According to the 2011 population and housing census, 2,115 Roma people were living in Lithuania. Since 1989, the number of Roma in the country is gradually decreasing. In 1989, 2,718 Roma people were living in Lithuania; in 2001 – 2,571.

According to the 2011 data, 81% of Roma lived in urban areas, 19% – in rural areas. Most of the Roma lived in Vilnius (38% - 814 persons), Kaunas (23% - 482 persons), Šiauliai (11 % - 224 persons), Marijampolė (10% - 214 persons) and Panevėžys (7 % - 145 persons) counties.

The age structure of the Roma ethnic group is unique in the context of entire country, notably large share – even 49% – of all Roma people are children and youth under 20 years of age. While in overall Lithuanian population, children and young people (0-19 years) represent 22% of all Lithuanian population. In comparison with the 2001 general population and housing census, the share of children and youth within the Roma group has increased by 3%, while in the whole of Lithuania the opposite trend is observed – the population share in this age group in the general structure of society has decreased from 27 to 22 %.

ROMA AND THE LABOUR MARKET

Since 2004, three projects were implemented that have helped disadvantaged and socially excluded Roma integrate into the labour market ("Development and Testing of the mechanism for Roma integration into the labour market", "Look back at the Roma: innovative measures for involvement of Roma into the labour market", European Roma culture and business park "Bahtalo Drom", "Let us work together with the Roma – new job opportunities and challenges"). Within the projects, models for Roma employment were developed and tested, training programs and methodical recommendations for recruitment specialists were prepared. Currently there is an ongoing project "Let us work together with the Roma – new job opportunities and challenges".

ROMA IN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

The data of 2001 and 2011 population and housing censuses revealed significant changes in education – in 2011, education of Roma people grew significantly. The number of illiterate and primary school dropouts decreased by several times; the share of Roma with primary education increased, and also the number of people with basic education increased. However, there is a notable decline in the number of people with secondary and tertiary education.

Education of Roma children changed noticeably in 2001-2015 – compared to the data of 2001, illiteracy and incomplete primary education in this age group decreased by 39% (2001 – 47%, 2011 – 11%, 2015 – 8 %), the number of people with basic education increased from 7 % to 27%. In 2011, Roma children (10-19 years) education differed distinctly from peers across Lithuania only in acquiring secondary education, while literacy, primary and basic education indicators differed by 1-5 % (in 2001, these differences were 11 to 36%).

Roma children and young people are attending non-formal education groups and participate in other activities after school. According to the 2015 data, 33% of Roma children attend children's day-care or children's activity centres.

ROMA IN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

The 2015-2020 Action Plan for Integration of Roma into Lithuanian Society provides for increasing the availability of health services for Roma people. This is important because the Roma are at greater risk of being in the category of persons without compulsory health insurance, thereby losing access to all statutory health care services.

Among people without the Compulsory Health Insurance (CHI) there are more men (20%) than women (9%) – usually these are unemployed and unregistered with the labour exchange persons. Insured by CHI are all children under the age of 18, as well as women, which receive statutory maternity leave, and unemployed women during their pregnancy period for 70 days. 2015 survey revealed that 29% of Roma evaluated their health as "bad and very bad", 50% noted that they have chronic diseases or have long-term health problems. In the Roma group, women more often mentioned long-term health problems, 25% of surveyed women said that in the past year they did not receive the necessary medical attention, 31% did not seek medical attention because of lack of time (due to child care, employment). 26% of Roma indicated fear of treatment and hospitals as the main reason why they did not receive the necessary medical consultations.

WOMEN'S SITUATION

In the group of Lithuanian Roma, there is a slightly higher proportion of women than men. Significant differences in the gender distribution are visible in the group of Roma people aged 30 and older – here women account for 57%, men – 43% of Lithuanian Roma.

There are differences in education of Roma women and men, but they are not very big – slightly more women are illiterate and without primary education (difference – 1%), or with only primary education (difference – 3%), there are slightly more men with completed primary education (difference – 4%).

Integration of women into the labour market is particularly compounded by early marriage – about a quarter (25%) of Roma girls give birth to their first child while still being minors (younger than 18 years).

Although the number of women actively involved in social and political life is not big, their activities are very important for strengthening the integration of the Roma minority in Lithuania. Of the seven Roma non-governmental organizations that are active, four are led by women. In the Council of Ethnic Communities, the Roma minority is represented by Božena Karvelienė, the chairperson of the "House of Roma Integration".

