1
CAHROM (2014)17
Strasbourg, 9 October 2014
AD HOC COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON ROMA ISSUES[1] (CAHROM)
__________
CONCLUSIONS OF THE THEMATIC REPORT ON
THE PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF LANGUAGES SPOKEN BY ROMA
(further to the CAHROM thematic visit to Zagreb and Međimurje County, Croatia,
from 24 to 26 September 2014)
__________
Experts from CROATIA, requesting country:
Mr Branko SOČANAC, CAHROM member, Director of the Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities
Mr Aleksa ĐOKIĆ, CAHROM substitute member, Assistant Director, Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities
Dr Zoran LAPOV, PhD in Methodologies of Pedagogical Research: Theory and History (Intercultural and Minority Studies), Researcher at the University of Florence, Department of Education, Expert in Romani language and its variants spoken in Western Balkans
Dr Petar RADOSAVLJEVIĆ, PhD in romance linguistics, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (Department of Romance Languages and Literature), University of Zagreb, Expert in Boyash Romanian and its varieties spoken in Croatia
Experts from AUSTRIA, HUNGARY, ROMANIA AND THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC, partner countries:
Austria:Dr Dieter W. HALWACHS, Sociolinguist, Language Centre of Graz University, member of the Experts’ Committee of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
HungaryMs Zsófia PILLÁR, Rapporteur on Social Inclusion in Public Education, Ministry of Human Resources, Deputy for Social Inclusion
RomaniaProf. Dr Gheorghe SARĂU, Linguist, Adviser for the Romani language in the General Division for Education in Minority Languages within the Ministry of National Education
Slovak RepublicMr Ján HERO, CAHROM member, Director of the Department of Conceptions, Analysis and Regional Coordination, Plenipotentiary Office of Slovak Government for Roma Community, Ministry of Interior of Slovak Republic
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTIONpage 3
1.1Background of the thematic report and visitpage 3
1.2Composition of the thematic group of expertspage 3
1.3Agenda of the thematic visitpage 4
1.4Terminology used in this reportpage 4
II. CONTEXT AND EXPECTATIONSpage 5
2.1Context and purpose of the thematic report and visitpage 5
2.2Expectations and items for discussionpage 5
2.3Size and composition of the Roma groups in the participating countriespage 5
2.3.1 Austriapage 5
2.3.2 Croatiapage 5
2.3.3 Hungarypage 6
2.3.4 Romaniapage 6
2.3.5 Slovak Republicpage 6
2.4 Languages spoken by Roma groups in the participating countriespage 6
2.4.1 Austriapage 6
2.4.2 Croatiapage 6
2.4.3 Hungarypage 6
2.4.4 Romaniapage 6
2.4.5 Slovak Republicpage 6
III. RELEVANT COUNCIL OF EUROPE STANDARDS AND REFERENCE TEXTSpage 7
IV. LEGISLATION, POLICIES, STRUCTURES AND SPECIFIC MEASURESpage 12
4.1Protection of languages spoken by Romapage 12
4.1.1Austriapage 12
4.1.2 Croatiapage 12
4.1.3 Hungarypage 12
4.1.4Romaniapage 12
4.1.5 Slovak Republicpage 12
4.2Promotion of languages spoken by Romapage 13
4.2.1Austriapage 13
4.2.2 Croatiapage 13
4.2.3 Hungarypage 13
4.2.4Romaniapage 13
4.2.5 Slovak Republicpage 13
4.3Teaching of languages spoken by Romapage 14
4.3.1Austriapage 14
4.3.2 Croatiapage 14
4.3.3 Hungarypage 14
4.3.4Romaniapage 14
4.3.5 Slovak Republicpage 14
V. CONCLUSIONS, LESSONS LEARNT AND GOOD PRACTICES IDENTIFIEDpage 15
5.1General conclusions and lessons learnt page 15
5.2Specific conclusions and recommendationspage 16
5.3Good practices identifiedpage 20
5.4Follow-up and proposals for future thematic groups/visitspage 21
APPENDICES:page 23
Appendix 1: Formal invitation received from Croatiapage 23
Appendix 2:List of experts and participants of the thematic visitpage 23
Appendix 3:Agenda of the thematic visitpage 23
Appendix 4:Presentations delivered during the thematic visitpage 23
I. INTRODUCTION
- Background of the thematic report and visit
At the 5th CAHROM plenary meeting (Strasbourg, 14-16 May 2013), during an exchange of views between the CAHROM participants and the Secretariat of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (hereafter “the ECRML” or “the Language Charter”) on the protection of the Romani language under the Language Charter, the representative of the European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF) raised the issue of Croatia’s reservation concerning Article 7 (5) of the ECRML (i.e. a reservation concerning the application of the ECRML to non-territorial languages) [2] and requested that the Romani language be recognised and protected in conformity with the ECRML. Following this exchange of views, on 28 May 2013, the ERTF president, Mr Rudko Kawczynski, addressed a letter to Ms Vesna Pusić, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Croatian governmentregarding the withdrawal of the Croatian reservation to Article 7 (5) of the ECRML[3]. In this letter, the ERTF welcomed the fact that the Croatian government under its presidency of the Decade for Roma Inclusion (July 2012-June 2013) had included Romani language among its priorities and underlined that the decision to establish 5 November as the International Romani Language Day was taken in Croatia during a meeting of the International Romani Union (IRU) in 2008.
