Educational problems of Roma children

Abstract

The aim of the research was to examine and analyze the educational problems of primary school Roma children. The sample comprised 110 Roma children of the seventh and eighth grades and 61 class and subject teachers in four primary schools in Belgrade. The data were gathered by the use of two different questionnaires, one for the students and another one for their teachers. The results show that Roma students encounter various difficulties connected with studying the curricular contents and have various other problems that hamper their studying. Especially acute is the problem of inadequate conditions for study in the home. Few Rom students understand lecturing due to insufficient knowledge of the language, poor prior subject knowledge, lack of motivation for knowledge acquisition, and social and economic problems. Presented are some measures, suggested by both the students and teachers, for overcoming the mentioned difficulties.

Cilj istraživanja bio je da se ispitaju i analiziraju obrazovni problemi romske dece osnovnoškolskog uzrasta. Uzorkom istraživanja obuhvaćeno je 110 romskih učenika 7. i 8. razreda i 61 nastavnik predmetne i razredne nastave iz četiri osnovne škole u Beogradu. Podaci su prikupljeni pomoću upitnika za romske učenike i njihove nastavnike, ali su se razlikovali po svom sadržaju. Romski učenici nailaze na različite vrste teškoća u savladavanju školskog gradiva i na raznovrsne probleme zbog kojih ne mogu da uče. Naročito se izdvaja problem neadekvatnih uslova za učenje kod kuće. Mali deo romskih učenika prati nastavu sa razumevanjem zbog nedovoljnog poznavanja jezika, socijalnih i ekonomskih problema, nedovoljne zainteresovanosti za sticanje znanja i nedovoljnih predznanja. Iznete su mere koje predlažu učenici i nastavnici za prevazilaženje pomenutih teškoća.