processes that have been launched. At the national level, management of the system was altered and professional councils and institutions - centers were set up. At the school level, training on management, administration and teamwork was launched. The parents were awarded an equal number of seats on the school boards and the role of the Parental Council was upgraded. Pupils were given greater opportunity to join in the life of the school through Pupil Parliaments. An information system in education that is being developed. A system of professional development program accreditation was drafted and teacher licensing system was designed; the teacher competency criteria and standards were being formulated. Three three-year cycles of compulsory primary education were established; obligatory, elective and facultative subjects making up the curriculum were introduced; the focus of teaching shifted from content to goals and outcomes; when designing their annual syllabus, the schools are guided by national goals and outcomes, but have a degree of autonomy in each education cycle. Implementation of the new 1st grade curriculum began in the 2003/04 school year. A new concept of supervision in the school system was developed, envisaging professional pedagogical supervision and school inspection for Quality Assurance. Civil Education has been implemented as optional and facultative subject in primary and secondary schools (5,421 teachers passed the training). This subject encourages development of children in the spirit of observance of human rights, peace, tolerance, sex equality, mutual understanding and respect among the peoples, national and religious groups.

Improvement of education of minorities36 is envisaged in the second phase (as of 2003), with the aim of ensuring