At the following CAHROM plenary meeting (Rome, Italy, 28-31 November 2013), the Committee heard a presentation by the Secretariat of the ECRML of the Study “Romani, Education, Segregation and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages”[4]. On that occasion, Mr Branko Sočanac, Croatian CAHROM member, announced that his authorities would withdraw their reservation by the end of 2013[5]. Additionally, he informed the Committee of the willingness of the Croatian authorities to be a requesting country for a thematic group on the protection and promotion of the Romani language. A letter from the Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities of the Government of Croatia inviting partner countries’ experts and the CAHROM Secretariat to visit Zagreb and Međimurje County on 24-26 September 2014 was received by the Secretariat on 18 July 2014 (see Appendix 1).
During that meeting, several CAHROM members expressed an interest for participating in such a thematic group, including Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, and the Slovak Republic. Following informal consultations between the CAHROM Secretariat and the Secretariat of the ECRML, the CAHROM Bureau, at its 7th meeting on 18 January 2014, on the basis of experience under the ECRML and the need to give priority to countries that have not yet participated in CAHROM thematic groups, decided to include Austria, Montenegro, Romania and the Slovak Republic as partner countries. This list was confirmed at the 8th CAHROM plenary meeting (Strasbourg, 14-6 May 2014).
However, due to the absence of nomination of an expert from Montenegro, and bearing in mind that Hungary’s experience in promoting and teaching the Boyash-Romanian language, also spoken by the Boyash community in Croatia, could be useful in the Croatian context, it was decided to replace Montenegro by Hungary which accepted to be a partner country for this thematic group.
1.2Composition of the thematic group of experts
The thematic group of experts was a mixed composition of researchers, academics, linguists, educational experts and governmental officials from the respective participating countries (see their names on the front page and their full contact details in Appendix 2).
Other interlocutors of the group of experts included members of parliament, the president of the Council of National Minorities, a representative of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, Međimurje County officials (the Deputy Prefect and the Head of Međimurje County Social Affairs and Education Department, as well as the Mayor of Orehovica municipality), leaders of the Roma and Boyash communities, in particular Roma National Council NGO representatives and Roma National Minority Council representatives, school directors, teachers and Roma school assistants in Međimurje county, the Vice-Dean and professors of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Zagreb University, the Dean and the Vice-Dean (Department in Čakovec), as well as professors of the Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb, a representative of the Centre for Peace in Vukovar, as well as the Ambassador and Deputy Head of Mission of the Romanian Embassy in Zagreb.
1.3Agenda of the thematic visit
The agenda of the thematic visit, which appears in Appendix 3, was organised by the Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities and the Roma National Council. The programme of first day included introductory remarks from governmental representatives, members of parliament and representatives of the Roma and the National Council for National Minorities (Savjet za nacionalne manjine); researchers’ presentations on the languages spoken by Roma in Croatia (i.e. Romani and Boyash Romanian), including their local variants; an exchange of views between Croatian participants and partner countries’ experts on the legal protection of languages spoken by Roma at national level and under the ECRML; Council of Europe standards, recommendations, tools and materials aimed at the promotion of Romani history, culture and language, as well as practical measures taken for the teaching of languages spoken by Roma communities in Croatia and in partner countries. On the second day, the group of experts went to Međimurje County and visited a local pre-school educational programme and a primary school in Orehovica, met with representatives of the Municipality and the Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb (the Dean, professors, and the Vice-Dean of the Department in Čakovec), and discussed self-identity and linguistic and educational needs of the Boyash community. After returning to Zagreb, Romanian-speaking members of the thematic group of experts met with the Romanian Embassy. The morning of the 3rd day was devoted to a debriefing meeting between experts of the thematic group and the Secretariat. This debriefing was attended by the representative of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports.
