site.btaSixfold Increase in Roma People Enrolled in Higher Education Over Past 9 Years - Amalipe Centre

The process of Roma integration in recent years has yielded results, said Deyan Kolev, Chairman of the Amalipe Centre. Kolev was one of the participants in a BTA-initiated discussion on February 17, dedicated to the support for Roma people and vulnerable groups. There is a considerable increase of Roma people who have acquired secondary or higher education in recent years and a change in the attitude towards education within the Roma society, Kolev said. 

According to data from a survey by the Trust for Social Achievement Foundation from 2021, for the last nine years the percentage of Roma people with secondary education has doubled and the share of those studying tertiary education has increased sixfold.

Amalipe Centre for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance is a leading Roma organization working for the equal integration of Roma in Bulgarian society. When the Centre was founded in 2002, the initial idea was for all Roma children to complete at least primary education. At the time two thirds of the Roma children, who enrolled in first grade, dropped out before getting a primary education diploma. In present days the issue has almost disappeared, a big part of Roma boys and girls complete primary education and continue studying, Kolev noted. 

The organization works with nearly 300 schools, and part of its activity is related to Roma parents. The establishment of parent clubs in these schools is encouraged, training is provided for the clubs' coordinators, and if 10 to 15 years ago parents were mainly concerned about their own child and had very little knowledge of what is there to do at school, today they are thinking about everyone else and are familiar with educational issues. There is a serious positive development, Kolev commented and noted that the role of Roma NGOs in this regard is very important.

According to Kolev's observations, a very intensive process of community modernization is underway. Young Roma people are familiar with the Internet and social media, they are looking for ways to live like everybody else. They have become much more sensitive to issues such as discrimination and education, while the older generation is more patriarchal and conservative. Teachers and schools are important factors, Kolev stressed. Data from a report by the World Bank shows that around 22 per cent of young people who are to enter the labour market are Roma people. If we together manage to educate these people, that would be a major boost for the development of Bulgarian society and economy, he said. 

A big percentage of Roma boys and girls, who study tertiary education, choose Pedagogy and teaching majors, some prefer medical majors.

Years ago the Centre had a support programme for young Roma men and women who study Medicine and medical majors. It was started in 2009 with support from the Open Society Institute. In the beginning, there were 19 students participating in it, and just three or four years later 50 to 60 people were joining per year. Kolev said that he is very glad that all of those who graduated in the medical field are currently working and most of them are doing so in Bulgarian hospitals.

The growth of anti-Roma discrimination and stereotypes towards the Roma remain problematic. Even educated Roma people are often prejudiced against, making it harder to find work because of negative stereotyping, Kolev noted. 

Another problematic area is the lower participation of Roma people in political and public life, Kolev stressed. He said that there are still no ministers, deputy ministers, members of parliament - people at a decision-making level in the country's governance, who are of Roma origin.

Stereotypes and prejudices towards the Roma are a lot, Kolev said, naming a few - that they are lazy, thievish, do not want to work or study, neither to integrate into Bulgarian society, that if more Roma children are in school then the quality of education will drop. Years of research on the topic, conducted among three social groups - teachers, social workers, and health practitioners, shows that health workers shared fewer stereotypes about Roma health, but more stereotypes about education and social inclusion. On the contrary, teachers share fewer stereotypes about Roma children's education but are stereotyping health and social inclusion to a very high degree. These findings show that stereotypes are not functioning due to the direct contact in reality, but are nurtured by the media, the politicians, and what is said and believed in society, Kolev said. 

According to him, the data of the Open Society Institute, which has been measuring social distances against several minority groups since 2007, are indicative. Respondents were asked if they would like to live in a city or neighbourhood with a minority, have their children go to school with them, or work in the same company. Studies show that the Roma are the most unwanted minority, meaning that stereotypes about the Roma community are the strongest. Between 2007 and 2013 there was an improvement in the attitude towards the Roma, but since 2013 a serious deterioration is observed. Results from the last survey in 2019 are even worse than the results from 2007.

Analysis shows that one evident reason for the serious deterioration is the extremely nationalist rhetoric that has entered the political stage since 2013, Kolev commented. 

Answers to the question "What are the gypsies in general?" show extremely strong negative stereotypes, while when answering the question "What are the gypsies in your village?", many people say that they can be relied on and co-residence is good. Kolev said that attitudes towards Roma people whom respondents personally know are more positive than attitudes towards Roma strangers. At the same time, when one has Roma acquaintances with whom they are on friendly terms, this does not change their overall negative attitude towards the community, their acquaintances are perceived as an exception to the rule. 

Personal experience reduces antagonism and it is important to encourage all types of desegregation programmes in education so that Roma and Bulgarian children study in the same classroom. Kolev is convinced that stereotypes cannot be so strong when one has Roma classmates or colleagues.

Kolev said that the Roma culture and traditions are extraordinarily beautiful and less known aspects of the Roma community. The Amalipe Centre works for their popularization and encourages the study of ethnic folklore. Many of the customs and traditions that once existed among Bulgarians and have disappeared, can be seen today in Roma neighbourhoods, Kolev noted.