Davide Cassisi - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Discrimination and segregation in the educational system in Romania, 2020

This research aims at analysing two problems of our modern schooling system, which in the last de... more This research aims at analysing two problems of our modern schooling system, which in the last decades are affecting pupils’ education more and more: discrimination and segregation. These two topics can be divided into different categories and they can be both present in the same context. For instance, in Italy, it all began with a long journey from 1859 with the segregation of disabled students initially entrusted to private religious bodies (Filofollia, 2016). By the way, the context evolved over the years and nowadays other typologies of discrimination are the most problematic ones: they can be especially about economic status or ethnicity. Although, they root all in the structure of the modern schooling methodology, due to this there is a need for overcoming of uniform and linear didactic and organizational models, aimed at an abstract average pupil, in favour of flexible approaches adapted to the special educational needs of individual pupils (Ciociola, 2016).
It is not only a mere problem of efficiency or effectiveness, but also about the perception and trust of people in the school system itself. Today, citizens in western countries think that the educational system is in crisis (Esteve, 2003). They think that it doesn’t fit properly with the needs of the pupils and it doesn’t take into consideration all the differences that there are among them. It is clear that if we start from the evident diversity of each student, traditional teaching cannot be used anymore. "It is not the strongest, but only the easiest and most attractive" (Cutrera, 2019). Because of this, a lot of new and experimental ways of teaching have been implemented. These alternative models tackle the traditional educational system and some of them aim to put it upside down.
In this inquiry, particular attention is given to issues of ethnic segregation and discrimination in education, scrutinized through the lens of the Romanian educational system, which can be the one who highlighted more problems in this field, in particular after the end of communism and its membership in UE. The underlying assumption concerns a “huge number” of Roma pupils. Even if they are profoundly intertwined with the history, economics and social dynamics of the continent, a fact that has been formally recognized by the European Union (Marinaro & Sigona, 2011), Roma communities still have difficulties in integrating in the social fabric. Anti-Gypsyism (the phenomenon of dehumanizing Roma, reducing them to a set of negative stereotypes and acting on these in the private and public domains) is articulated in myriad forms, affecting Roma’s lives in multiple ways. Nevertheless, in the last years, Romania has been pursuing several initiatives to modernize its educational system (European Union, 2018). Moreover, lots of European projects are being implemented and lots of NGOs are now interested in this topic and thanks to them Roma’s condition is improving. Given that, they still face difficulties rising from unemployment , deteriorating living conditions, high levels of illiteracy, indirect and direct forms of discrimination. Despite this general situation, among the Romanians became overspread the image of Roma that became “millionaires “overnight (Creţu, 2014).
This investigation was limited in terms of time and resources, and therefore it could be conducted only in one school in Bucharest, Romania’s capital city. This school is called Sfintii Voievozi and it is located in Gara de Nord, a suburb of the city, which became famous in the ‘90s, due to the big amount of street children that were living around and to the fact that other people were living in the sewers. Looking at the results obtained in this inquiry, the principal objective was to open questions on a topic that is debated a lot in Romania, even if perspectives in literature are mostly one sighted: the majority of scholars and researchers are Romanian and not Roma, as highlighted in many inquiries (R.E.F., 2014). Given that, the analysis was carried out to give enough space to both perspectives, with particular attention to the discrimination and limits (physical or cultural) imposed by Romanian to Roma.
The investigation was structured in the following way. In the beginning, data and information already made by other institutions were used: firstly, the ministry of education’s statistics about social inclusion in the school and about Roma people; secondly, the data collected by Save the children in these years of activity in contact with families and children; finally, graphics and data made and collected by other people or NGOs, who did similar inquiries in the area of Bucharest. This part is important to set the stage for the next analysis, which will be the core of the inquiry. The methodology of the on-field research was based on two parts: the first one is a quantitative part and it followed the guidelines of the methodology shown up in the article “a note on the measurement of racial integration of schools by means of informational concepts” (Theil & Finizza, 1971); the second one is a qualitative part and it will be carried out handing-in questionnaires to the pupils enrolled in the schools and their parents and interviewing volunteers of Salvați Copiii – Save the children, who are working in an afterschool programme, mostly with Roma children.
Results and outcomes were contradictory and generalization of the is possible only with specific limitations and assumptions. In fact, official database reliability was questioned by the on-field investigation. At first, the quantitative analysis suggested a panorama typical of an emerging economy with some problems concerning with the drop-out rate and the richness distribution. The calculation of the main research index was possible thanks to the Ministry of education’s database. The amount of segregation resulted close to 0 in nearly every school of the district 1, picturing a perfectly egalitarian educational system, in which Roma were only the 1% of the population in primary schools and 5% in kindergartens. By the way, the on-field research made in some schools stressed the fact that data were not correct, cause Roma families and pupils were hiding their real identity to avoid discrimination and segregation. Questionnaires and interviews helped in outlining better the real situation, thanks to volunteers’ personal opinions and to local actors, who eased the connection among researchers and families. In the end, a better understanding of phenomena was achieved. Roma and Romanians are two sides of the same coin: Roma attitudes towards Romanian institutions, rules, and education is caused by discrimination and bullying in their direction, but their following behaviour when they grow up is the reason why Romanians discriminate them since their childhood.