The group of experts had an opportunity to attend a celebration of the European Day of Languages (25 September) in Orehovica primary school during the thematic visit in Međimurje. This was a nice and emotional opportunity for the group of experts and the mayor of Orehovica to see children from various ethnic backgrounds delivering messages in various European languages, including in Boyash Romanian. On that occasion, the school showed a video made with school pupils from various ethnic backgrounds (including Roma) that won the No hate speech campaign competition in Croatia, as well as a music clip in German. One of the children also referred to the Dosta! campaign against prejudice and stereotypes towards Roma which is implemented in Croatia.
V. CONCLUSIONS, LESSONS LEARNT AND GOOD PRACTICES IDENTIFIED
5.1 General conclusions and lessons learnt
As a result of the thematic visit to Zagreb and Međimurje County, the following conclusions were drawn up:
- Preparation of the thematic visit by the requesting country
Positive aspects:
- An official invitation letter and a draft agenda were sent on time;
- The possibility was given to the CAHROM Secretariat and to partner countries’ experts to provide comments on the draft agenda;
- The agenda of both the round table and the field visit focused on the topic;
- The group of experts had an opportunity to meet with various key interlocutors (state officials, local authorities, community leaders and representatives, civil society actors, academics, school professionals, etc.);
- Local transport and excellent consecutive interpretation were provided by the hosting authorities;
- The presence during the field visit of local authorities to Čakovec and Orehovica, of the Head of Education and Social Affairs Department of Međimurje County, and of members of Zagreb and Čakovec Faculties, was a sign of a real interest of these stakeholders in the issue of linguistic rights and minority teaching of Roma communities;
- A lunch offered in Međimurje by the local authorities, as well as a dinner in Zagreb by the Roma Member of Parliament, Mr Veljko Kajtazi, provided an opportunity for additional exchanges between Croatian interlocutors and the group of experts;
- A last minute meeting arranged with the Embassy of Romania in Zagreb for Romanian-speaking experts of the thematic group helped to understand the viewpoint of the Romanian authorities as regards the Boyash community;
- The presence and active participation of the representative of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports at the last day’s debriefing meeting was highly appreciated by the group of experts.
Shortcomings:
- Partner countries’ experts and the representative of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports regretted the absence of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the thematic visit;
- The political statements at the beginning of the round table on the first day (which were not foreseen on the initial agenda and required consecutive interpretation) reduced the time for the afternoon exchange of experiences;
- Though a certain consensus was reached towards the end of the visit, the political “hidden” agenda of Roma and Boyash community leaders did not initially help a constructive approach (some experts even declaring that their vanity and ambition had very negative effects when it comes to Roma children’s rights and education);
- The representative of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and a number of Croatian participants could not stay until the end of the first day’s meeting and therefore only heard partner countries’ presentations from Hungary and Austria which led to some frustration from the side of experts from Romania and the Slovak Republic who came to Croatia to establish dialogue and share their experience. This was however solved with the above mentioned participation of the representative of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports at the debriefing meeting;
- The group of experts missed the presence of Ashkali representatives at the meeting. Not all of them are Romani speakers; many are in fact Albanian speakers. This would have allowed the group of experts to have a full picture of Croatia’s Roma linguistic situation and expectations.
- Preparation of the thematic report
During the field visit, it was decided to include Dr Petar Radosavljević in the list of experts of the thematic group as he participated in all the discussions and is a valuable linguistic expert for Boyash Romanian, whilst Dr Zoran Lapov provided expertise for the Romani language.
At the debriefing meeting, the group of experts agreed to rename the report thematic report on the protection and promotion of languages spoken by Roma in order to better reflect the scope of discussions held during the thematic visit.
5.2Specific conclusions and recommendations
5.2.1Reservation introduced by Croatia in its ratification instrument of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
The group of experts strongly encouraged the Croatian government to lift its reservation concerning Article 7 (5) of the ECRML as soon as possible. They underlined that keeping such a reservation constituted a strange paradox bearing in mind inter alia that:
- Roma are one of the 22 national minorities officially recognised in Croatia;
- Roma are represented in parliament and have established national and local Roma national minority councils according to Croatian legislation;
- Many of the requirements under the ECRML are already applied in Croatia (sometimes to a greater extent than in some State Parties to the ECRML). For example there is documented research on the languages and local variants spoken by Roma communities in Croatia (both on Romani and on Boyash Romanian); education material is published in the Romani language (two dictionaries, grammar books); studies on Romani language, culture and history (including during the Holocaust) exist; journals and specific webpages or internet contents are partly published in Romani; summer schools (ljetne škole) on Romani language; a Romani language and culture class was opened two years ago at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Zagreb University for Roma and non-Roma students; 23 Romani and Boyash Romanian-speaking school assistants in total who are present in a number of pre-schools and primary education classes; radio and TV programmes exist in the Romani language; music is available in both Romani and Boyash-Romanian languages, Romani culture is promoted through cinema, concerts, festival, arts exhibitions, theatre, and other cultural events;
- Under its presidency of the Decade for Roma Inclusion (July 2012-June 2013), the Croatian government promoted the Romani language as one of its Decade priorities;
- The decision to establish 5 November as the International Romani Language Day was taken during the 7th Congress of the International Romani Union in Croatia in 2008.