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ROMA RIGHT TO HOUSING

Roma often live in the state or municipality owned housing. Less Roma people have their own houses owned by private property rights, for Roma people it is difficult to rent housing from private individuals because of discrimination and negative attitudes of society. Results of the survey of public attitudes for the period of 2009–2013 show that about two-thirds of Lithuania's population would not want to rent housing to Roma.

Although Roma households tend to be larger (on average 4.8 persons live in one Roma household), the average Roma housing area is less than the national average housing area. A similar number (28%) of Roma families live in small and large blocks of multi-flat residential buildings.

The Roma people are one of the oldest ethnic minorities in Latvia, and have been an integral part of Latvia’s cultural diversity since the 16th century. The Roma community in Latvia is relatively small. According to data from the population register of the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs there were 7,456 Roma living in Latvia as at 1 January 2017, comprising 0.3% of the total population.

Number of Roma people in Latvia registered by the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs:

But in the accordance to the Central Statistical Bureau in 2016 there were 5,297 Roma people permanently residing in Latvia. It should be noted that officially available statistical data reflect only those Roma who have indicated to be of Roma ethnicity. The last large scale survey „Roma in Latvia” data show that almost half of the interviewed Roma (49,3%) answered negative about their ethnicity record in the passport, while 12,9% admitted that another nationality is stated, and only 36,5% recognized themselves as Roma in the passport.

Of all the Roma that are registered officially, 94,4% are Latvian citizens, and of these approximately 70% speak Latvian. A large majority of Roma regard the Romani language as their mother tongue.

Over the last century Latvia’s Roma have mainly lived a settled way of life and are not characterized by extensive travel and wide-spread migration. Based on the available data the majority of Roma live in the large towns (see below):

In Latvia there is no so-called ghettoisation of the Roma community or segregation at the regional or local level; the Roma have formed a territorially heterogeneous group that communicates actively with the local community. Two different groups of Roma have lived in Latvia since ancient times: the Latvian Roma (Loftitke Roma) and the Russian Roma (Xaladytka Roma), whose differences manifest themselves territorially, linguistically, culturally and in their traditional way of life. In everyday communication most (87,5%) of the Roma families use the Romanes (rest: Latvian and Russian).

Roma Integration Policy

In 2011 Latvian state has developed a set of national Roma integration policy measures^[1] (hereinafter – measures), which have been included in the National identity, civil society and integration policy guidelines 2012 – 2018. Current measures of Roma integration policy are reflected in the implementation plan of the National identity, civil society and integration policy guidelines for the period up to 2016.

Experts and representatives from the responsible state bodies and local authorities, as well as representatives from the Roma community were involved in the process of designing, implementation and evaluation of the Roma integration policy measures by the participation in the Council supervising the implementation of Roma integration policy measures (hereinafter – the Council). The Council is set up by the Ministry of Culture in 2012. The main aim of the Council is to assess and foster the policy for Roma integration, as well as to promote civil participation of the Roma community and to strengthen cooperation between the Roma community and national authorities. The Ministry of Culture as a responsible Governmental body for the coordination of implementation Roma integration policy, actively uses the Council as a platform to analyse and discuss the results of the Roma integration policy implementation, to present and share initiatives and challenges for development of Roma integration, to plan future policy measures. Since the Council was established in 2012, 6 Roma representatives, who are involved in the Council, had an active participation and made many proposals and suggestions to improve Roma integration policy at national level. 

The Network of regional experts on Roma integration issues (thereafter – the Network) is set in October 2014 by The Ministry of Culture. The main aim of the Network is to foster regular exchange of best practices, experience and sharing information, providing consultations and informative support to the local government in order to use the programs of national and EU structure funds effectively as well as to develop cooperation between experts of local governments, representatives of Roma communities and the Ministry of Culture in order to make the implementation and designing of the Roma integration policy measures more effective.

Roma representatives are members also of such governmental consultative bodies: The Minorities Consulting Council of the President of the Republic of Latvia, The Consulting Council in Ethnic Minority Education Affairs of the Ministry of Education and Science, The Consultative Council of National minorities of the Ministry of Culture. As well representatives of Roma community are the members of several committees of municipalities at local level (Jelgava, Valmiera, Daugavpils).

