Successfulness of Romany children in schools

Abstract

Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, studentka, dobrovolnice Erka-nízkoprahového zařízení pro děti a mládež při Oblastní charitě Jihlava 2 Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Teologická fakulta, katedra sociální práce Summary Education shows a way which mostly leads to improved opportunities in employment with subsequent increase in the living standard. The education of Romany parents and their children is mostly completed at a level of a special or primary school. Only a low percent proportion of Romany people continue studying at secondary schools and even a smaller proportion continue studying at universities. The successfulness in schools represents an important motivating factor, particularly at the beginning of the school attendance. The target of the research presented here was the assessment of the school successfulness and factors participating in it. For the determination of the school successfulness, the following areas were established: a) the family environment (attitude of parents to the education of their children, interest in school results, home preparation for the school): b) preschool preparation/attendance in preschool institutions; c) friends and schoolmates (relationships to children); d) interest activities beyond the school (free time activities). The work was considered as a qualitative research, the purpose of which was mapping the successfulness of Romany children in schools at the beginning of the school attendance (in the first and second classes) from the points of view of these children and their parents. The technique of the field accumulation of data was a semi-controlled interview, which was furthermore completed by observations and analysis of documents. The target groups were Romany children attending Erko at the Regional Charity Jihlava and their parents. The research results were processed by the form of a case study. Given the size of the group, particular data resulting from this qualitative research cannot be extrapolated in general to the whole Romany population living in the Czech Republic. However, authentic responses of eight children and their parents concerning the area of education and successfulness in schools can be considered as a supplementation to the currently discussed problems. The answers obtained acquaint us with experience, thoughts, wishes, feelings and attitudes of the children themselves and their parents to the importance of education, also indicating important roles of the teachers and school environment in direction of Romany pupils.