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Educational Situation of the Roma community in Spain[editar]

The current gap between the respective educational situations of the Roma community and of the rest of the Spanish population contributes to entrenching the inequalities and social exclusion experienced by a large proportion of Roma.

The enrolment of Roma children in school in Spain started just over 30 years now. And while educational mainstreaming in primary school is practically 100%, a serious deficit still exists in compulsory secondary education and post compulsory studies.

However, the big educational gap crudely is shown on the possibilities of Spanish young Roma access to secondary education and the possibilities of completing compulsory education. The gap begins in Primary school, but It gets wide even before the completion of compulsory secondary education (64% of Roma students aged 16 to 24 years not completed compulsory education compared to 13% of the whole students group).

From 15 to 16 years, there is a big drop in school enrollment. At 15, 86.3% of Roma students are enrolled (compared to 97.9% of the whole population) and at 16 this figure drops to 55.5% (for the whole student body this data is of 93.5%). The grade when more abandonment occurs is 2º grade of High School. The age when most Roma students drop school is 16.

Early Dropout of Roma youth stands at 63.7% compared to 25% of the whole population
. More info can be checked in the following report (in Spanish): "El alumnado gitano en secundaria. Un estudio comparado"FSG, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualad. Madrid, 2013.)

This reflect a clear lack of attention on the part of public authorities and is discriminatory with regard to a fundamental right. It compromises the life of these young people perpetuating the cycle of poverty and exclusion in which they and many Roma families still live.


THE SCHOOL FAILURE RATE FOR THE ROMA COMMUNITY IS 64% COMPARED TO 13% FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION


6 out of 10 young Roma people in Spain do not complete compulsory education

The extremely high rate of early school leaving is, therefore, among the great challenges faced by the education community in relation to the Roma population: it is necessary to ensure that the Roma families themselves, the Roma student body, the education centres, other education and social agents and indeed, society as a whole, contribute to this cause.

The promotion of the Roma student body towards higher levels of study is one of the fundamental elements of our work. The presence of Roma youth in post-compulsory studies, albeit scarce, is manifestly increasing. (For further information, please refer to “Historia de vida de 50 estudiantes gitanos y gitanas”, in Spanish).

Adult Roma persons are also feeling the ever more acute need to palliate one of its principal disadvantages: its lack of academic training. Roma youth who abandoned their studies prematurely, as well as Roma adults who lack adequate schooling express their preoccupation and willingness to overcome this shortcoming.