Report: Difficulties that students of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities face in education


Report: Difficulties that students of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities face in education

On November 19, the thematic report in the framewrk of the KOSINT 2020 project was presented “Difficulties that students of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities face in education”.

The purpose of this study is to provide, information and analysis, mainly qualitative on problems and challenges encountered by Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian students in schools. The data on this report have been mainly collected from documents published by MEST, NGOs that engage and monitor the development of preschool education in Kosovo, schools and focus groups in the field.

The children from Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities continue to be the least included group in primary education, and very few included in secondary and tertiary education. They also constitute the majority of children who have either dropped out of school or are at risk of dropping out.

The children from Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities continue to face challenges in accessing qualitative education and are disproportionately affected by high non-enrolment, drop-outs, high illiteracy rate, and low educational achievement.

Further, the research has highlighted numerous factors and barriers that Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian students face in particular:

Economic Factors:

  • Inability to secure textbooks and other materials needed for school
  • Lack of clothes
  • Inadequate personal hygiene
  • Involvement of children at housework, in the street or other hard works

Health issues that are related to education:

  • Inability to receive immediate health treatment and prolongation of recovery
  • More contagious diseases due to lack of personal hygiene

Social Issues:

  • Extreme poverty
  • Lack of support by the parents
  • Underestimation of girls’ education
  • The phenomenon of early marriages
  • Lack of self-esteem and safety at school

Learning problems:

  • Lack of basics and lagging behind in learning versus their peers
  • Undiagnosed problems with eyesight, hearing and other disabilities
  • Learning problems for certain subjects
  • Absences in class

Discrimination:

  • By the teachers: Division in classrooms, disparagement, lack of care and attention
  • By their peers: harassment, exclusion, and other forms of bullyism
  • By their peers: harassment, exclusion, and other forms of bullyism

Language:

  • Education in a language other from the mother tongue (Roma community mainly)

Approach:

  • Distance and other difficulties to school acces

The full repot can be found on the link below:

http://kosint2020.net/site/assets/files/1466/thematic_report_on_the_difficulties_that_students_of_roma-_ashkali_and_egyptian_communities_encounter_in_education.pdf