Government of the Republic of Serbia
The Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, prepared the publication “Analysis of the Application of Affirmative Measures in the Field of Roma Education and Recommendations for Improvement of Measures”.
Data from the latest census indicates that 87% of the population within the Roma community has primary or lower education, while under 1% has higher education (Statistical Institute of the Republic of Serbia, 2013). The same data indicates that the population that acquired only mandatory primary education is under the greatest risk of poverty and social exclusion.
For the last two decades the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (MESTD) has been implementing a number of activities aimed at improving and modernizing the education system. One of the key elements of the reform is the creation of a new legal and strategic framework that can provide for effective, efficient and equitable education for all. A number of specific measures have been adopted, aimed at increasing the quality of education for various groups of children, including children from vulnerable environments. Additionally, affirmative action measures aimed at the Roma population have been implemented sporadically since 2003, and systematically since 2005, aiming to stimulate the education of Roma pupils in order to improve the future financial and social status of the Roma population in general.
The publication “Analysis of the Application of Affirmative Measures in the Field of Roma Education and Recommendations for Improvement of Measures” contains data on the Roma population before and after the introduction of affirmative measures, a general overview of the legal and strategic regulations in the field of Roma education, an analysis of the success of the implementation of affirmative measures in Serbia during the preceding period based on available data, as well as an analysis of the relevant national and international documents.
Qualitative data obtained by an analysis of the documents and quantitative data obtained from various ministries and other institutions and organizations have been supplemented in this study by perceptions of various groups of education stakeholders regarding affirmative measures and their implementation in practice. Four focus-group interviews during the period July/October 2015 served to collect opinions, attitudes and perceptions from representatives of five stakeholder groups in education – representatives of civil society organizations and international organizations working on Roma education; representatives of decision-maker institutions; representatives of schools and school administrations; representatives of students enrolled in secondary school during preceding years based on affirmative action measures and representatives of the parents of such students.
The final chapter of the study contains the conclusions reached based on the preceding analyses and recommendations based thereupon.
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