3.7 Promoting equal access to quality education for Roma and Sinti children Participating States have committed to improving the access of Roma and Sinti children to education, to eliminating discrimination in education, and to developing and implementing comprehensive school desegregation programs. Equal access to early education for Roma and Sinti children can play a major role in ensuring their participation in public and political life in adulthood. ODIHR facilitates dialogue and sharing of experiences and good practices between state institutions and organizations, Roma and Sinti parents, activists, and experts in the field of education and child development. In 2019, ODIHR supported awareness-raising activities in North Macedonia and Romania that aimed to boost ­local access to pre-school and primary education. This included sharing information on the timely enrolment of Roma children into pre-school and primary education, as well as dialogue between Roma and Sinti parents, schools, and authorities about the ongoing difficulties in ensuring access to early education and thereafter a successful transition into primary education. The results of ODIHR-commissioned research into ways of guaranteeing access to quality education for Roma and Sinti children show that OSCE participating States need to target educational policies more toward enrolling Roma children in early childhood education services, as well as creating the conditions to ensure the enrolment of Roma in secondary and tertiary education. 58 DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE Using the findings of this research, ODIHR’s Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues hosted a regional seminar on promoting equal access to quality early childhood education for Roma and Sinti children. This aimed to gather good practices and identify the most effective ways to address these educational challenges. The event brought together a range of international and national experts, including Roma community organizations, municipal representatives and ministry officials, as well as teachers and early childhood education experts. During the seminar, participants put forward recommendations for action by OSCE participating States to successfully address and overcome the obstacles confronting Roma and Sinti children in accessing early childhood education. These recommendations, including the key outcomes of these awareness-raising activities as well as the results of ODIHR’s research on quality education for Roma and Sinti children, are due to be published in 2020. Participants pledged to continue their exchange of knowledge and to collaborate on key areas identified as most effective in promoting access.

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents