Децата от ромски произход в задължителното средно образование: интегрирани и сегрегирани училища

Abstract

The need of “integration of minorities/Roma minority” stems out of the indisputable fact that Bulgarian society is disintegrated insofar as there exist individuals who are isolated due to their real or ascribed group (ethnic) identity acquired by them with the very act of birth. I consider educational integration one of the main components of the process because of the opportunities of secondary education and Bulgarian municipal schools to provide a space where it is possible to accomplish an interaction among children of diverse ethnic origins and mother tongue which creates an opportunity for overcoming negative attitudes and prejudices towards the ethnically different individual. Despite all critiques towards the documents passed by the Bulgarian government in the recent years, towards the formulations and appellations they contain, we cannot deny that there is a substantial normative base in existence that should provide a framework of the process of integration that is recognized as a necessity and, more particularly, of the process of educational integration of Roma. However, this process is still considered a private matter and not a problem of the Bulgarian society in general and for that reason the activities within the field of “integration” continue to give unsatisfactory and even counteractive results.