Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Central and Eastern Europe

Access, attainment and success of Roma people in education are at a crisis point across Europe. Recent research has revealed that Roma people are the most underrepresented group in schools and other educational institutions. Policy makers across Central and Eastern Europe face the challenge of reversing the disadvantaged situation of the Roma minority. There is a whole host of policy strategies, measures and projects across Europe which offer similar solutions on national, regional and local levels.  This book discusses the current educational climate and the impact of these policy measures for Roma people in eight Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. There is a severe lack of information about the Roma people in the public domain. This book seeks to raise awareness of this forgotten minority and evaluate the policies implemented to integrate the Roma people into the education system, using many different cultural perspectives written by experts across Central and Eastern Europe.  This book will prove invaluable to those in the field of comparative education, educational leaders and practitioners in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Central and Eastern Europe; Katalin R. Forray and Andrea Óhidy. Chapter 1. Bottom up, Top down and Human Rights - Roma Organizations, Policy Frameworks and European Institutions; Natascha Hofmann  Chapter 2. The Roma minority in the education system of Bulgaria; Milena Ivova Ilieva  Chapter 3. The education situation of the Roma minority in Croatia; Goran Lapat and Renata Miljević-Riđički Chapter 4. Roma Minority in the Czech Republic; Markéta Levínská, Dana Bitternová and David Doubek  Chapter 5. Roma population in Hungary - focusing on educational opportunities; Julianna Boros and Eszter Gergy Chapter 6. Roma in the education system in the Republic of Moldova; Maria Diacon   Chapter 7. The Roma community in Poland – the share of the population and its spatial distribution; Agnieszka Świętek and Wiktor Osuch  Chapter 8. Lifelong Learning for Roma in Romania; Aurora Adina Colomeischi  Chapter 9. Education of the Roma Minority in Slovakia; Rastislav Rosinský  Conclusion: Participation and success of Central and Eastern European Roma in education and lifelong learning: common challenge, similar solutions and hitherto unsatisfactory results; Andrea Óhidy

About the Author :
Andrea Óhidy is Professor and Head of the Institute of Education Sciences at the University of Education in Freiburg, Germany. Her research interests include educational policy in the European Union, lifelong learning, teacher training and pedagogic professionalism.  Katalin R. Forray is Emeritus Professor at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. She is the founder and member of the Doctoral School for Education at the University of Pécs. Her research interests include the integration of minorities, multiculturalism, social, economic and regional factors in the institutional system of education, and women in education.

Review :
To complement a similar collection on Western and Southern Europe also published in 2019, scholars of education, psychology, and other disciplines explore lifelong learning among the Roma minority in Central and Eastern Europe. Their topics include bottom up, top down, and human rights: Roma organizations, policy frameworks, and European institutions; the education situation of the Roma minority in Croatia; the Roma population in Hungary: focusing on educational opportunities; the Roma community in Poland: the share of the population and its spatial distribution; and lifelong learning for Roma in Romania. 'This book provides rich and structured information about the situation of the Roma minority in eight European countries and is an inspiring read for a broader scientific readership, including students at all levels. It also gives more advanced students from fields of social sciences and humanities a varied, handy overview and synthesis of recent research about Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Central and Eastern Europe.'