The survey “Roma in Latvia” is conducted in 2015 aimed at the monitoring the situation of Roma in Latvia in the key areas - access to education, employment, healthcare and housing, identifying best practises and providing better elaboration and implementation of Roma inclusion policy in Latvia.^[2] The study reveals that the Roma are to be considered a population group of risk-at-poverty. A considerable part of Roma households experience financial scarcity – the monthly income of more than one third (35,6%) of the interviewed does not exceed EUR 60 per household member; and less than one third (9,4%) has accruals of over EUR 250 for covering unplanned expenses (e.g. medicine, operations); the status of low income or needy people is officially granted to more than half (53,7%) of the interviewed.

In general the Roma are informed where to seek assistance in everyday life situations related to education, employment, health care and housing. They are well-aware concerning everyday life situations, but there is comparatively low awareness about activities the implementation of which requires self-initiative or commitment.

Education as priority area of Roma integration

Results education level of almost half of the Roma (48,8%) does not meet the Ministry of Education and Science requirement of compulsory primary education. Due to this reason education is the national priority of Roma integration policy. The policy is focused on providing early-education, primary and secondary education to Roma and to motivate Roma parents to send their children in the school and to follow their achievement in the process of education.

Though the situation of Roma education has slightly improved during the last ten year period, the comparatively low education level among Roma population still one of the basic problems for Roma social economic integration in Latvian society – 8,9% of the interviewed Roma have never attended school, 39,9% left primary school at different stages (among them almost one third (31,3%) before reaching form 7), one third (34%) have primary education, while only 17,2% have higher than primary education.

According to the data of the Ministry of Education and Science  the number of educational institutions, where Roma pupils are learning, has risen (20% of the total number of educational institutions; in 2014 there were 16%). Significantly reduced the number of Roma students who had not obtained the compulsory primary education - 2015/2016 year 7.5% of the total number of Roma pupils had not obtained the compulsory primary education; in 2014 there were 15%. At the moment only 4 Roma teacher assistants worked in general education institutions. 21,5% of the total number of Roma students are provided with additional training measures (in 2014 - 26,4%). Number of Roma pupils in education and general secondary education institutions remains the same as that in previous years (3.6% of the total number of Roma pupils in 2015/2016).

Figure 1. Number of Roma in Latvia and Roma pupils in mainstream educational institutions

Source: The Ministry of Culture, 2016

Ministry of Education and Science monitoring data show that 15,9% of Roma children are early school leavers and 250 children at school are in forms which are not appropriate to their age. Most of early school leavers are of the age 13-14 years when Roma adolescents choose to start a family and leave school.

Figure 2.Number of Roma pupils in mainstream educational system

Source: The Ministry of Education and Science, 2016

Above mentioned study reveals the positive role of Roma teacher-assistants (as well as Roma mediators) especially in the pre-school and primary school period.

The most significant achievement in last three years is the project “Integration incubator to support Roma children and youth” where mediators with Roma background are trained and employed in the resource centres for Roma children and their parents. The project is implemented by the NGO “Center for Education Initiatives” in cooperation with municipalities of Daugavpils City, Jelgava city, Valmiera city, Valdermarpils city and Ventspils city. There are 4 Resource centres established for Roma children and young people in October 2014, where Roma children can get support and improve their communication and civic skills. The main actors of the Resource centres are Roma mediators which promote the bridge and link between Roma community and local government institutions (especially educational institutions).  There are 5 Roma mediators worked in these centres.

Labour market

The Roma people do not have equal opportunities to integrate into the labour market due to their low-level education, which practically not only excludes more than two thirds of Latvian Roma from the labour market but also limits their access to the employment promotion support measures as only those unemployed persons qualify for the professional development courses and courses for developing skills offered by the SEA who have completed the seventh grade education programme.

32,4% of economically active Roma declared they were employed, which means that in comparison with 2003 when according to researchers only 10% were employed, the situation has improved. But the Roma have limited opportunities to be employed – the survey results show that in 40,5% households there is no legally working family member and the family mainly lives on social benefits and other financial aid.

Figure 3. Statistical portrait of unemployed Roma (31.12.2016.)

Source: State Employment Agency, 2016.

Health

Regarding to the Roma health, the results of the survey shows that 98,2% of the surveyed Roma have their own family doctor and that during the last year, 87,8% of respondents have visited their family doctor in connection with their health problems or those of their children (almost half of them or 47,5% have done it in the last month).

