On 4 May 2006 The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) published a report entitled “Roma and Travellers in Public Education”, which deals with the education of Roma residing in all European Union countries. The fragments devoted to Poland were written based on the information provided by the National Focal Points RAXEN Network. Agnieszka Mikulska, right, played a key part in the process. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights is the National Focal Point in Poland.  (12-MAY-06)

written by Marta Lempicka/HRH Warsaw

The Roma in Europe
The EUMC report states segregation in the education of Roma and Traveller pupils in many EU countries. This segregation is often an unintended result of the implemented policy and sometimes results from residential segregation. In some Members states Roma children are often sent to special classes for the mentally disabled. Although enrolment and attendance rates of Roma pupils have improved, they still are low. In the majority of countries the percentage of pupils of Roma nationality attending secondary schools is quite small.    

To improve the situation, the EUMC calls for comprehensive strategies designed and implemented with the involvement of Roma representatives. These should among others include removing administrative requirements for enrolling, providing truly free access to education for Roma pupils, establishing parent-teacher programmes, reducing adult illiteracy, and focusing on pre-school programmes.

The Roma in Poland
The Roma are recognized as an ethnic minority in Poland and according to the law national and ethnic minorities may learn in their native language or additionally study the minority’s language, history geography and culture. The Roma have not yet officially declared their desire to organize teaching of Romani or learning in that language.

According to the authors of the HFHR study, the Roma as a group, have a very low education level in Poland. The majority has only an elementary education, often incomplete, as the Roma frequently abandon schooling after a few years. This situation results inter alia from learning difficulties caused by a lack of preschool preparation and insufficient familiarity with the Polish language upon the inception of learning in school, Roma customs, the poverty of Roma families and discriminatory treatment of Roma children at schools.

What is the EUMC?
The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) was established by European Council Regulation 1035/97 (EC) in 1997 and it is based in Vienna. It is an agency of the European Union.
The primary objective of the EUMC is to formulate opinions and conclusions for political decision-makers, and hence to support the European Union and its Member States in taking measures or formulating courses of action on racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. To this end, the EUMC provides them with objective, reliable and comparable data. The EUMC also studies the extent and development of the phenomena and manifestations of racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, analyses their causes and effects and highlights examples of good practice in dealing with them.

More information about the report at www.eumc.eu.int or www.hfhrpol.waw.pl