The group of experts took note that this reservation should soon be lifted by the Croatian authorities. Mr Sočanac, Director of the Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities, explained that the Croatian Government had already taken a positive decision in this regard and that delay was due to bureaucratic procedures. He hoped that he could announce the lifting of this reservation at the next CAHROM meeting in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (28-31 October 2014).
The group of experts also took note that Ms Nada Jakir, the representative of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, was in favour of lifting the reservation. She underlined however that this was a complex issue which required careful attention and preparation for effective implementation. She ensured that funding for the promotion and teaching of languages spoken by Roma was available under the budget allocated for national minority languages despite the economic crisis. However, this might imply a redistribution of the overall envelope between all minority languages, should Romani and Boyash Romanian be included in the teachers’ training and scholarship programmes of the Ministry. As it would certainly lead to disagreements between minorities and would not benefit the image of the Roma, the group of experts strongly advised against a cut in other minority languages’ envelope.
5.2.2Protection of languages spoken by Roma in Croatia
The group of experts took note of presentations made by Dr Zoran Lapov on the Romani language and its variants spoken in Croatia, and by Dr Petar Radosavljević on Boyash Romanian and its three variants spoken in Croatia (namely Transylvanian, Baranja Muntenian and Ludari Muntenian)[6]. The group of experts heard several concerns expressed by a number of interlocutors they met during the thematic visit and complementary information provided by experts from Austria and Romania which can be summarized as follows:
- Mr Veljko Kajtazi, Member of Parliament and President of the Roma National Council[7], recalled that there is only one Romani language: Romani (R(r)omani ćhib/čhib)[8];
- Mr Željko Balog, Deputy Mayor of the Pribislavec municipality[9], leader of the Boyash community in Međimurje and President of the Roma National Minority Council of Međimurje County[10], recalled that the language spoken by his community was an idiom of standard Romanian that should not be considered as a separate language;
- The Austrian expert, Dr Dieter Halwachs, who is one of the experts of the ECRML Experts’ Committee, recalled that this Committee, in its 5th evaluation report adopted on 24 September 2014, uses the concept of Boyash Romanian and that the Language Charter does not cover ethnic groups, nor dialects but regional or minority languages.
- The Romanian expert, Prof Dr Sarău, recalled that ljimba d’ B(a)jaš (which can also be transcripted ljimba alu Bajašalor) is therefore not another dialect of Romanian but an idiom (grai in Romanian as opposed to dialect) of Dacoromanian (i.e. standard Romanian). He recalled that Boyash where they live have been acculturated to Roma and are present in different countries under different names: in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Karavlachs; Karavlasi in Bosnian), in Bulgaria (Rudari), in Croatia (Bayash; Bajaš in Croatian), in Hungary (Beash; Béas in Hungarian), in Romania (Rudari or Boyash; Rudari/Băiaşi in Romanian), in Serbia (Banyash; Banjaš in Serbian), as well as, to a lesser extent, in Greece, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Ukraine.
The Croatian participants, in particular from the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and of the Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities, took note of the Hungarian precedent of recognising two languages under the Language Charter for one single national/ethnic minority. As explained by the Hungarian expert, Hungary recognises Roma languages, i.e. Romani (R(r)omani ćhib/čhib) and Boyash (Béas) under the ECRML. The Austrian expert also referred to the example of Norway which applies the Language Charter to both Romanes (spoken by Norwegian Roma) and Romani (spoken by Norwegian Travellers) as separate non-territorial languages.
Whilst the Hungarian example offers the possibility for Croatia to apply the Language Charter to two languages spoken by one minority group, the terminology “Roma languages” used in Hungary was not considered as the most appropriate in the Croatian context. The speakers of Romani wish to underline that there is only one Romani language (R(r)omani ćhib/čhib) (“Roma languages” might be misunderstood as “Romani languages” in plural); however, Boyash community leaders wish to underline that they speak an idiom of the standard Romanian language and not a language on its own (which is also the view shared by the Romanian Embassy in Zagreb).
Having carefully heard all these various opinions, whilst there seemed to be no problem regarding the use of Romani (R(r)omani ćhib/čhib) to designate the language spoken by Romani-speaking Roma, the group of experts came to the conclusion that Boyash Romanian should be used in the Croatian context instead of simply Boyash (as it is not a language on its own) or simply Romanian (as this variety has specific linguistic features and would disconnect the Boyash community from the Roma national minority to which they are acculturated). The term Boyash Romanian (which is also the terminology proposed by the Secretariat of the ECRML) seems to be the most acceptable term by everybody, i.e. by all experts of the thematic group, by Boyash leaders in Međimurje, by the Romanian Embassy in Zagreb and by Croatian official interlocutors (the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and the Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities).