Housing

In accordance to the outcomes of the study, average of 75%-80 % of Roma families that live in Latvia encounter difficulties in the availability of housing and its quality provision. Low and irregular employment and insufficient income along with the absence of savings reduce Roma possibilities not only to rent or acquire housing but also cause difficulties in the maintenance of housing and deny them the possibility to enjoy the needed and desired living conditions in the chosen housing.

Some municipalities with significant number of Roma population provide support for social housing for socially disadvantaged Roma families. Roma make an active use of the assistance the municipalities and NGOs provide in housing area. The most frequently used possibility is to receive from the municipality an housing benefit – in the last three years more than half of the surveyed persons (53,7%) have received it.

The Roma are an ethnic group found mostly in Europe, who has lived in the territory making up modern-day Moldova since beginning of the 15th century (1414)^[3]. There are no exact figures regarding the number of Roma living in the Republic of Moldova, which continues to pose challenges when discussing policies and programmes on Roma. The official data of the census in 2014 counted 9,323 Roma in the Republic of Moldova^[4]; as well data collected by the Bureau of Inter-ethnic Relations in 2012, suggest that the figure is closer to 20,000; while Roma leaders claims that the figure can be up to 250,000 Roma living in the Republic of Moldova^[5]. Thus, there is an enormous disparity between official records and the self-assessment of Roma community (provided by local Roma NGOs and Roma community mediators).

Moldavian Roma are spread all over the country, most of the representatives of this community currently living in the cities: Otaci, Soroca, Edinet, Riscani; districts: Drochia, Orhei, Calarasi, Hincesti; villages: Ursari, Parcani, Schinoasa (Calarasi district) and Vulcanesti (Nisporeni district)^[6]. Also, by dint of geographically cross border location of the Republic of Moldova, nowadays here are unique congregate of ten Roma ethnographic groups: Laesi (nomads), Catunari (inhabitants at tents), Ciocanari (nomadic blacksmiths), Ciori (thieves-horses, which simultaneously was provided treatment and traditional trade with horses), Ciurari (sieve makers), Brazdeni (plowmens), Ursari (bear trainers), Lingurari (spoon makers), Lautari (musicians), Curteni (servants and casual labourers at nobles courtyards).

A defining characteristic of the Roma population is its diversity. Each ethnographic group of Roma in the Republic of Moldova has its own professional, linguistic and cultural characteristics. Inter alia, following to the new socio-economic changes of the transnational global society, Moldavian Roma community divides into three distinct ethno-social groups:

1. Traditional Roma with emphasized identity (“Ciocanari”, “Catunari”, “Ciori” and “Ursari”) – which respect and preserve the Romani unwritten paternally customs inherited from their ancestors and are speak/thinking in Romani languages.

2. Roma with fragmentary identity (“Laiesi”, “Brazdeni”, “Lautari” and “Ciurari”) – partially self-integrated community into contemporary Moldavian society. Members of this secondary group are Romani speakers (occasional)/Moldavian thinking (regular) which are taking the lifestyle and habits of the majority of population from the Republic of Moldova.

3. Assimilated Roma with hidden identity (“Lingurari” and “Curteni”) – cross-discriminated community (by the majority neighbourhood’s population and traditional Roma groups). Moldavian speakers/thinking Roma which during the history gradually are lost their ethno-psychological markers of Romani identity: language, cultural paternally customs, nomadic/romantic lifestyle determined by community spirit of mutual rescue. Poor living conditions and individualization of social problems through enforced segregation of families caused that most representatives of this group belong at social vulnerability plight.

The history of Roma from the Republic of Moldova is characterized by the survival of some ethno-linguistic traits and cultural patterns over the centuries. Lower social condition, specific symbiosis with the majority of the population, own lifestyles have been perpetuated until today. Adequate knowledge of the present aspirations, acceptance of social progress and accommodation of the Roma community with low educational potential by new trends in the economic development – is absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, unknowing of the “Roma issues” often generates fear and unfounded stereotypes deeply implanted in the collective mind of the majority neighbourhoods population.

Currently, the most representatives of the Roma community in Moldova as indigent part of consumerist society (Roma unemployment’s/beneficiaries of social aid) in opposite side with small group of Roma as indispensable part of the creative/productive community (Roma skilled workers integrate into the local/regional/international labour markets) faces four main challenges:

1.             Roma poverty – the main gap in getting a quality education.

2.             Roma illiteracy – the main gap in providing quality services within labour market.

3.             Roma unemployment – the main cause of poverty.

4.             Roma fluctuant migration (at local / regional / international level) – an imminent necessity for finding some unstable precarious income sources.

