SRATEGY FOR EDUCATIONAL INTEGRATION OF THE CHILDREN AND
STUDENTS FROM ETHNIC MINORITIES
INTRODUCTION
The present Strategy is an integral part of the national project for reforming the educational system and for providing a good quality education for all children in the Republic of Bulgaria.
It is based on:

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

Convention against Discrimination in Education

Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious or
Linguistic Minorities

The Law on Protection against Discrimination

 The Management Program of the Bulgarian Government “People are Bulgaria’s
Treasure”

Framework Program for Equal Integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society
 The World Program of UNESCO and the United Nations “Education for all”

Aims and Purposes of “The Decade of Roma Inclusion:2005 – 2015”
In conformity with chapter V “Education” from the Framework program for Equal
Integration of Roma in Bulgarian society, as well as the policy of the Ministry of
Education and Science for the improvement of school network, the Strategy has its own priorities:
- adequate integration of Roma children and students through desegregation of kindergartens and schools in the differentiated Roma neighborhoods and creating conditions for equal access to good quality education out of them;
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- improvement of the school network in the municipalities with small and scattered builtup areas including help for mainstream schools providing quality education in them;
The system of public education is called upon forming as a basic public value the respect towards the rights and freedoms of every individual and not letting discrimination in any case. It must be engaged with the creation of modern conditions in Bulgarian schools for knowing and understanding between the different ethnic and religious groups by putting systematic efforts for overcoming the prejudice and the discrimination on ethnic and religious indications.
І. IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEMS
A number of studies carried out through representative and sample sociological surveys, observations of specialized civil organizations as well as experts’ evaluations of the Ministry of Education and Science indicate that in Bulgarian education arise a number of common for all ethnic groups and specific for each of them problems which make the quality education, the equal integration and the development of cultural identity of children and students difficult.
1. COMMON PROBLEMS
1.1. The necessary normative base as well as the financial and material conditions are not available.
1.2. The relevant management standards and programs are missing.
1.3. The qualified staff is not enough and a strategy for training and retraining teachers and administrative staff in the sphere of education for working in multiethnic milieu and especially working with bilingual children is missing.
1.4. An adequate specialized organizational and administrative mechanism for initiating, coordinating and controlling an effective educational policy for equal integration of the children and students from ethnic minorities is missing.
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1.5. There are no conditions necessary for a good quality education in the small rural schools common for a number of municipalities with their mixed in ethnic and religious structure population.
1.6. The history and culture of the minorities are not presented in the curriculum well enough. The fundamental elements of cultural identity are most often reduced to the traditional folklore without reporting all other cultural achievements of the ethnic minorities, the less so as their contribution to the national culture and development of society.
1.7. There is no suitable social and psychological climate in the society, guaranteeing the educational rights of the children and students from ethnic minorities for their equal integration and development of their cultural identity.
1.8. The children and parents are not motivated enough for learning their mother tongue.
1.9. There are no organizational conditions for learning the mother tongue in the towns and villages where there aren’t enough children to form a mixed group.
1.10. The low standard of living is a factor for irregular visits to school and inadequate participation in the educative process.
2. SPECIFIC PROBLEMS
Besides the common problems referring to all ethnic minorities, there are other specific problems for the children and students from different minorities, which make the quality education and the equal integration difficult.
2.1. FOR THE CHILDREN AND STUDENTS FROM THE ROMA MINORITY
2.1.1. Isolation of Roma children and students in the kindergartens and schools in the Roma neighborhoods and in the separate groups and classes in mixed kindergartens and schools.
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2.1.2. Enrolling a big number of children without physical disabilities in helping schools.
2.1.3. Difficult adaptation of Roma children in the kindergarten and elementary school.
2.1.4. Signs of discrimination in the kindergartens and schools.
2.1.5. Unsatisfactory acquirement of the taught school material because of the insufficient knowledge of Bulgarian language.
2.1.6. Insufficient inclusion of Roma children in groups on mother tongue as well as the unsatisfactory level of teaching it.
