Educational Challenges of Roma People in Europe and Dalits in India:
A Comparative Analysis (PART I)
By V Santhakumar and Edina Kovács
Introduction
Roma people (the so-called gypsies) face numerous challenges in terms of education and social mobility. These are documented in academic studies and policy documents.1 These people are more likely to drop out of school (after compulsory education)2 and less likely to have formal-sector employment. Historically, these communities faced suppression and discrimination in Europe. However, there have been efforts to change the approach of dominant sections towards these minority communities.3 Despite these efforts on the part of governments and non-governmental actors, there has not been a substantial improvement in the status of the Roma people.4
This essay makes a comparison of the educational challenges of Roma people with those of the Dalits, mainly lower castes in India. The educational challenges of the latter have also been well-documented. Though historical deprivation is a major cause of the educational underdevelopment of lower castes in India, their progress in terms of education is rather slow despite the legal abolition of caste-based discrimination and the adoption of favourable policies. Nearly 50 percent of teenagers do not complete school education in India, and this percentage is much higher among Dalits compared to the upper-caste groups. There are interesting similarities between the situation of Dalits and that of the Roma people of Europe. Hence, a comparative analysis between these two sets of communities may be useful, especially since linguistic and genetic studies note that the historical origin of the Roma people is from India.
This essay is based on different experiences. Of the two authors, Edina Kovács has written articles on educational efforts to address the challenges of Roma people5 and Santhakumar has co-authored a book that looks into the educational underachievements of specific social groups in India, including its lower castes and tribal people.6 In addition, Santhakumar has interviewed researchers and other stakeholders (in certain cases, jointly with Edina Kovacs) on the education of Roma people in Hungary, Portugal and Central Europe.7 The focus of this essay is not to highlight what is already known about the educational challenges of Roma people in Europe and Dalits in India but to bring out certain insights by comparing these two social groups which have been historically marginalised in the social contexts where they live.
Roma people continue to face challenges in formal education
That the Roma people are underrepresented in formal education is evident from a number of reports prepared by the European Union, UN agencies and other governmental and non-governmental organisations. This starts with Early Childhood Education (ECE) and is noted that Roma children are half as likely or less to attend preschool.8 This has implications given the current understanding of the important role of ECE in the cognitive development of children. Though the enrolment in primary education has gone up, the enrolment and completion of secondary education of Roma children is a major issue.9 More than two-thirds of Roma children can be considered early leavers of education and training.
Such a picture is also evident from our interviews and qualitative narratives. Rita, from the Roma community, is from a village in Hungary and is doing her PhD degree and doctoral research at a Hungarian university. She is staying in a so-called Advanced Romani College (which provides residence with some mentoring) that is managed by the Church.10 She has significant exposure to the issues of education as a fellow of the `Teach Hungary’ programme. According to her, almost all children complete primary schooling since it is mandatory. However, a majority of the Roma children drop out in secondary or high school, or more often, after finishing primary school. They may take up some work, for example cleaning parks (these jobs are offered by local governments). Youngsters in Rita’s village may take up employment in a nearby noodles factory. Only 1 out of 10 may go for higher education.
Historical exclusion and discrimination could be a factor for the current under-achievements in education
Historically, there were periods of suppression and exclusion of the Roma people. Even when their children were admitted to schools, they were not fully accepted. Their historical underachievements in education continue to impact the performance of children from these communities, even though government policies have become more enabling for their education11 and schools have become more inclusive12 over time. This is not to argue that government policies and schools are very accommodating for the education of the Roma children. Those who are involved in the monitoring of the performance of member countries of the EU in this regard note that much more needs to be accomplished.13 However, our point is that there could be the persistence of underachievement in education even if there is some notable improvement in the provisioning of schools to historically marginalised groups.
Most parents from the Roma communities may be less educated (who may not have completed even school education), which may affect the education of their children in multiple ways. Their parents may not be able to provide any academic support at home to their school-going children unlike those whose parents are educated. Moreover, less educated parents may also not have higher aspirations with regard to the education of their children. They may encourage their grown-up children to take up work whenever the latter are capable to do so; they may not be willing to forgo the current income from work for education (even if such education has the potential to give higher incomes in future). Less educated parents (who are also less likely to have stable jobs) are less likely to interact with schools regarding the education of their children. They may not participate in forums in schools where parents can exercise their voice regarding education.14 All these can lead to the marginalisation of their children in schools.