Republic of Moldova is a particular example for multilateral harmonization of interethnic relations and for ensuring the necessary legislative framework for human rights and freedoms. The Moldovan Constitution reinforces the obligation to recognize and guarantee the rights of citizens to preserve develop and highlight the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious specifics. During the development of the local democratic process, the Government of the Republic of Moldova assumed and implemented complex policies based on a democratic legislative framework meant to increase the socio-economic integration of Roma, to eliminate discriminatory practices and to preserve their cultural identity. In order to promote traditional cultural heritage of the ethnic communities (inclusive Roma), special institutions responsible for the development and implementation of current legislation from the national policy were created in Moldova: Bureau of Inter-ethnic Relations^[7]; Institute of Cultural Heritage of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova (“Ethnology of Roma” research group)^[8]; Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights and Inter-ethnic Relations^[9] .

The public television channel Moldova 1 and the public radio station Radio Moldova Actualitati continues to put out the weekly programme Petalo Romano^[10] and Romano Glasos^[11]  in Romany language. The programme reflects the history and life of Roma in the Republic of Moldova, gives coverage to cultural events in the Roma community and promotes the idea of integrating Roma into public life. 

Historically, the first reference to the presence of Roma (Kalé) communities in Portugal goes back to the 15th century. Currently, and although the high degree of uncertainty and imprecision, the estimated number vary between 40.000 and 60,000^[12].

It can be said that all the data found are an approximate number to reality, as the Roma people are by law considered as Portuguese citizens that cannot in any circumstance, be distinctively identified in regard to the rest of the citizens.

According to the first National Survey about Roma Communities in Portugal^[13] (2014) and the complementary survey done by Observatory of Roma Communities (2016) which covered all the 308 Portuguese Municipalities, there are 37,089 Roma citizens in Portugal. It means that the Roma population represents approximately 0.4% of the Portuguese population.

Regarding the geographic location of the Portuguese Roma population in the national territory, including the Azores and Madeira archipelagos, we can found that it is distributed in a spatially unequal way.

It should be noted that on the one hand there is a high degree of Roma population living on the coast, in areas with a higher population density (Lisbon, Porto and Setubal); on the other hand, there is a high presence of Roma population in the interior and in frontier zones (comparing with the total resident population).

More than 24,000 Roma were contacted in half of the Portuguese municipalities in the course of the national study above mentioned.

-       It is important to highlight the following conclusions: 92% of respondents mentioned that all the members of their families have a family doctor from the National Health Service;

-       The number of youngsters from the Roma Communities with the second and third educational cycle (6 and 9 years of school) has risen;

-       57,5% of respondents have children or grandchildren attending the school;

-       In terms of employment, 23% of respondents are self-employed and 15,8% are employees;

-       66,6% of respondents are living in conventional dwellings (apartments and houses) and 27,5% are living in more informal constructions, e.g. wood;

-       More than 90% have permanent access to public water supply and electricity;

-       77,2% have regular relations with citizens from other communities.

Regarding the women from Roma Communities this study mentioned that 45,5% are working at home, lookinfor the first job or unemployed. Taking a more generic look, we can say that in Portugal the Roma population is one of the most vulnerable groups to poverty and social exclusion and is the target of multiple prejudices and stereotypes.

The poor housing conditions, low professional and school qualifications and the uneasy access to the main goods and health care services, employment, education and training, among other needs, mark the daily life of these communities where poverty tends to be persistent and to pass on from generation to generation.

In Portugal, as in other European countries as well, Roma children have a high failure and dropout rate and have integration problem in the mainstream schools.

Regarding the employment, we find communities who still live of the so called “traditional” activities and a minority that is moving into the mainstream labour market, leaving behind some of their traditional trades. The majority still lives from the market trading (known as street trading).

Nevertheless, among the youngest generations, there is a rising will to have access to new professional areas and to a real integration in the labour market, only possible through incentives that let them obtain educational and professional skills, promoting this way the equality of opportunities.

Regarding the housing situation, we can see that many Roma families live in urban contexts in social/municipal quarters, but some Roma communities still live in poor housing conditions and sub-standard housing which worsen their social exclusion situation. In fact, there are still Roma people living in “Roma settlements”, in the cities’ outskirts.

