REMEMBRANCE IN TIME - Index of

EDUCATIONAL INTEGRATION OF
MINORITIES – PROBLEMS AND
PERSPECTIVES
Violeta STOYCHEVA 1
Abstract: The relevance of the issue of educational integration of minorities, and in particular, the
Roma in Bulgaria, is determined by the new realities, highlighted in the multilevel strategy for the
development of the EU in the 21 century “Europe 2020”. In search of adequate answers to the
challenges, related to the social inclusion of the Roma community, it is necessary to analyse both
the existing problems and the created good practices in education. This text is focused on the
major barriers, which determine the traditionally low educational level of the Roma community.
As an alternative, there are discussed different examples of social inclusion, applied on the
territory of Veliko Turnovo region, presenting a model of successful multicultural interaction.
What is the status of the Roma in the EU?
The Roma are one of the biggest but poorest and least integrated minorities in the EU.
Their number in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, is estimated between 7% and
10% of the entire population [1].
In different studies [2] on the Roma, it is emphasized that in almost every aspect of life
their situation is worse than the average: the Roma have higher infant mortality rates, a
shorter average life span, lower incomes, higher unemployment rates and respectively –
higher levels of poverty, as a result of which they face large-scale social exclusion[3].
Though the financial and political investment recently allocated by the EU, the huge gap
between this community and the majority still exists. Despite the de jure recognition by
the European Parliament in April 2005 of the necessity of specific measures to overcome
the segregation of the Roma minority [4] compared to other ethnic minorities and groups
in the Member States, the Roma are facing the highest levels of discrimination regarding
the access to housing, employment, education and health care. This fact has been
confirmed by 77% of the Europeans, according to who the Roma origin is a barrier in
society, almost the same as disability [5]. According to the metaphorical definition of the
former Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimír
Špidla, the Roma are “Europe’s forgotten citizens” [6].
The issue of the Roma minority in the EU has gained wide publicity after the events in
France in the summer of 2010, when the illegal camps of groups of Roma from Bulgaria
and Romania were destroyed and they were sent back to their countries. The expulsion of
1 St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.