The complex interaction between poverty and discrimination based on social identity
It is possible that the challenges which are faced by Roma children in acquiring quality education are mainly due to poverty and other kinds of economic vulnerability. It is true that there are white Europeans who are poor (especially in central Europe), who may not be able to take care of their children, those whose children have to be sent to foster homes, and so on. Some boys and girls from these families may be irregular and drop out of school.15 Early sexual relations and teenage pregnancy are not uncommon among them. These tendencies may be seen among Roma people too.
However, Roma people may have the additional burden of identity-based discrimination. There are different challenges in the labour market for Roma people. At the lower level, there is stigmatisation and discrimination. It may be difficult for less educated youngsters from this community to be housemaids or shop assistants.16 They are stigmatised as unreliable workers in such contexts. Such discrimination may end if Roma youngsters could get some level of higher education.17 It may help them get jobs such as that of school teachers but it may still not be that easy to get prestigious jobs, like that of an academic in a university. Hence, identity-based discrimination can keep the majority of Roma families poor and they have to confront the twin18 challenges of poverty and identity-based discrimination.
Discrimination and segregation may have created a lack of trust among the Roma parents towards the institution of education. Discrimination in education persists in different forms, such as bullying by students, prejudices among teachers, etc., which may discourage Roma parents from using schools. There could be a lack of awareness, for example, regarding the importance of ECE, which too may work against the education of Roma children. Early childhood education is better equipped to deal with children’s differences, including Roma cultural differences, so real conflict situations tend to arise during school education.
Governmental and non-governmental efforts
Governments and non-governmental organisations in European countries are aware of the marginalisation of Roma communities and the need to adopt policies which would include them in mainstream society in a non-coercive manner. The European Union has celebrated 2005-2015 as ‘The Decade of Roma Inclusion’ and pursued policies19 in this direction and has encouraged member governments to adopt enabling programmes. Educational institutes including schools have become a lot more sensitive to the needs of the Roma people. In certain countries, like Romania and the Nordic countries, mediators from the Roma community are employed in schools to connect Roma children and their parents with mainstream education. There have been efforts to make curricula sensitive to the diversity among children (and these can help recognise the specific features of communities like Roma). There is a higher level of diversity among Roma people too, and this too needs to be acknowledged in the education programmes and policies. In addition to different programmes to make schooling inclusive, there are special programmes to enhance the enrolment of Roma students in higher education. These initiatives include scholarships, ethnic quotas or extra points (marks) as well as compensation for educational gaps, mainly through catch-up support to reduce linguistic and cognitive gaps.20
Changes in the attitudes and actions of different stakeholders from the mainstream community are apparent. We could hear stories of teachers who take proactive steps to see that children from Roma communities attend school regularly.21 The headteachers whom we interviewed have also shown a higher level of sensitivity to the issues which are faced by the children from these communities. Some colleges offer residential facilities and mentoring to youngsters from Roma communities in Hungary, and these are organised by different denominations of the Church in partnership with the government. There are other initiatives from non-governmental and civil society organisations too.22
Slow progress in the education of Roma children despite policies and efforts to create an enabling environment
Despite all these efforts, there are persisting challenges to the inclusion of Roma people in education in Europe, and this is acknowledged in literature and by policy-making bodies. Rutigliano (2020: 42) summarises the possible factors as: segregation (territorial and in education), anti-Gypsyism, cultural views and the lack of professional development for managing diversity. There seems to be segregation or overrepresentation of Roma children in certain schools,23 including those which impart special education. This can be due to: the residential segregation of Roma people, the use of special classes for students from this community, the outflow of non-Roma students from schools where Roma children study; the admission of Roma students in special schools without a proper diagnosis of special abilities, etc. Roma parents also perceive discrimination in schools, and this too may be discouraging them. In addition, there is a view that there are cultural barriers which prevent children from the Roma communities from using education (especially secondary and tertiary education). This is discussed in the following section.
Persistence of behavioural norms which may work against education
Though it is grossly incorrect to neglect the historical exclusion and stigmatisation of Roma people, and the inadequacy of the education system to include them, it is a reality that certain behavioural norms and livelihood practices of the Roma people seem to affect their education. Such norms and practices could be a response to the historical marginalisation that they have faced in Europe. It is also unfair to highlight these behavioural norms as the only or the most important barriers to their education. However, ignoring these norms which cause the persistence of underachievement in education (especially when the education system evolves to make it inclusive) is also not desirable.