Regarding the religion, the evangelical churches, popularly referred by the Roma communities as “worship” have recently grown in importance within the Roma community and have become as an alternative in terms of group support and conflict resolution. In what concerns to health, these churches constitute a protection factor for the Roma population as they promote norms and behaviours related with taking care of personal health.

Portuguese national health system is mainly free and accessible for all Portuguese citizens; nevertheless Roma communities search it not so often than would be necessary. Taking in consideration the study^[14] developed by EAPN Portugal in 2009 about Health status of the Roma community it can be underlined that deficient education, inadequate housing and exclusion from the labour market are important factors that influence the well-being and the quality of life of Roma populations.

Legal status

Roma are recognized as a distinct ethnicity in the preamble of the Constitution. The Skopje neighbourhood of Shuto Orizari is Europe's first Roma municipality (led by a Roma mayor) and the only one in the world where the Romani language was granted an official status.

Size and composition

According to the 2002 population census, the number of self-declared Roma is 53,879, i.e. 2.6% of the total population. In addition, 3,843 declared to be Egyptians. Researchers’ estimates of the Roma population vary from 80,000 to 260,000. The estimated figure used by the Council of Europe is close to 200,000 (Roma and Egyptians included), i.e. 9.5% of the total population.

The country is also home to nearly 1,700 refugees, mostly Roma, who fled their homes as a result of the 1999 conflict in Kosovo^[15]. Most of these persons are living in the municipality Šuto Orizari in Skopje. Most Roma speak Romani as their first language, others speak Albanian; most of them practice Islam.

Language and religion

Most of them still speak their own language, Romani, together with the language that dominates in the regions where they are located, i.e. Macedonian and/or Albanian. A number of Macedonian Roma are Muslim, although some of them practice other religions too.

Geographical distribution

Roma do not concentrate in a particular region of the country, but are spread all over the territory. According to the 2002 population census, twenty-seven municipalities have a share of Roma exceeding 1%; ten of them having more exceeding 4%. Ethnic differences are less relevant than the way of life, costume and appearance that the members of this group share.

Education

There are several studies that indicate that the enrolment of Roma children in all levels of education is 20 to 30% lower than among non-Roma, and the drop-out rate of children is two times higher among Roma, in comparison to non-Roma children. Some of the positive measures aimed at promoting the inclusion of Roma in mainstream education have however borne results, such as a reduction of the drop-out rate between fifth and sixth grade among girls and the doubling of Roma enrolment in public universities in the past seven years (from 150 in 2005 to 300 in 2012).

The drop-out rate of Roma children is high. It is due to health problems because of bad weather conditions and outbreaks but also because of the lack of awareness among some Roma parents about the importance for their children to attend kindergarten.

Other challenges include the over-representation of Roma in special schools for children with disabilities, the need to secure participation of Roma children in mainstream pre-school education and to adequately inform Roma parents of all steps undertaken by the authorities relating to the inclusion of their children in mainstream education. The lack of personal identity document can also be an issue though birth certificates are no longer required to enrol children in public elementary schools^[16].

One of the major problems that contribute to the low level of education among the Roma population is poor socio-economic condition of the community. Official data from March 2014 indicate that 2% of all unemployed persons are Roma (based on official statistic from the people who are active in search for a job). Data from 2011 provide insight into the educational profile of the unemployed Romani population: 88% had complete or incomplete primary education, 4.14% had complete or incomplete secondary education and only 0.2% (40 persons) had completed tertiary education^[17].

Challenges

According to several conducted studies on the educational status/needs of the Roma, few reasons have been stated as factors for the low educational status of the Roma:

a)       Low socio-economic status of the Roma population;

b)       Still almost 50 % of Roma children are not enrolled in pre-school education;

c)       The number of Roma children enrolled in primary education is lower than the number of children who are required to attend primary school;

d)       Low level of knowledge of the Macedonian language when entering primary education, thus causing difficulties for Roma children to fully understanding the programme;

e)       Low awareness of Roma parents regarding the importance of pre-school education of their children.

The 2011 UNDP/WB/EC regional Roma survey revealed disproportionate literacy levels between Romani communities and the general population, with around 17% of adult Roma being illiterate. The literacy gap among adult Roma and non-Roma is 13 percentage points, while this gap is even bigger among Romani and non-Romani women (20 percentage points).

There is among Roma children a lower attendance rate, as well as higher drop-out rates than in the non-Roma population. The problem of low enrolment is particularly critical in pre-school education which is of utmost importance for the further education of children, especially regarding the learning of the national language used in school.