site.btaTwice as Many Roma Children Graduate from School Compared to 2011 - Survey

Photo: Trust for Social Achievement

Sofia, January 12 (BTA) - Twice as many Roma children in
Bulgaria graduate from school compared to 2011, shows a
nationally representative survey on the Roma community's
education and professional realization in the last ten years,
commissioned to Global Metrics by the Trust for Social
Achievement (TSA) nongovernmental organization. The study was
presented Tuesday at a TSA's webinar on education and
professional realization in the Roma community, the NGO said.

The survey was conducted in 140 settlements among 4,165
interviewees, 3,655 of whom residing in compact Roma
neighbourhoods. It was designed to be comparable to the last
extensive study on Roma education in Bulgaria: the 2011 regional
 study among the Roma conducted by the United Nations
Development Programme, the World Bank, and the European
Commission, the TSA said.

According to the study's summary, the last decade has seen a
significant increase in the Roma community's aspirations for
their children getting a secondary and university degree. An
ever growing share of the Roma in Bulgaria believe that their
young should remain in the education system as long as possible.
 The share of Roma pupils has increased in all age groups
compared to 2011, which shows that ever more Roma children are
part of Bulgaria's education system.

The study's main conclusions and data show a nearly two-fold
increase in the share of Roma with secondary education and a
six-fold increase in the number of those holding a university
degree, with 40 per cent of Roma aged 21 to 25 having higher
education. One-fifth of Roma youth have a low level of
education.

The share of Roma university graduates is two-fold bigger among
those who went to kindergarten. Going to kindergarten increases
by 35 per cent a Roma child's chances to obtain a higher
education degree; it also influences employment. Those who went
to kindergarten more often, have a permanent job and by 30 per
cent higher incomes compared to the rest of the Roma community.
 
The share of unemployed Roma has dropped by 18 per cent from
2011.

Labour and Social Policy Minister Denitsa Sacheva said at the
webinar that the share of school dropouts returning to the
education system has been growing over the years, although the
COVID-19 crisis has managed to put on pause the processes of
Roma pupils' inclusion.
 
Education and Science Minister Krassimir Valchev said, as quoted
 by the TSA, that the last years have seen a process of
modernization of the Roma community. In three years, his
ministry has managed to achieve a 2.5 per cent coverage among
that community. Roma children now drop out of school at a later
stage, he said. 

The TSA's mission is to promote and support the development of
the potential of all people in Bulgaria, with a focus on the
Roma and the opportunities for overcoming social and economic
inequalities and ending the circle of poverty.
  
NV/DS