The Educational Integration Process of the Roma in Serbia

Abstract

One of the key goals of the existing strategic initiatives for incorporating the issue of education of Roma children into the mainstream of the general social reforms is to implement the universal right of all children to high quality education and to enable an egalitarian approach to education for children in especially difficult circumstances. The various studies and projects aimed at the implementation of the models of good practice into the education of Roma children warn us that these children are often excluded from the mainstream of education or are subject to only low quality education, which increases the risk of educational exclusion. The purpose of this working paper is to point out the systemic shortfalls in the field of the macro system’s functioning at the educational level as well as the more comprehensive possibilities for achieving a more complete educational integration of Roma children in Serbia. The pedagogical implications are based on the secondary analysis of the data about the existing strategic initiatives and the results of the research conducted in Serbia. The conclusion of the working paper implies the fact that there are two requirements that need to be fulfilled by applying timely educational interventions either of compensatory or inclusive type, as one of the means of a more complete educational integration of Roma children and parents into society through education: vertical transference of experience and horizontal networking of social partners.