OSCE Mission to Serbia supports Roma pre-school education
BELGRADE, 31 July 2008 - Eighty-one Roma children from Belgrade's Gazela settlement graduated today from a four-month pre-school course supported by the OSCE Mission.
The course aimed to give Roma children between the ages of six and 12 who have remained outside the education system the opportunity to develop the skills necessary for primary school. However, Anthony Pahigian, Acting Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, said primary schools still needed to be found for the children as the city authorities have yet to support the parents' choice of schools.
"We believe that this course provides a model that can be applied to other Roma settlements. Now our concern is that the children who have so eagerly studied in the pre-school classes should be able to enrol into primary schools this September. The authorities have to guarantee that all children have access to primary school education, and we are working with them and representatives of the Roma communities to ensure the realization of these rights," said Pahigian.
The pre-school course was initiated by the Co-ordination Centre for Roma Inclusion within the Belgrade city government and and supported by the city's Secretariat for Social and Children's Welfare, the OSCE Mission to Serbia jointly with the Spanish government and the European Agency for Reconstruction.
Branko Mitrovic, a community leader from the Gazela settlement, said: "One of the main issues in the Roma community is lack of education. We hope that this pilot project will improve the situation. We need the city authorities to help us to find schools which will accept these children in September, and this is a difficult task."