Professional paper
The Position of the Roma Children in the Educational System of Serbia
Stanko Cvjetićanin
; Pedagoški fakultet u Somboru Univerzitet u Novom Sadu Petrovaradin, Srbija
Vesna Živanović
orcid.org/0000-0002-7805-7184
; Visoka škola strukovnih studija za obrazovanje vaspitača i trenera Subotica, Srbija
Abstract
The position of the Roma in any society is determined by various factors, among which education plays a significant role. The educational system of each country should be sensitive and adaptable to specific culture and needs of the Roma. The paper examines the position of the Roma children in the educational system of Serbia, the barriers they face, as well as the directions for their removal. Most Roma children are faced with serious problems in
the pre-school education, because they do not know the language of the majority, they are not socialized and are not included in the preparatory programmes for school, and are often mistakenly directed to special schools. Poverty, discrimination, lack of preparedness for school, not knowing the language, lack of motivation of parents to educate children, particularly girls, the inflexibility of the education system to the needs of Roma children and incompetence of teaching staff are just some of the factors that cause that the majority of Roma children do not even complete primary education in the Republic of Serbia. The authors of this paper indicate the need for adequate social intervention in the form of eliminating systemic weaknesses in terms of functioning in the macro system. On the educational level and the level of enhancing the position of Roma children in educational system that would mean networking of all the social subjects in the implementation of modern educational interventions based on the use of affirmative measures as a widely
accepted concept of inclusive education in South Eastern Europe.
Keywords
educational system of Serbia; the position of Roma children
Hrčak ID:
82860
URI
Publication date:
15.1.2012.
Visits: 2.473 *