Romania
Respecting Roma children's rights - a means of avoiding social exclusion
The Roma children’s situation is critical, most of them coming from very poor families. Many of them drop out of school because of the lack f material resources, and the ones who continue to go to school are often discriminated by their colleagues: they have to sit in the benches in the back of the classroom, they are treated with indifference or, even worst sometimes, they are verbally aggressed by children or teachers. This is not a generalized situation, but there are enough cases to make this project necessary. To educate the adults (teachers) in a spirit of tolerance and non-discrimination is a priority if we want to change the mentalities.
The main objectives of this project, which was developed in 2005-2006, are: carrying out a research in 5 communities on the situation of Roma children, publishing various materials on multi-cultural education and lobbying for establishing the child Ombudsman. The beneficiaries of the project are 250 Roma and Romanian children from Balta-Arsa (Botosani County), Coltau (Maramures County), Calvini (Buzau County), Glina (Ilfov County) and Mangalia (Constanta County). Within the program, special emphasis is put on the training of the teachers who work with Roma children, so that they be informed on the Roma traditions, history and culture. The teachers who participated in the training courses initiated activities of multicultural education in their schools, thus giving Roma and Romanian children the chance to learn more about their traditions, the basis for understanding and accepting diversity.
As a matter of fact, training the teachers working with Roma children is the objective of a national program, carried out every year in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Research. More than 1000 teachers have been involved in the program since its beginning.
During the summer holidays, camps for education on democracy and creativity are organized, in which Roma and Romanian children, teachers and Save the Children volunteers participate. As a result of these meetings, we underline the perfect behavior and mutual understanding of the children with different ethnical backgrounds, which proves that if multicultural education starts at an early age, prejudice and stereotypes may disappear easily.
Pre-school education for Roma children
The objective of the program is to support Roma children’s school education, to develop the necessary abilities for them to be able to face school requests and thus to give them the possibility to begin school under equal conditions as the other children.
Respecting and implementing Roma children’s right to education is the main condition for the future improvement of their condition. However, there are many obstacles they have to confront with: poverty, the unfriendly attitude in schools, and the lack of adequate school education. The last one is one of the reasons of school failure among Roma children.
Save the Children previous experience proved that, after having ensured a proper school education, the Roma children who have learnt to write, draw, study, sing, work together, had obtained very good school results and integrated easily in school. A good start is a guarantee for keeping the Roma children in school. Pre-school education is carried out in kindergartens, but it is difficult for the Roma children to go to the kindergarten regularly because of the financial difficulties of their families.
Proiectul a debutat in anul 2000 si, pe parcursul acestei perioade, au beneficiat de pregatirea prescolara peste 400 copii si familiile lor din localitatile Romanesti, Merisu si Sotanga, judetul Dambovita, Tecuci (jud. Galati), Sanger de Padure (jud. Mures). Proiectul a debutat cu pregatirea educatoarelor de la cele gradinitele din Plenita (jud. Dolj), Valea Badenilor (jud. Arges), Glina (jud. Ilfov), Nusfalau (jud. Salaj) si Mangalia, care aveau nevoie de mai multe informatii privind specificul etniei rrome si detalii despre scopul si derularea proiectului.
The project began in 2000 and, during this period, more than 400 children and their families were involved in pre-school training. The project was carried out in: Romanesti, Merisu and Sotanga (Dambovita County), Tecuci (Galati County), Sanger de Padure (Mures County). The kindergartens were repaired and painted, and furniture, a TV set, tape recorders, didactical games, toys and school supplies for children were purchased. The Roma children from the preparatory groups were provided with training and a daily meal.
During the summer holiday, the children from the kindergartens, together with their future teachers and some of their future colleagues spent a week in the various camps, the aim being to meet and be acquainted with the people they are going to meet in school. Together, they participated in cultural, artistic (drawing on the ground, painting, dancing, music) and sport activities. The educators meet periodically with the parents, pay visits at the children’s homes, meet the local authorities in order to look for solutions for improving the children’s situation, including school attendance.
The Roma children who have benefited from supplementary support and were registered in the Ist grade in school have good results, are disciplined and their attendance is good. They have the feeling that they are equal with the other colleagues, as they have similar knowledge and abilities.
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