Educational Challenges of Roma Minorities: The Case of the Republic of North Macedonia

Abstract

Linguistic diversity comes in various forms. The most common ways of developing knowledge of more than one language according to some authors are either by learning a second language through participation in some form of bilingual education or being raised in a bilingual environment, such as school or a bilingual family. The phenomenon of development of literacy competencies of minority groups, specifically, the context of Roma people, in the Republic of North Macedonia, whose mother tongue is not even considered a standard language is the main research purpose of this paper. Research conducted in comparative studies on integrated education shows that in the elementary schools with high numbers of Roma students actions are rarely taken to enhance the integration of these minority students, because of 1) the lack of iconography, which is important for the ethnic identity of this minority and 2) low competence level of parents and teachers who are not adequately trained to work with students coming from different linguistic backgrounds or social backgrounds that are characterized by low literacy levels and low learning competences. Participants in this study were from several primary schools in North Macedonia and the responses were categorized according to the major themes that occurred. The findings show how women are excluded from obtaining better education and that multilingual children from deprived economic settings with poorly educated parents struggle and are seriously challenged to obtain proper literacy and education in elementary schools. The study reveals important details about the educational legislation, treatment of Roma people by local and international organizations and provides suggestions for improvement of the current status of the Roma population.

The Socio-Educational Adaptation of Secondary School Migrant Students in Sicily: Migrant Generation, School Linguistic Mediation and Teacher Proactivity Factors

“…Concerning the educational level attained by both parents, it is observed that these are not significantly related to the socio-educational adaptation of their children. Similarly, the study by (Rizova et al 2020) observed that parents with little school education combine all their efforts to achieve quality education for their children because an education in which different linguistic or social origins are actively working together will be more inclusive (Zilka 2020).…”

“…Currently, schools are obliged to care for students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds (Babane 2020), which combined with, in some cases, a lack of motivation (Murua-Carton et al 2012) and inadequate teacher training (Rizova et al 2020), causes inclusive education to become an increasingly utopian dream.…”

“…It must enroll and educate immigrant students with or without language proficiency and also adapt the curriculum contents and didactic strategies to the needs of these students (Babane 2020;Cavicchiolo et al 2020) so that they acquire essential instrumental learning and social skills that facilitate the ability to develop in the new environment (Soriano Ayala et al 2019). This complicated situation, coupled with the lack of willingness of teachers (Murua-Carton et al 2012) and their limited training to deal with new multicultural contexts (Rizova et al 2020), makes it difficult to act in these new multicultural contexts (Rizova et al 2020), or improve the integration of this group (Jolliffe and Speers 2016;Li 2018).…”

Discipline and Work Environment Affect Employee Productivity: Evidence From Indonesia

“…If the employee enjoys the work environment in which he/she works, the employee will feel at home in his/her workplace to do activities so that work time is used effectively and optimistic employees' work performance is also high (Alhamda et al, 2020;Alzamel et al, 2020;Chalikias et al, 2020;Gulzar et al, 2020;Liao et al, 2020;Riyadi et al, 2020). The work environment includes established working relationships between fellow employees and employment relationships between subordinates and superiors and the physical environment in which employees work (Achu Ayuk et al, 2020;Bove, 2020;Collier-Bordet et al, 2020;Rizova et al, 2020;Tsitsovits, 2020;Victoria & Ortigosa, 2020).…”

Emerging discourses on education and motherhood with Roma women

“…The social distance between the family and the educational institution prevents acknowledging how the system works, it reduces the value that families give to their children’s education (Clavell-Bate, 2012; Pantea, 2015) and makes fears emerge (Myers et al, 2010), mainly related to the gender roles inherited by a patriarchal society (Clavell-Bate, 2012; Pantea, 2015; Reimer, 2016). On the other hand, the parents’ level of education (Afanasieva et al, 2020; Fundación Secretariado Gitano, 2013; Laparra et al, 2011; Rizova et al, 2020) or the linguistic differences present between the family and the educational community (Khalfaoui et al, 2020; Río Ruiz, 2010), as well as financial difficulties that many of these families face (Clavell-Bate, 2012; Herrero et al, 2017; Marcu, 2020; Strataki and Petrogiannis, 2021), are additional barriers to interact with schools and, therefore, to support their children’s education.…”