The group of experts would therefore recommend Croatian authorities to withdraw their reservation to Article 7 (5) of the ECRML and apply the Language Charter to “languages spoken by Roma in Croatia: Romani and Boyash Romanian”. [11]
Whilst this compromise was a positive outcome of lengthy discussions and could be the starting point for governmental action for these two linguistic groups who are requesting governmental recognition and support, experts of the thematic group underlined that this does not fully reflect the linguistic spectrum of Roma in Croatia since there is a third linguistic category, i.e. the Albanian-speaking Ashkali who are estimated to be 5% of the total estimated number of Roma in Croatia (30,000-40,000)[12]. Since there was no meeting organised with Ashkali representatives, their view could not be taken into consideration. The experts of the thematic group wish to recall that in several member States of the Council of Europe, Ashkali do not want to be recognised as Roma (unlike Boyash). In the absence of present claims from the part of Ashkali living in Croatia, the group of experts would advise the Croatian government to go ahead, without further delay, with two languages, i.e. Romani and Boyash Romanian. In addition, Ashkali’s linguistic needs could be partially met by making them benefit from language classes already delivered in Albanian (which is not an option for Boyash Romanian since standard Romanian is not yet taught in Croatia).
5.2.3Promotion of languages spoken by Roma in Croatia
The group of experts concentrated its discussion on the teaching of Romani and Boyash Romanian and did not have enough time to address the use of Romani and Boyash Romanian in the media or public life. However concrete examples of such use can be found in the Hungarian, Romanian and Slovak presentations, including the use by these countries of European Structural Funds to promote the languages spoken by Roma.
The group of experts took note of a rather large set of existing instruments of language promotion, available for the Romani language in Croatia[13]. Concrete experiences in the field of Romani teaching, as well as initiatives regarding the promotion of Romani language and culture in Croatia, are not missing. They are extremely important as they pave a basis for a further promotion of Romani teaching and usage in Croatia.
Whatever their characterisation might be, and considering the context and available conditions, these experiences are mainly implemented as:
→ Extra-curricular initiatives (not to say “interventions”), e.g. lessons on Romani or, to a lesser extent, in Romani, with the goal of raising socio-cultural awareness; yet, the main outcome is the following: it is mainly about teaching on Romani culture and history, and less about teaching on or in the Romani language;
→ Another field is one seeing Romani as a “bridge” (auxiliary) language in teaching activities aimed at acquiring or improving a competence in the majority language – cases are quite rare as most Roma are (at least) bilingual and usually know the majority language; the goal is to bridge gaps in education, while the main outcome has been: “teaching assistants” or “facilitators”, which often turn into a kind of “mediators.”
What sounds problematic to the group of experts is the usage of these instruments which proves to be too irregular, isolated and discontinuous, almost “self-referent”, especially in the field of teaching (cf. the next chapter). Romani still waits to be recognised by lifting the reservation under the ECRML (but not exclusively), which would help in its promotion.
5.2.4Teaching of languages spoken by Roma in Croatia
The group of experts believes that Romani and Boyash Romanian should both be recognised as minority languages spoken by Roma and included in the programme and budget of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports in addition to the 14 already covered minority languages. The experts of the thematic group agreed with the representative of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports that the C model[14] seemed to be the most adapted for the teaching of Romani and Boyash Romanian in Croatia for the time being.
The experts’ view was that training of teachers proposed and financed by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports should not be limited to training teachers how to teach Roma children but also how to teach Romani and Boyash Romanian as is the case for other teachers’ training on minority languages.
The group of experts would also encourage Croatian education authorities to progressively diminish the number of shifts for Roma and non Roma pupils’ education which would also allow more time for intercultural activities and minority language learning.
As proposed by the Faculty of Teacher Education (Department in Čakovec), further training on how to teach Croatian as a second language, as well as intercultural methods, should be further developed for pre-school and primary school teachers teaching Roma children.
As regards more specifically Romani:
All of the past and current experiences should jointly converge into an integrated but plural offer of Romani educational programmes. To do so, the group of experts believes that efforts should be made to extract Romani teaching from a mere political agenda so as to include it in general pedagogical planning instead. With this, Romani should not be excluded from school classes (clear “NO” to special or segregated classes[15]).
