The Roma fight for Education
The school integration of Romani children like in the small district of Gonçalves Júnior is still an exception. (Photo: Marcelo Almeida)
“When I was young and the Roma were here, I would barely leave the house because my mother said that they stole children.” For a long time, the childhood fear remained alive in the memory of Elisete Maria Stepka, a resident of Gonçalves Júnior, a rural district with a little more than half a dozen streets in Irati, southern Brazil. For decades, its village was a stopping place for Roma caravans. Nomadic groups came every month and set up camp. They would buy and sell goods, stay a while - no more than two weeks - and move on. The local population, composed of descendants of European settlers, kept a distance. Because of prejudice, they were afraid.
The distrust dissipated, and Elisete had a lot to do with it. In 2004, she became close to a group of about ten families. “It started when they asked me to come over and take some pictures because they wanted to take it to the promises room of the country’s biggest basilica,” she says. Differently from customary, that caravan did not return to the road. They stayed for weeks, which turned into months, and then they established themselves permanently when some members found employment in the region and could buy the land where they had been camping. With the residence, the village began to worry about the situation of children. It was incumbent upon Elisete, who has worked as a teacher, to invite them to be enrolled. Today, many of them are Elisete’s students at the local school. Only two teenagers of school age are not attending classes.
Teacher Elisete, responsible for the first contact and adaptation of the Roma people. (Photo: Marcelo Almeida)
The number is great for the context of these groupings. In the rest of the country, the difficulties begin with the lack of information about the Roma population. The best estimate about the size of it is from 2011 and claims that there are more than half a million in Brazil, but the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) recognizes the data is incipient. It is unknown how many need to be included in school or how many adults should be alphabetized.
The distance between them and the study is directly related to a long history of segregation. For centuries, they have been deemed as thieves, cheaters, and sorcerers. These prejudices justified the exclusion in most societies they wanted to enter. “It was because they were always forced to move that they developed a nomad style of living,” explains Claudio Iovanovitchi, a member of the State Council of Traditional Peoples and Communities from Paraná.
The Roma group bought land and settled in wooden houses. (Photo: Marcelo Almeida)
Roma discrimination in Brazil
It’s believed that it was through expulsion that they arrived in Brazil after being deported by the Portuguese crown in the 16th century. Today, three Roma ethnic groups are represented in our territory: Rom (originally from current Romania), Calom (Spain and Portugal), and Sinti (Germany and France), all marked by discrimination. Until 2002, the only policies implemented by the State for these populations were intended to prevent or control them. “Minutes and police documents show the discrimination against gypsies,” says Mirian Alves, professor at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF). With the creation of the Federal Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality (Seppir) in 2003, they began to draw some initiatives to integrate these groups into society. The main initiative is the Guide to Public Policies for Roma, a guidebook about the rights of these populations.
In the case of Education, the lack of documents such as academic transcripts or government-issued IDs is used to bar the enrollment of Roma children. It is also common for schools to deny enrollment due to the absence of proof of residence, although a 2012 National Education Council (CNE) resolution states that it is not mandatory. Schools must adapt to groups that move in a short time, but many of them avoid students in displacement situations. “Often when they realize they’re talking to a Roma family, civil servants create justifications for denying care,” laments Claudio.
Among those who come to school, staying in it is a challenge. The stigmas surrounding these communities lead to bullying and, therefore, to dropouts. A study conducted in 2009 by the Economic Research Institute Foundation (Fipe) to the Ministry of Education (MEC) shows that Romas are the most vulnerable ethnic group in schools. A striking example: among those interviewed, 27% of teachers and 40% of students agreed with the statement that gypsies hate responsibilities. “People know very little about our history and culture. We must train educators to eliminate prejudice,” said Lucimara Cavalcante, founder of the International Association Maylê Sara Kalí (AMSK), which defends the rights of this population.
Against the stigma
Specific training on the subject is rare. One of the pioneers, from the Paraná State Department of Education, discusses prejudices with the school community and features story elements and culture of the Roma. At Gonçalves Júnior, the work helped to integrate Roma into the village’s public schools, the institutions that create bridges between the European descendants and the Roma. Initially, the students struggled with the school routine and even to remain seated during class. The cultural clash was also present in the different foods served at the cafeteria, and they would almost always remain isolated in their group. Now, they are fully adapted. During the break and in the classroom, they talk and play with the other students. “We talk about everything. Sometimes they ask me things about my culture, and I also question what their everyday life is like”, says Chaiane Fernandes, 14 years old. Away from prejudice, obstacles now are more prosaic. “I like Science and Math, but I need to improve a lot in Portuguese”, confesses Ivan Pereira, 14 years old.
Ivan enjoys school and the classes he takes. His only difficulty is in Portuguese. (Photo: Marcelo Almeida)
Trajectories of educational success, such as the ones of Chaiane and Ivan, are the first step to overcoming cultural barriers between the Roma and the rest of the population in the district. Lauro Fernandes, the patriarch of the Roma community, is one of the school staff's major allies. “It’s very important that children and young gypsies study and acquire knowledge. The more mixed, the better.”
In other communities, the value of Education is not so clear. Many groups avoid enrolling children in public education by distrusting the gadjé, as they call the non-Roma, or not recognizing the legitimate knowledge provided by schools. Alternatively, the formation of exclusive schools for these people is the choice of cities such as Porto Seguro in the Northeast and Betim in Southeast Brazil. The effort to adapt goes beyond the curriculum fit for the displacement. “As they are very spontaneous, they want a flexible school, beginning with plays and finishing in the time they prefer,” says Flávio José Oliveira Silva, professor at the Universidade Potiguar (UnP) and specialist in Education of Roma children.
Even in Gonçalves Júnior, there are problems, like the two students who are out of school. One of them is a 17-year-old girl who dropped out of school to take care of a sick aunt and take on household chores. Her younger brother, 15 years old, gave up after learning to read and do math - a portrait of the pragmatic view that many communities still have of Education. Nevertheless, the case of the Paraná district points out a way to guarantee the rights of Roma. “I have never studied and can’t even sign my name. I want the life of my children to be different”, says Dilair Fernandes, Chaiane’s mother. Her three other children, Vanessa, Amarildo, and Adriele, are all in school. “I want them to get a good like and do whatever they aspire.”
Prejudice-free trio: Chaiane the gypsy (in the middle), with her friends Tainara and Vanessa, of European descent. (Photo: Marcelo Almeida)
Originally published by Nova Escola Magazine. June 2015.
Reporter: Wellington Soares, in collaboration with Anna Rachel Ferreira
Editor-in-chief: Rodrigo Ratier
Editorial Director: Maggi Krause
Art Director: Alice Vasconcellos
