During the IRU Parliamentary Session that was held in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia on June 1, the IRU delegate from Germany Sevgul Sali had his part in the presentation about some of his activities in the country where he works and is active. Among other things, he mentioned during the presentation: "The discrimination of Roma and Sinti - both immigrant and local families - in the German education system, which has been repeatedly proven in studies, is one of the results of centuries of stigmatization of Roma and Sinti as supposedly unintegrable "gypsies". Therefore, the vast majority of families today prefer not to be "recognized" as Roma or Sinti at school. Therefore, the educational success of these families can hardly be perceived by teachers.
Especially socially disadvantaged families perceive the formal education and employment system as closed and inaccessible due to discrimination. Non-formal education and employment are seen as more promising and are sometimes interpreted as part of cultural identity. On the other hand, the problematic behavior of individual students or Roma families in school and society is too often generalized and seen as "typical for Roma", even more so when families describe their informal orientation as "typical Roma". As we have already mentioned, the many formed Roma or Sinti families are not noticed. Schools often associate "being Roma" with low expectations for success in education. Roma or Sinti are rarely part of teams and shared history and the many contributions of Roma and Sinti to European development are not discussed in classes, making it difficult for classmates and parents to appreciate Roma culture and history.
Overcoming this disadvantage through the work of Roma as educational mediators therefore focuses on anti-discrimination AND social and educational inclusion. The reason for the disadvantage, which affects only Roma and Sinti in this form, can only be solved by gradually breaking down stereotypes and increasing the expectations of success from all sides when it comes to equal participation in education for Roma and Sinti. The explicit stigmatization of Roma and Sinti requires an explicit response. Social disadvantage, on the other hand, affects the poor Sinti and Roma, as well as other families - local as well as immigrants. The same support for all children in need is also necessary to avoid envy and resentment and not to inflame resentment against Roma and Sinti. In addition, Roma educational mediators, as sympathizers of all children, are a counter-model to the racist clichés that can be spread at home.
Therefore, the EU Commission proposes to promote improved access to education for children from disadvantaged Roma and Sinti families through explicit measures (for Roma and Sinti) that are not exclusive to local implementation, but are available to all children as support.
The ten common basic principles for the inclusion of socially vulnerable Roma families (resolution of the Council of Social Ministers of the EU from 2010) emphasize the need for targeted measures that are explicitly aimed at such families in order to ensure their effective inclusion in projects. At the same time, according to the existing capacities, all other persons who need support should be included in the implementation of the measures, in order not to act on the measures and strengthen the existing dissatisfaction towards the Roma.„
