History of Roma People

1. History of Roma People A quick overview!

2. Migration and the Romani language • Linguistic study  revealing the history of Roma people in Europe • Northern India (and these languages derived from Sanskrit)  Balkan region of Europe • Muslim invasions in Northern India  migration • Estimated time of migration: 9th century -13th century

3. Roma populations • around12 million Roma are living around the world, 8 million of which are living in across Europe, in almost every country • Majority of Roma people in Europe are located in the Central and Eastern countries

4. Migration of Roma to Romania • The exact time and path of the migration is uncertain… • One theory: Roma arrived with the Ottoman Turks, or perhaps earlier with the Tatars --- earliest historical record of Roma in Romania is 1385 • Today Roma people are the second largest minority in Romania (although accuracy of the population estimate is debatable)

5. Dialects of Romani in Romania • As all dialects of Romani across Europe are derived from the Indian languages of their ancestors, they have evolved with respect to influences of various European languages the Roma have been exposed to • Black sea region: Balkan (Usari) • Transylvania region: Carpathian • In various regions: Vlax (also spoken in many other countries across Eastern and Western Europe) • Due to pressures to assimilate into Romanian society linguistically, many Roma no longer speak dialects of Romani today

6. Where are the Roma in Romania? Highest concentrations: in the south, eastern Moldavia, Dobruja (below Moldova) and south-eastern Transylvania.

7. Different groups of Roma people • Rural/Nomadic Groups: some are called “tiganii de carute” which means “Gypsies of the carts” in Romanian -- this group retains the oldest Roma traditions in Romania • City-dwellers: urban gypsies speak Romanian almost exclusively, although must still understand and speak some of the Romani dialects – although their traditions are still distinct from non-Roma in the cities

8. History of persecution • Persecuted, ostracized and discriminated against • legally regarded as slaves for five centuries until the great “slobozie” • “Nomadism” was prohibited post-WWII during the communist regime • Political change: collapse of the communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe brought new hope to the Roma • The new Romanian Constitution finally acknowledged the Roma to be national minority  independent political force in the Bucharest Parliament, as other national minorities had been • Efforts of standardization of Romani • Many Roma left Romania

9. Education Policy in Modern Day Romania: the Roma case Delana Lensgraf

10. The Roma Romas are among Romania’s poorest people, accounting for over a million inhabitants Roma children face serious difficulties enrolling in school 1998 UNICEF funded research study: only 61% of Roma children aged 7 to 16 were attending school, compared to 98% of Romanian children. The rate is even lower for pre-school children, where a mere 20% of Roma children under the age of 7 go to kindergarten

11. Non-enrollment, non-attendance and school drop-out among Roma children: what are the causes? Causes are social, economic, cultural Precarious health condition Delays in psycho-intellectual development Low learning motivation of Roma children: two thirds of Roma children who have dropped out show a lack of interest in school Gender-based differences (according to which girls get married early, and their social role is to raise children and take care of the family) Poor self image: 20% have attitudes of rejection or repugnance, while only 10% have a positive attitude Source:

12. Lack of Educational Resources Available to Roma Children • School buildings are older overcrowded in comparison with majority Romanian schools • Often lack a library • Fewer qualified teachers • Significantly higher teacher transfer rates especially in those with grades 1-4 • 67% of ‘Roma” schools had a deficit of qualified teachers, and among schools with 50% or more Roma students, the deficit was over 80%. • Teachers are the worst paid professionals • Change careers or • Become unmotivated by their work • This in turn effects students, cycle!

13. The Decade of Roma Inclusion: 2005-2015“an unprecedented international effort” Who? Initiative developed by the World Bank and the George Soros Foundation, supported by the OSI and the World Bank, and endorsed by nine Central and Eastern European countries What? 65 projects have been launched in 13 Eastern European countries, for improving the integration of Roma children in the region’s education system. The conference will call for an increased commitment of all stakeholders and in particular government to sustain some of the small progress of the past years and urgently scale up the efforts so that the objective of the decade of Roma inclusion could be met. Objectives? to combat discrimination , close the gap in welfare and living conditions , break the cycle of poverty and exclusion, to accelerate progress in economic status of Roma How? The Decade focuses on four main areas: education, housing, employment and healthcare.

14. Roma Education Fund ConferenceApril 2-3, 200?, Budapest, Hungary • Eastern Europe’s largest conference on the education of Roma children • Organized by the Roma Education Fund (REF), in collaboration with the Hungarian government, 250 participants from all over the world! will • Goal: to discuss the achievements and the lessons learned since the launch of the Decade of Roma Inclusion in 2005 • Some of the conference participants include such high-ranking officials as, Marko Bela, Deputy Prime Minister of Romania; Dusan Caplovic, Deputy Prime Minister for the Slovak Republic; Viktoria Mohacsi, Hungarian Member of the European Parliament among others. • BIG names! closing speech of the conference: “Education Reforms and Roma Inclusion in Eastern and Central Europe” presented by Mr. Jan Figel, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism. Hungarian Prime Minister, Vice President of the World Bank for Europe • Goal of the conference: to assess the progress made in increasing enrolment and attendance of Roma children throughout the region in the past ten years • Comprehensive analysis in four countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia • basic educational indicators • main constraints and barriers preventing Roma from full access to quality education

15. International Collaboration for Educational Reform The EUMAP reports on “Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma” Aims to… Support the goals of the Decade in the key area of education Establish a framework for regular monitoring throughout the decade Provide an assessment of the state of implementation of Government education policies for Roma Promote consultation with Roma communities on education issues, and to Provide data on key education indicators Present case studies on selected communities

16. The Future of Roma Education: Stress the importance of early education School curriculum needs to be modernized to reflect the reality of today’s world Child-centered teaching methodologies Development of critical thinking and problem-solving Roma traditions and history Rights of every individual!

17. Last thoughts These problems cannot be fixed by simply granting Roma children space within the educational system; they must feel like they can succeed and they must feel that their language and their culture are equally recognized and appreciated Lack of education severely impedes access to jobs and to the labor market. Hence, the Roma are forced to take low-paying, unskilled jobs which only reinforces the existing stereotypes Must overcome institutional and political absence

18. Bibliography • Achim, Viorel. Roma in Romanian History. New York, NY, USA: Central European University Press, 2004. p 122. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uncch/Doc?id=10133539&ppg=128 • Dragomir, Marius. Europe’s Beggars, Romania’s Roma. Central Europe Review. Vol 2, No 41. 27 November 2000. http://www.ce-review.org/00/41/dragomir41.html • Garfias, Robert. Dance among the Urban Gypsies. Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 16. (1984), pp. 84-96. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0740-1558%281984%2916%3C84%3ADATUGO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W • Szilassy, Eszter. The Roma population in Romania. CST Transylvania. http://www.east-west-wg.org/cst/cst-trans/e_eszter.html

19. Bibliography “Romania.” UNICEF Romania. 6 November 2007. http://www.unicef.org/romania/education.html. “Roma Education Conference will highlight Best Practice and Future Plans.” Romea.cz. 26 March 2007. Romano Vodi. http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id.=detail&detail=2007_184