CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AND THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SPORTS DISCUSS ON ROMA CHILDREN EDUCATION

Tirana, March 24^th - The National Conference on Roma Children Education “From Challenges to Opportunitiesâ€‌ organized by Albanian Coalition for Child Education, the Ministry of Education and Sports, UNICEF and Save the Children closed today successfully. This Conference aimed to discuss the challenges Roma children face in enjoying their right to education and difficulties in sequencing the school.

In the welcome speech, Mr. Hazizaj representative of Albanian Coalition for Child Education thanked the participants for their presence at the conference by making the issue Roma children education the avocation of SCOs-MAS joint engagement.

The Minister of Education and Sports, Ms. Nikolla enlightened some of the main commitments of the institution she leads in ensuring that every Roma child became part of the education system, such as: increasing the number of Roma children in pre-school, preparatory classes and compulsory education; identifying and preventing any exclusionary and inferiority attitude towards Roma students; transforming the cultural diversity into a source of knowledge and atmosphere of mutual respect, tolerance and inclusiveness; the development of a curriculum for Roma culture because "...our desire and commitment relates to the purpose that every Roma child is part of our education system and accomplishes it within ageâ€‌- said Znj.Nikolla.

The UNICEF Representative in Albania Ms. Scolamiero, congratulated Albanian Coalition for child Education and the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES) for taking the initiative to hold the conference. “ This is an opportunity for us to take stock collectively of policies and actions aimed at improving the right to quality education for Roma children in Albania, in view of the development of the Government’s sector strategies, which are paving the way to what the education system, and other sectors, will look like by 2020â€‌.

Ms. Meأ§o, Director of Save the Children, noted some of the improvements observed  in the last decade on Roma children education, but stressed that due to the limited allocation of human and financial resources various strategies to help Roma children accomplish the full cycle of compulsory education have encountered various difficulties. According to Ms. Meأ§o: "...a concrete coordination between state institutions and civil society organizations all over the country will make possible that every Roma child enjoys the universal right to free public compulsory education".

The main issues of the conference were discussed into three sessions, among which: the importance of education and integration of Roma children in the preschool education system; Compulsory public education as an inalienable human right; Roma youth secondary high education and vocational education.

The meeting organized between the Minister of Education and Ms. Hysi deputy of Albanian Parliament constitutes one of the main achievements of the conference, as it is the first time that governmental institutions and Roma activists discuss the difficulties that Roma minority faces in their everyday life activities.  

The findings and recommendations of the Conference will develop a common plan of action, which will become part of the Ministry of Education and Sports agenda, so that the reforms undertaken to ensure the integration of Roma children into the education system are successful and enduring.

Representatives of the Ministry of
Education and Sports, Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth, Representatives of Albanian Assembly, Representatives of local government, International Institutions present in Albania, Donors, International Organizations, Civil Society Organizations and Roma activists attended the Conference.

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