Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma Volume 1

Előszó

Preface
The EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP) of the Open Society Institute (OSI) monitors humán rights and rule of law issues throughout Europe, jointly with local NGOs and civil society organisations. EUMAP reports emphasise the importance of civil society monitoring and encourage a direct dialogue between governmental and nongovernmental actors on issues related to humán rights and the rule of law. The reports are elaborated by independent experts from the countries being monitored.
This series of EUMAP reports on "Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma" builds on previous EUMAP reports on Minority Protection, which addressed the situation of Roma in Europe. It has been prepared in collaboration with OSI's Education Support Program (ESP) and Roma Participation Program (RPP). In each country, the reporting teams alsó benefited from the support and experience of Roma NGOs, which were involved in gathering and processing data for the field research.
The Roma, with an estimated population of between 8 and 12 millión spread across the whole continent, are one of Europe's largest and most vulnerable minorities. Throughout Europe, Roma remain excluded from many aspects of society, denied their rights and entrenched in poverty. The particular problems faced by Roma in accessing quality educational opportunities have been widely recognised.
The "Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005—2015" is an unprecedented international eífort to combat discrimination and to close the gap in welfare and living conditions between the Roma and the non-Roma, in order to break the cycle of poverty and exclusion. The initiative is supported by the OSI and the World Bank, and endorsed by nine Central and Eastern European countries. The declared objective is to accelerate progress in improving the social inclusion and economic status of Roma.
The Decade focuses on four main areas: education, housing, employment and health care. The EUMAP reports on "Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma" aim to support the goals of the Decade in the key area of education, and to establish a framework for regular monitoring throughout the Decade. The reports alsó aim to provide an assessment of the state of implementation of Government education policies for Roma, to promote consultation with Roma communities on education issues, and to provide data on key education indicators, as well as presenting case studies on selected communities. The case studies were intended to supplement and corroborate data gathered from other sources. They provide relevant local examples, which is particularly important given that information on the educational status of Roma can be incomplete at the national level. The case studies alsó provide a baseline survey for follow up monitoring, in order to document changes in educational outcomes at the local level, over the course of the Decade.
This first volume of reports covers four countries: Bulgariti, Hungary, Romania and Serbia. Further volumes in the series will be published later in 2007; these will include Vissza

Fülszöveg

The Roma are one of Europe's largest and most vulnerable minorities. Throughout Europe, Roma remain excluded from many aspects of society, denied their rights and entrenched in poverty. The "Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015" is an unprecedented international effort to combat discrimination and to close the gap in welfare and living conditions between Roma and non-Roma, in order to break the cycle of poverty and exclusion. The initiative is supported by the Open Society Institute (OSI) and the World Bank, and endorsed by nine Central and Eastern European countries. Education is one of the four main areas of the Decade, and the particular problems faced by Roma in accessing quality educational opportunities have been widely recognised.
This series of EUMAP reports on "Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma" builds on previous EUMAP reports on the situation of Roma in Europe. It has been prepared in collaboration with OSI's Education Support Program (ESP) and Roma Participation Program (RPP). The reports aim to support the Decade goals on education, and to establish a framework for regular monitoring throughout the Decade, as well as to promote consultation with Roma communities on education issues. They provide an assessment of the state of implementation of Government education policies for Roma, data on key education indicators, and case studies on selected communities.
This first volume of reports covers four countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Serbia. Further volumes in the series will be published later in 2007; these will cover the other countries in the Decade - Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Macedónia, Montenegro and Slovakia — plus an overview report resuming the main findings across all the countries.
All EUMAP reports are available at www.eumap.org Vissza