site.btaEducation Ministry Contribution under Scheme for Roma Pupils Grants Will Go Towards Teachers' Pay

Education Ministry Contribution under Scheme for Roma Pupils Grants Will Go Towards Teachers' Pay

Sofia, October 27 (BTA) - Some 218,000 euro contributed by the Education Ministry to a scheme that disburses grants to Roma pupils will supplement the salaries of 150 teachers participating in the project. Grants will be paid solely by the Roma Education Fund.

This was decided at Thursday's meeting on the initiative of Education Minister Meglena Kuneva with Ognyan Issaev, representative of the Roma Education Fund for Bulgaria and Manuela Radeva, head of the Centre for Educational Integration of Children and Students from Ethnic Minorities that is implementing the project.

"Taking into consideration the heightened public sensitivity to the topic, we had an in-depth conversation about the need for targeted efforts for education to include all children," Kuneva said, noting that the largest number of school dropouts is among Roma children.

On Wednesday the Patriotic Front said that the scheme was "yet another ploy to secure the Roma vote ahead of the presidential elections." The Front said that this was an open act of ethnic discrimination, considering that children of non-Roma origin were not in a much better financial situation as social study grants and study grants for children with disabilities were nearly three times smaller.

Many parents also voiced discontent with the decision.

Of grave concern was the fact the as little as one per cent of Roma children complete 12th grade, although they account for 20 per cent of all first graders.

The Education Ministry will urge local authorities to actively monitor grant recipients and there will be monthly oversight on how funds are spent. Teachers will monitor pupils' attendance and performance and will advise them on how to spend the grant sensibly. Academic performance will be reviewed each term and grant eligibility will be based on the results.