School and education systems should play an important role in this process by adopting and implementing the set of available experiences and language promotion instruments, and transforming both into specific curricula, based on intercultural methodologies aimed at community capacity building and pro-active citizen participation starting with education (e.g. Romani as both a taught and learnt language, interactive workshops involving Romani, multilingual education, amongst others).
On these grounds, pedagogical research and publishing production of textbooks and other materials aimed at Romani teaching should be fostered. Last but not least, lack of teaching staff calls for planning specific programmes aimed at teachers' training.
The group of experts suggests further developing summer schools to train educational assistants and teachers of Romani language in the three most widely spoken variants used in Croatia. Furthermore, one should slowly move from the introduction of the study of Romani in kindergartens, schools, and colleges, towards a formal discipline (3-4 hours weekly)[16].
Whilst there seems to exist teaching material in Romani, textbooks in Romani are rather scarce and should be developed or imported from other countries (and, if needed, adapted to local variants of Romani spoken in Croatia).
Romani language and culture classes introduced at Zagreb University should be supported and promoted elsewhere in Croatia. Roma students should be encouraged and supported to attend these classes (so far students attending the pilot project are essentially non Roma students). Furthermore, the Romani culture could also become part of pre-school and school curricula, by all means in minority education, and, as far as possible, for all students. Roma minority cultural education would indeed boost students’ identity and self-esteem, and thus contribute to school success and support their personality development in the long run.
As regards more specifically Boyash Romanian:
The group of experts suggested that Boyash children should be initially taught through pre-school and primary education (e.g. until the 5th grade) the local variant of Boyash Romanian, using a script which should be as close as possible to standard Romanian but linguistically and didactically appropriate, taking into account the specific features of Boyash Romanian[17]. For those Boyash children who would express the wish to learn standard Romanian this could be progressively proposed as an option (e.g. as from the 5th grade). This approach, proposed in Međimurje, received support from participants, including Boyash leaders and teachers. The same approach was also suggested by the Romanian Embassy in Zagreb. The Austrian expert recalled a similar experience carried out in Burgenland, Austria, for Burgenland Croats who speak an old variant of the Croatian language. Following the failure to introduce standard Croatian from the first grade, these children start learning the local form of Croatian and, are progressively given the possibility to learn standard Croatian, after the third grade.
Teachers and school assistants originating from the Boyash community could be trained to use and teach Boyash Romanian and its relevant script[18]. As a mid-term objective, Romanian-speaking students in Croatia finishing faculties could be offered and trained to teach Boyash Romanian and eventually standard Romanian once this option has been introduced. There is indeed already a BA and an MA in Romanian language and literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (University of Zagreb) and an optional course in Boyash linguistic varieties. It was also agreed during the thematic visit that an optional course in Boyash Romanian for future teachers will be introduced at the Faculty of Teacher Education.
The Romanian authorities could be approached to provide teaching material in standard Romanian language for those who wish to learn standard Romanian. Both the representative of the Ministry of Education of Romania and the Romanian Embassy were positive about this possibility, as well as about pursuing the practice of offering summer schools of Romanian language in Romania.
Similar language and culture faculty classes, as those introduced for Romani in Zagreb University, could be developed for students interested in Boyash culture at universities in relevant counties. Interested students of Boyash origin should be also encouraged to study Romanian language and literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb.
5.3Good practices identified
- Austrian example of teaching local variant of Croatian language to Burgenland Croats and then, after 3-4 years, children start to learn standard Croatian;
- Croatian experience of Summer schools and University courses of Romani at Zagreb University, Croatia;
- Croatian examples of inclusive education, such as Orehovica pre-school and primary schools in Međimurje County;
- Hungarian example of applying the Language Charter to Roma who speak different languages (to be adapted to the Croatian context – see above);
- Hungarian experience in producing teaching material in Romani and Boyash (Béas), also using European Structural Funds to do so;
- Experience of several Hungarian schools (e.g. the Gandhi Foundation Grammar and Boarding School in Pécs), for the teaching of Romani and/or Boyash (Béas);
- Hungarian example of teaching Romani culture and ethnography from pre-school up to the end of secondary school within the framework of minority education (based on existing curricula);
- Romania’s vast experience in teaching Romani at all educational levels[19], and producing teaching material in Romani[20];
- Romanian example of employing three types of Roma human resources profile (Roma teachers, Roma school inspectors and Roma mediators) in the educational system[21];
- Romanian flexible experience which consists in forming potential teachers of Romani language in “two-stages”[22];
- Slovak experience in producing teaching material in Romani, and also using European Structural Funds to do so;
- Slovak experience in implementing the Curriculum Framework for Romani (CFR) and the corresponding European Language Portfolio Models (ELPs) which are based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages developed by the Council of Europe;
- Slovak experience in mapping Roma communities which could be used by the Croatian Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities which is going to conduct a similar mapping exercise.