2.1.7. There are not enough qualified teachers knowing the Roma culture.
2.1.8. There are not enough qualified teachers knowing the Roma language.
2.1.9. Low level of literacy and qualification of old Roma people.
2.1.10. The poverty as a factor for irregular visits and progressively increasing number of the dropped out students.
2.1.11. Lacking mechanisms for preventing the risk of dropping out.
2.1.12. Lacking students’ books and helping materials in Roma language.
2.2. FOR THE CHILDREN AND STUDENTS FROM THE TURKISH MINORITY
2.2.1. Lacking qualified teachers knowing Turkish language in the municipalities with
Turkish population.
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2.2.2. Lacking modern students’ books and helping materials in Turkish as a mother tongue.
2.2.3. Unsatisfactory acquirement of the taught school material because of the insufficient knowledge of Bulgarian language
2.2.4. Insufficient inclusion of Turkish children in groups on mother tongue as well as the unsatisfactory level of teaching it.
2.2.5. Ethnocentrism in the school material and teaching, forming a negative attitude towards the Turkish minority.
2.2.6. Difficult adaptation of Turkish children in the kindergarten and elementary school.
2.3. FOR THE CHILDREN AND STUDENTS FROM THE ARMENIAN AND
JEWISH MINORITIES
2.3.1. Insufficient inclusion of the children in teaching them Hebrew outside the capital.
2.3.2. Insufficient inclusion of the children in teaching them Armenian and not always the quality of teaching it is satisfactory.
2.3.3. There are not enough students’ books and helping materials in Armenian and Hebrew as mother tongues.
2.4. FOR THE CHILDREN AND STUDENTS FROM OTHER ETHNIC
MINORITIES
2.4.1. Lacking approved syllabuses, students’ books and helping materials.
2.4.2. Lack of qualified teaching staff.
ІІ. VALUES AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF THE STRATEGY
1. The values and principles of the democratic society and especially the principle of
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equality and indiscrimination, as well as the international standards in the sphere of human rights, protection of children and minorities, are at the root of the present strategy and of all educational policies and practical programs coming out of it.
2. The principle of providing equal access to quality education must comply with the different level of social integration of the separate ethnic minorities.
3. The integration is a process in which children from ethnic minorities and the majority are participating and which engages the whole school network in its realization.
4. It is necessary to guarantee a balance between the integration of children and students from ethnic minorities in the educational system and in the society and the preservation and development of their specific cultural identity. The preservation and the development of cultural identity of the children and students from ethnic minorities does not differentiate them but it is a precondition for their quality education and for their equal integration in school life and in society.
5. Fixing an atmosphere of intercultural knowledge, co operation and rapprochement and of increasing the multicultural dialogue in a multiethnic school milieu is an inseparable part of the integration policy.
6. The improvement of social and psychological climate in the out-of-school milieu regarding the education of children and students from ethnic minorities is a powerful accelerator for activating the process of integration through education.
7. The activity of the minority communities – parents, specialists, students, young people, social figures is extremely important for giving a meaning to the values and for realizing the integration process.
8. The children from vulnerable minority groups need extra educational support for making equal their starting positions with those of the other children. For that reason taking positive institutional measures corresponds to the international standards in the sphere of human rights and minority protection and does not stand for any discrimination compared to the others.
ІІІ. COMMON STRATEGIC GOALS AND DIRECTIONS OF WORKING
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The Ministry of Education and Science has set the following common strategic goals referring to the education and integration of the children and students from ethnic minorities:
Strategic goal 1: Guaranteeing the right for equal access to quality education for the children and students from ethnic minorities.
Strategic goal 2: Preserving and developing the cultural identity of the children and students from ethnic minorities.
Strategic goal 3: Creating preconditions for a successful socialization of the children and young people from ethnic minorities
Strategic goal 4: Helping the process of transforming the cultural diversity into a source mutual acquaintance and spiritual development of the growing-up and creating an atmosphere for mutual respect, tolerance and understanding.
Strategic goal 5: Forming a suitable social and psychological climate that will be favorable to the realization of the Strategy.
These common strategic goals will be realized by working more specifically in the following directions:
Direction 1: Providing legal guarantees for the realization of the Strategy by changing the regulation.
