Education among Roma improving, but still much to do

"The myth that the Roma are ill-educated is false," Jože Horvat Muc, the head of the Roma Association, told the STA, adding that in the eastern region of Prekmurje, there are "quite a few Roma who have an education". But the reality is much different in the southeast of the country, where many Roma do not finish primary schools, he added.

While Slovenia does not keep data about the number of Roma included in the education system and their performance, the Ministry of Education only keeps estimates about the number of Roma children in primary schools, however these are not publicly accessible due to data protection.

While the entire Roma population in Slovenia is estimated to number between 7,000 and 12,000, a study by the Institute for Ethnic Studies found that some 2,000 Roma children were enrolled in primary school in 2021/22, accounting for an average of 3.9% of the students at their schools.

While the share of non-Roma children who have to repeat a class was between 0.6% and 1.2%, the share ranged from 19.8% to 33.5% among the Roma children.

However, there are significant differences between the Prekmurje Roma in the east and the Dolenjska Roma in the southeast: while the share of those having to resit a class in the east are between 9.9% and 16.3%, the figures range from 24.3% to 42.8% in the southeast.

The Institute for Ethnic Studies used the data from 27 primary schools that employed a Roma assistant-teacher in the school years of 2016/17 and 2020/21. The distinction between the Roma and non-Roma children is based on ethnicity estimates by the schools.

In an earlier, 2018 study looking into documents and literature about the inclusion of the Roma in education, the Institute for Ethnic Studies fund that the situation had been improving in the years preceding the study, albeit slowly.

A study from the 1980s shows that only 28 out of 75 students who had exited primary school that year had actually finished it. Only around 20 of them intended to continue their education in a secondary school programme.

The study moreover quoted the most recent census data: in 2002, the education profile of the Roma population was the total opposite of that of the majority population.

Over 65% of the Roma aged 15 or more did not have a primary education, 23.5% had a primary education, while 11.4% had secondary, higher or high education, the 2002 census showed.

Meanwhile, a 2020 analysis by the Institute of Ethnic Studies showed that some 170 Roma students attended secondary schools in 2018/19, while 14 Roma students were at university at that time. An additional 14 Roma attended secondary education programmes for adults.

Nearly a half of the Roma secondary school students were from Prekmurje, while the rest attended secondary schools in Novo Mesto and Maribor, the urban centres near the communities.

Of the 14 Roma students at university, the majority were Prekmurje Roma and more than three quarters were women.

The institute based the analysis on a variety of sources, but most importantly on estimates provided by secondary schools in areas with Roma population.

The institute notes that the actual number of Roma students in secondary schools was larger, as not all schools provided feedback. Moreover, schools do not keep records based in their students' ethnicity, the institute added.

The institute said in its 2020 study that school attendance and performance depended largely on the individual family's attitude to education.

"To me, getting an education was a way out of poverty," Sandi Horvat, the head of the Roma Academic Club, told the STA. Horvat holds an MA in intercultural management and is a radio broadcaster working for Radio Slovenija.

Established in 2008, the club is the only NGO in Slovenia that brings together highly educated Roma and is dedicated to outreach programmes promoting education. It has over 30 members, four MAs and several students, all from Prekmurje.

Horvat said that there are quite a few Roma with university education, but many do not want to identify as Roma or they had moved away from the community or out of the country. He believes that the number of the Roma with high education is higher than estimates suggest.

To improve the level of education among the Roma, specific solutions will have to be employed, the Institute for Ethnic Studies said in the 2020 analysis. Due to great differences within the community, a universal approach cannot be used.

Moreover, a coordinated, continuous and comprehensive approach in a number of fields will be needed to achieve sustainable progress, the institute added.

At the moment, the Education Ministry of is cofunding Roma teacher assistants, as well as other measures. But their success is also largely dependent on other measures: from adequate housing, to employment and health, among others.