5.4Follow-up and proposals for future thematic groups/visits
- Follow-up visits to Austria (Burgenland and European Centre for Modern Languages in Graz), Hungary (Pécs University and local schools), Romania and Slovakia could be explored (possibly under EU-funded cross-border programmes) for representatives of the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, the Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities and relevant departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to further study partner countries’ experience;
- The Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and/or the Government Office of Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities could organise a follow-up meeting with Roma and Boyash leaders to explain the solution(s) envisaged as regards the protection and teaching of Romani and Boyash Romanian;
- A similar information meeting could be organised by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and/or the Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities for teachers, school directors, as well as Roma and Boyash school assistants, on the right terminology to be used to avoid, for example, the use of “Roma language” or the inappropriate distribution of material in Romani language for Boyash Romanian-speaking children and vice versa;
- Training on how to teach Croatian as a second language, as well as intercultural methods, could be further developed by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports for pre-school and primary school teachers teaching to Roma children;
- Based on two recent positive experiences, summer schools for Croatian children speaking Boyash Romanian at home could be further arranged in Romania (including visits to Boyash/Rudari communities living in Romania for the revitalization of the Boyash idiom through direct communication[23];
- Experts from Hungary, Romania and the Slovak Republic, could provide Croatia with Romani teaching material and textbooks in Romani or provide assistance to Croatia to develop its own textbooks (both for Romani and Boyash-Romanian)[24];
- The European Centre of Modern Languages in Graz, Austria, could assist with the methodology for Romani teachers’ training (using modules of the framework curriculum adapted to local variants of Romani);
- A similar module could be developed by the European Centre of Modern Languages in Graz, Austria, for Boyash Romanian and its local variants;
- In the mid-term, the Romanian government/Ministry of Education could provide support with teaching material and teachers in standard Romanian for children from Boyash and other communities who would like to learn standard Romanian;
- The expertise of Croatian experts in linguistics, such as Dr Zoran Lapov and Dr Petar Radosavljević, could be used in the process aimed at producing pedagogical programmes and teaching material in Romani and Romanian Boyash respectively;
- Dr Petar Radosavljević could contribute to the development of a script for the Boyash Romanian variants spoken in Croatia making sure that the script used would be as close as possible to standard Romanian in order to facilitate the future learning of standard Romanian, whilst also being linguistically and didactically appropriate;
- Dr Zoran Lapov’s expertise in Romani language and local variants spoken in Croatia could equally be used to promote the teaching of the Romani language and the production of textbooks;
- The example of inclusive education of Orehovica pre-school and primary schools (Međimurje, Croatia) could be introduced in the on-line European database of Roma-related good practices;
- The Orehovica primary school video spot which won the No hate speech campaign competition in Croatia could be posted on the Dosta! campaign website;
- The representative of the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports could be invited to the International Conference on the teaching of Roma history co-organised by the Italian Ministry of Education and the Council of Europe in Rome, Italy, on 10-11 December 2014;
- The Roma history factsheets published by the Council of Europe, already available in nine languages (Albanian, English, French, German, Italian, Romani, Romanian, Serbian and Swedish), could be translated into Croatian;
- The next population census in Croatia could propose separate entries for mother tongue/languages spoken by those persons who identify themselves as Roma (including Croatian, Romani, Boyash Romanian, Albanian and Hungarian) so as to obtain a better overview of the linguistic reality of Roma communities living in Croatia.
In addition, the Romanian expert of the thematic group has proposed the following: “given that, 25 years after the opening of the former communist countries to democracy, the study of/in the Romani language is still at its beginning in these countries, or does not even exist at all, meetings, such as those carried out in the framework of the CAHROM thematic visit to Croatia, should be organised on a more regular basis by the Education Directorate of the Council of Europe (associating the Secretariat and the Committee of Experts of the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the CAHROM and other relevant structures of the Council of Europe), in the form of local meetings[25] in different countries. Specialists, i.e. people who have proved that they know their specific field very well, from countries other than the country in which consultations are conducted could be invited to such meetings with the aim of debating and responding to the following questions:
- How is the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages implemented at the educational level in State Parties?
- How – if at all – have the Curriculum Framework for Romani (CFR) and the corresponding European Language Portfolio Models (ELPs) - which are based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages developed by the Council of Europe - been implemented?
- What progress has been made year after year? (which would imply annual meetings)
- What declines have been noted? What difficulties have been met?
- What kinds of measures are being taken in the educational system to employ/include Roma human resources (e.g. teachers, educational assistants, professors, principals, inspectors, mediators, etc.)?
- What training measures are being taken by the educational system to have human resource education for Romani language teaching / for native Romani language teaching / for teaching Roma history and traditions?”