Direction 2: Increasing the effectiveness of governing structures of the educational system by creating an adequate organizational and administrative mechanism providing a horizontal and vertical co-ordination of the activities between the governing structures of the public education.
Direction 3: Providing the necessary educational conditions and resources for realizing the process of integration of the children and students from ethnic minorities and for the development of their cultural identity including the changes in the syllabuses and the curriculum.
Direction 4: Helping to build a network of mainstream schools with modern equipment in the
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municipalities with small and scattered built-up areas providing quality education in them.
Direction 5: Providing the necessary pedagogical and administrative staff for the realization of programs on intercultural education, human rights, principles and values of the civil society.
Direction 6: Providing effective financial mechanisms for the realization of the present
Strategy’s goals and creating a special fund called “Educational integration of the children and students from ethnic minorities”.
Direction 7: Including the school boards and public organizations in working out , realizing and controlling the educational integration programs.
Direction 8: Including children and students from ethnic minorities in in-door and out-door school activities.
Direction 9: Including children and students from ethnic minorities that are not in equal value position, in half boarding-school forms of education.
Direction 10: Helping children and students in the lowest income bracket including students’ books and helping materials.
ІV. SPECIFIC STRATEGIC GOALS
1. FOR CHILDREN AND STUDENTS FROM THE ROMA MINORITY GROUP
1.1. Adequate integration of Roma children in ethnically mixed groups in the kindergartens and of Roma students in ethnically mixed classes in recipient schools outside the Roma neighborhoods.
1.2. Improving the necessary equipment of the recipient integrating kindergartens and schools and improving the quality of education in them.
1.3. Training and retraining of teachers for working with mixed classes.
1.4. Eliminating the practice children without any disabilities to study in helping schools.
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1.5. Reaction against the acts of discrimination in the kindergartens and schools.
1.6. Creating a normative base and educational conditions for learning Roma language as a mother tongue.
1.7. Preparing qualified teachers in Roma language.
1.8. Introducing the position teacher’s assistant in preparatory groups, preparatory class and first class.
1.9. Mass literacy of illiterate half-literate old Roma people.
2. FOR CHILDREN AND STUDENTS FROM THE TURKISH MINORITY
2.1. Improving the normative base and educational conditions for quality learning of Turkish language as a mother tongue.
2.2. Training and retraining of teachers in Turkish and preparation on methodology in Turkish as a mother tongue in higher schools.
2.3. Preparing and issuing students books and helping materials in Turkish.
2.4. Creating the necessary normative base and educational conditions for learning Turkish language as a mother tongue .
3. FOR THE CHILDREN AND STUDENTS FROM THE ARMENIAN AND JEWISH
MINORITIES
3.1. Improving the normative base and the educational conditions quality learning
Armenian and Hebrew as mother tongues.
3.2. Training and retraining teachers in Armenian and Hebrew.
3.3. Providing the necessary students books in Armenian and Hebrew.
3.4. In co-operation with nongovernmental organizations providing support for out-door school activities for learning Armenian and Hebrew.
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4. FOR CHILDREN AND STUDENTS FROM OTHER ETHNIC MINORITIES
4.1. Preparing syllabuses, students books and helping materials;
4.2. Preparing and training teachers in mother tongues.
V. ACTIVE PERIOD OF THE STRATEGY
The period of realizing the goals of the Strategy is defined up to 2015. The period of its action complies with “The Decade of Roma Inclusion: 2005 – 2015” and “The World
Program of UNESCO and the United Nations “Education for all”.
Because of the urgent character of the Strategy’s priorities:
- adequate integration of Roma children and students through segregation of kindergartens and schools in the differentiated Roma neighborhoods and creating conditions for equal access to quality education out of them.
- improvement of the school network in the municipalities with small and scattered built-up areas including help for mainstream schools providing quality education in them;
The implementation of the envisaged goals will start immediately.
In working out the first action plan for the implementation of the present strategy will be done a schedule for the succession of the desegregation process and for the improvement of the schools net in municipalities with small and scattered built up aeries on National scale on the base of precise measure. The first action plan will be for 5 years and will start in the beginning of 2004-2005. There will be underline concrete actions for implementation of each strategic aim, deadlines, responsible institutions and necessary expenses. The indicators for evaluation of implementation aims will be defined.
The implementation of the Strategy will be evaluated and actualized each year.
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