Turkey fights against discrimination against Roma in education
A book that allegedly contains bad stereotypes about Roma has been removed from primary schools.
The recent removal of the book "Yonca Kız" from the reading list of primary schools was a reminder of the bad stereotyping in the education system, while also representing a step towards respecting the rights of the Roma community.
The book, written by Turkish author Kemal Bilbaşar, has been among the "100 Basic Books" recommended by the ministry since 2008. "Yonca Kız" tells the story of a girl who is kidnapped and tortured by a Roma.
A sentence in the book reads: "Those blind men steal everything they come across. She was going to tell how her little sister was kidnapped by Gypsies when she was little, but she hesitated and kept quiet without scaring Yonca Kız too much.''
The decision of the Ministry of National Education to remove the book titled ''Yonca Kız'' this spring came after a year of lobbying by civil society organizations and human rights defenders. The ministry also promised that the remaining 99 books would be examined to determine whether they contained hate speech or any negative discourse against Roma people.
While Roma rights defenders welcomed this step, they also stated that the government and the education sector should make a joint effort to direct attitudes towards Roma children.
The Zero Discrimination Association, run by Elmas Arus, a Roma rights defender and film director, submitted a petition to the ministry and filed a criminal complaint with the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor, claiming that the book contained discriminatory and degrading statements against Roma people and made them a target.
"Yonca Kız" is not the only element of discrimination that Roma people face in the education sector.
In many cities, Roma families are sent to hospitals by doctors or teachers and persuaded to obtain a "disability certificate" and send their children to schools for the disabled, thus keeping them separate from other students.
The Zero Discrimination Association plans to file a criminal complaint against schools and hospitals that provide such certificates.
Manisa-based Roma Center Federation President Erdoğan Şener says awareness needs to be raised among families.
Şener told SES Türkiye that "they do not understand the importance of education for their children and are discouraged by the problems their children face in schools, and they take their children out of schools or ignore their absences."
Şener also said that many families in Manisa accept "disability documents" in order to earn additional income. The state provides financial support to families of disabled children, ranging from 800 to 1,300 TL per month, depending on the degree of disability.
Şener continued: "This is also related to the low income of Romani families. Children go to school in rags and worn-out clothes. They are hungry, which reduces their concentration. Then teachers place them at the back of the class, which feeds their sense of exclusion."
Ana Oprisan, a member of the Council of Europe's Romani Mediators Program, said that a segregated school system is not a desirable option because it encourages discriminatory thinking and alienates Romani from society.
Oprisan told SES Turkey reporters, "Everything starts with education. We will feed society with whatever we get from the education of that society. If people constantly teach us clichés and discriminatory discourses become standardized under the pretext of folkloric elements, this vicious cycle will be repeated continuously,'' he said.
Oprisan stated that it is not enough to remove a book from the reading list because there is a risk that it will be replaced by a similar one.
Oprisan said, "We must establish a normative system and provide in-service training to professionals in the education sector because we can find discriminatory hate speech not only on the covers of books but also on the lips of teachers who unknowingly adopt it."
Arus agrees on this issue.
Arus told SES Turkey reporter, “Schools are the first stages of Romani students’ contact with the outside world. Instead of being places where discrimination is encouraged, schools should be places where principles of integration are designed and awareness-raising activities are offered to families, teachers and school administrators.”
Arus was awarded the Council of Europe Raoul Wallenberg Award in December for his contributions to raising awareness about the problems faced by Romani people living in Turkey and to bringing discrimination against this community to the forefront of the political agenda.
Arus stated that Romani students are economically disadvantaged and need encouragement to improve their success at school and close the gap between them and their classmates.
Arus said, “I plan to open some study centers where Roma people can come after completing their courses at school. Roma students in the Thrace region, who are given milk and cake every morning, have higher concentration levels than their peers in other regions.”
Arus said, “A student in the Manisa area was not accepted to class for a week because he had no shoes and went to school wearing slippers.”
The Ministry of National Education refused to make a statement to SES Türkiye correspondent regarding the discrimination against Roma people in the education sector.
Justice and Development Party MP and member of the Council of Europe Parliamentarians Council Prevention of Discrimination and Equality Committee Nursuna Memecan stated in a written statement to SES Türkiye that it is one of the priorities of the AK Party government for the Roma community and all segments of society to live on equal citizenship grounds.
The statement included the following statements: “The coordination of the work carried out within this scope has been given to the Ministry of Family and Social Policies since 2012; Thus, it is aimed that the steps to be taken will emerge as a result of a dialogue that includes all parties.''
The Ministry of National Education organized a workshop in February 2011 to overcome the problems of access and participation in primary school education due to the living conditions of the Roma. With the recommendations from all parties, the Ministry took a number of measures to monitor the irregular school attendance of the Roma and prevent them from dropping out of school, and this step was welcomed positively by the European Union in its development report.
The High Court of the European Court of Human Rights on March 15, 2012 ''encouraged the Turkish government to continue its efforts to combat negative stereotypes against Roma and to pay attention to their needs and lifestyles.''
3.9 million TL will be spent on Roma issues within the scope of the 2014 Investment Program approved by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. The budget allocated to Roma until 2016 is approximately 31.3 million TL.
This year, Turkey will implement the EU project, the Project for Supporting Social Inclusion in Areas Densely Populated by Roma, in 12 different cities. The work of this program, which will last for thirty-six months, includes the provision of materials such as childcare items or musical instruments, books and videos to be used in schools to support the integration of Roma into society.
The government is also expected to prepare a national strategy document for Roma this year.
Sociologist Kenan Çayır from Istanbul Bilgi University stated that stereotypes against Roma people are deeply ingrained in Turkey and that an awareness-raising campaign is needed to educate teachers.
Çayır told SES Turkey reporter, “Roma students whose families are displaced following urban transformation projects are forced to change schools and when they enter a new school environment, there is a risk that teachers and classmates will initially dismiss them. Such discriminatory approaches can cause them to drop out of school and reenter the cycle of poverty and exclusion.”
Since last year, Bilgi University has been providing training to a large number of teachers, many of whom come from state schools, in order to increase their sensitivity to discrimination in the education sector.
Çayır said, “When a Roma student comes to a class where they teach, they don’t know how to behave. It is not enough to include these students in the classroom, additional efforts need to be made to educate teachers on how best to handle this delicate situation, which could lead to an increase in already existing stereotypes and discriminatory behaviors,'' he said.
Menekşe Tokyay
01.04.2014
Source: SES Türkiye
http://turkey.setimes.com/tr/articles/ses/articles/reportage/2014/04/01/reportage-01