There is not enough parental pressure in homes to ensure that children attend schools regularly. Sections of Roma parents may not insist that their grown-up children continue their education. Sections among them may encourage (or may not discourage) these children to take up less-paid jobs available to school dropouts. This could be due to the perception that their children may not get well-paid jobs even after completing higher levels of education. But an even more important reason may be that they do not feel that education is an investment: the money they can earn now is better than the money they would earn in 4-5 years’ time, even if it is more. The historical, and possibly persisting, discrimination in labour markets can be a reason for this undervaluation of the benefits of education. Continuing education requires a willingness to sacrifice current incomes in the hope of getting a higher income/welfare in future, but that willingness does not come easily to sections of parents, especially those belonging to poorer and marginalised groups. This may require an enabling environment and appropriate changes in aspirations. Such a change is yet to take place among the majority of the Roma people in Europe.
There are also norms related to family, marriage and gender that may work against the education of grown-up children.24Like their Indian counterparts, Roma parents are also worried about the autonomy of their girls (and boys) related to the choice of sexual/marital partners. This may encourage them to take steps which may work against the exercise of such choices by youngsters. These can lead to certain barriers against the use of higher levels of education. A young woman from the Roma community who pursues doctoral research in Hungary told us that her parents were not willing to send her away from the family for higher education. The fear of losing control over her life was an important concern. Somehow, she could overcome those constraints and is able to pursue higher education.
These behavioural norms may have a role to play in the reluctance among Roma people to use ECE for their children. Hence, a sizeable section of children from Roma communities does not get the benefit of the ECE. This has serious implications, especially in light of the current wisdom that ECE plays a very important role in the cognitive development of children and also may have a lifelong impact on careers and earnings. The limited education of most Roma parents may work against home-based ECE too.
There could be a fear of assimilation policies of governments among Roma people. They may think that the modern education of youngsters may take the latter away from their Roma identity. This need to preserve identity can also be due to historical exclusion and unequal assimilation. The exclusion and deprivation that they may have encountered in the past may encourage them to hold on to what they reckon as their own identity.
Behavioural norms may take time to change even after the change in objective conditions. There could be a path dependence in this regard. Hence, there is a need to understand the possible impact of these norms and to attempt non-coercive ways to change and make these enabling for the education of Roma children.
Need for behavioural changes pursued by insiders or those who are closer to the community
Roma people seem to carry norms which are connected to intense patriarchy. Arranging marriages at a relatively early age within communities is not uncommon. It is difficult for outsiders to attack these norms, especially when these outsiders are also part of historical oppressors. This may be seen as the imposition of an external culture. However, the persistence of these norms is harmful to the girls and women of Roma communities. Interestingly, there is an emergence of feminist activism within the community. These activists may work against not only the exclusion of their community but also against the disabling gender norms within it. There could be a conflict between these feminists and those who want to continue with patriarchal values within Roma communities. However, such conflict and its dynamic resolution are useful as part of the internal political transformation of these communities.
Educated people from Roma communities can serve as role models and pursue actions which would encourage boys and girls from their community to pursue education. There is a (relatively small) set of educated activists emerging from the Roma people and they may be able to bring about non-coercive behavioural changes among the members of their community.
*Names have been changed to protect people’s identities.
AUTHORS
V Santhakumar is Professor, Azim Premji University, Bangalore.
Edina Kovács is a Hungarian literature (2009) and Pedagogy (2018) teacher, and educational researcher (2011). She got her PhD at the University of Debrecen, in the frame of the Educational Sciences Doctoral Program. Her main research topics were commitment and achievement of in-service and pre-service teachers and different aspects of teacher training. The dimension of gender is important in this field, because of the feminisation of the teaching profession. She got the Grant of International Visegrad Fund in 2014 and examined Slovak and Hungarian students in teacher training. She is also the recipient of grants of the National Excellence Program in 2013 and 2016. She has been a member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Educational Research since 2018. During the last six years, she has examined how students’ attitudes are developing and how they can reduce their prejudices towards Roma people, especially Roma students.
Featured photo by Johann Walter Bantz on Unsplash