APPENDIXProgramme of the thematic visit to Croatia, on 24 to 26 September 2014
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Government of the Republic of Croatia Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities |
ROMSKO NACIONALNO VIJEĆE RROMANO NACIONALNIKANO KONSILO ROMA NATIONAL COUNCIL |
University of Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
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FINAL PROGRAMME OF THE VISIT
OF THE CAHROM THEMATIC GROUP OF EXPERTS TO CROATIA
ON THE PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF THE ROMANI LANGUAGE
(Zagreb and Međimurje, CROATIA, 24-26 SEPTEMBER 2014)
Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Venue: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. Address: Ivana Lučića 3, HR-10000 Zagreb
9.00-9.30Registration
9.30-10.00 1. OPENING OF THE THEMATIC VISIT AND INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC
9.30-10.001.1 Opening words
- Mr Branko Sočanac, Director of the Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities of the Republic of Croatia
- Ms Ivana Franić, Vice - Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
- Mr Veljko Kajtazi, MP, President of the Roma National Council
-Mr Furio Radin, MP
-Mr Aleksandar Tolnauer, President of the Council for National Minorities
-Mr Michaël Guet, Head of the „I-Care“ Unit, Secretary of CAHROM, Support Team of the
Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma issues, Council of Europe
10:00 – 10:15Coffee break
10.15-10.401.2 Short introduction to Council of Europe standards, recommendations, tools and material
- Ms Isabela Mihalache, Project manager, I-CARE Unit, Support Team of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues, Council of Europe
- Mr Dieter Halwachs, Austria, in his capacity of expert of the Experts’ Committee of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
Discussion, questions and answers
10.40-13.002. THE SITUATION IN CROATIA, HOSTING COUNTRY
- Introduction to the Romani language and Boyash-Romanian dialect and their variants/varieties spoken in Croatia
- Mr Zoran Lapov: Romani language and its variants spoken in Croatia and possible introduction of Romani in national curriculum/local curricula
- Mr Petar Radosavljević: Boyash-Romanian dialect and its varieties spoken in Croatia
Discussion, questions and answers
- Situation as regards the legal protection and teaching of the Romani language and Boyash-Romanian dialect in Croatia
- Mr Ljubomir Mikic, (Centre for Peace, Vukovar) on minority languages in Croatian legislation
- Ms Nada Jakir (Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports) on minority languages in education in Croatia with a special reference to Roma minority
Discussion, questions and answers
13.00-14.00Lunch break
14.00-16.003. EXCHANGE OF VIEWS AND PRACTICES WITH PARTNER COUNTRIES
14.00-14.303.1 Situation and practices in Austria
- Mr Dieter Halwachs
14.30-15.003.2 Situation and practices in Hungary
- Ms Zsófia Pillár
15.00-15.30Discussion, questions and answers
15.30-16.00Coffee break
16.00-16.303.3 Situation in Romania
- Mr Gheorghe Sarău
16.30-17.003.4 Situation in the Slovak Republic
- Mr Ján Hero
17.00-17.30Discussion, questions and answers
17.30-18.00Conclusions of the first day
___________________
Thursday, 25 September 2014
FIELD VISIT TO MEĐIMURJE
9.00 Departure from the reception of the Hotel to Međimurje County
10.30-13.00 Visit to a local preschool educational programme and primary school in Orehovica, in the presence of representatives of the local Boyash community
Discussion, including about the linguistics needs of the Boyash community
13.00-14.00Lunch break
14.00-16.00Visit to the Međimurje County and meeting with Teachers’ Academy in Čakovec, County authorities and Međimurje County Roma Minority Council
Discussion, including about the possibility to introduce classes in Boyash-Romanian dialect
16.00Return to Zagreb
17.00End of the second day
Friday, 26 September 2014
Venue: Hotel Arcotel Allegra, Branimirova 29, HR-10000 Zagreb
9.30-11.30Debriefing meeting between the experts of the CAHROM thematic group (from the host and partner countries), the representative of the Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports and the Secretariat of the Council of Europe
Main conclusions as regards the way forward;
Main issues and conclusions to be highlighted in the thematic report;
Lessons learnt regarding the topic and the organisation of the thematic visit;
Good practices identified in the requesting/partner countries to be highlighted in the thematic report;
Possible follow-up envisaged to the CAHROM thematic visit, including joint initiatives and projects, as well as bilateral/multilateral cooperation;
Information about the preparation and presentation of the CAHROM thematic report;
Additional information and documents to be provided by requesting/partner countries;
Timeframe for the preparation of the thematic report and input desirable from each requesting/partner countries’ expert.
11.30Checking-out from the hotel.
12.00-13.00Departure from the hotel to Zagreb airport.