MINELRES: Romania: Ethnic Minorities Briefs no. 13 (96) / April 13, 2004

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Divers Bulletin no. 13 (96) / April 13, 2004
News

TEACHERS RECEIVE EXTRA-TRAINING TO WORK WITH ROMA CHILDREN

MILLIONS OF POOR GYPSIES HOPE FOR BETTER LIVES IN THE EU

ALARMING MARKS OF ETHNIC HUNGARIAN PUPILS AT SIMULATION OF ROMANIAN
LANGUAGE EXAM

ETHNIC GERMAN MAYOR READY FOR A NEW MANDATE


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News

TEACHERS RECEIVE EXTRA-TRAINING TO WORK WITH ROMA CHILDREN

BUCHAREST � Romanian Education and Research Ministry (MEC), Romanian
Save the Children and UNICEF Romania organize during March-September
2004 a series of training courses for teachers that work with Roma
children.
The final goal of these courses is to change the attitude towards Roma
children with problems, in order to get know them better and make them
remain enrolled in school. The courses will provide the 300 trainees
with information about Romani history and traditions, official
regulations pertaining to Roma children's access to education, and
multicultural education.
The program includes 8 training session, the first addressed to teachers
from Bucharest and Ilfov, Arges and Giurgiu counties. Teachers from 32
counties will be trained in 2004, whereas the remaining 10 counties will
be included in the program starting 2005.
Author: DIVERS
summary


MILLIONS OF POOR GYPSIES HOPE FOR BETTER LIVES IN THE EU

Millions of gypsies from central and eastern Europe, many of them
desperately poor, join the European Union on May 1 hoping the bloc can
bring more pressure to bear on governments to address their dire needs.

Some two million gypsies, also known as Roma, from eight countries in
central Europe will become EU citizens in less than a month, and another
two million from Bulgaria and Romania are waiting to join the bloc in
2007.
Their situation has improved with pressure from the EU but the Roma
reality remains alarming, according to Claude Cahn, programme director
at the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Center (ERRC).
"Every single country in the region now has a national policy to address
Roma concerns and this is entirely due to EU pressure on candidate
countries," Cahn told AFP ahead of International Roma Day celebrated on
April 8.
"But extreme poverty in eastern and central Europe is becoming a Roma
issue to a great extent." 
Cahn said once in the EU, member states will be subject to comprehensive
anti-discrimination rules but will also be eligible to draw on "billions
of euros of social funds" to address Roma needs.
In order to be tapped, however, most of the EU funds have to be matched
by equal contributions from the member states.
"The level of funding very much depends on the political will at the
level of national governments," he said.
The Roma reality in the region remains one of poverty, segregation, poor
education and general unemployment.
In the early 1990s, the unemployment rate of Roma was just under 50
percent in Hungary, nearly four times the rate for the entire population
which was below 13 percent at the time, according to government figures. 
In Romania and Bulgaria, some 80 percent of Roma live below the poverty
line, on less than 4.3 dollars (3.7 euros) a day, according to a World
Bank report published last year.
The mortality rate among gypsies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic is
twice the national average in those countries, the report said.
Hundreds of gypsies rioted across Slovakia for several days in February
as tempers flared at the Slovak government's plans to cut social
payments. Hungary has recently announced initiatives to improve the
plight of its estimated 500,000 Roma.
The government last year created a new ministry of equal opportunity
that aims to tackle discrimination against Roma, while the educational
ministry appointed a commissioner to eradicate the widespread
segregation of gypsies at schools. There are an estimated 770 all-Roma
schools in Hungary and the Socialist-Liberal government here aims to
integrate them by the end of the decade.
"Integration is the politically correct word, but really my job is to
achieve desegregation," the commissioner, Viktoria Mohacsi, recently
told AFP.
The World Bank last year during a conference in Budapest attended by
high-level representatives from all governments in the region announced
the "Decade of Roma Inclusion" (2005-2015) to address of discrimination.
But new accession states are not the only ones in the EU who should do
more for the Roma, Cahn warned.
"The situation of the Roma is not too different in western Europe where
over two million Roma live, though there may not the same crisis of
discrimination," Cahn said.
"At the end, it's up to each member state to do what it can to improve
the situation of the Roma."
Author: DIVERS
summary


ALARMING MARKS OF ETHNIC HUNGARIAN PUPILS AT SIMULATION OF ROMANIAN
LANGUAGE EXAM

MIERCUREA CIUC � Pupils studying in Hungarian language-teaching schools
from Harghita County (central Romania) obtained very poor results at the
simulation exam of baccalaureate on Romanian literature and language,
according to Rompres news agency. Romanian language inspector from
School Inspectorate Harghita, Stelian Busuioc, stated that at the exam
300 pupils out of 483 obtained marks below five, and only 22 were marked
with 8, 9 or 10. In Odorheiu Secuiesc area, at the examination center
from Primary and Secondary School ''Mora F'', the average of the marks
obtained for the Romanian literature and language exam was 3.91, because
many works were marked with 1, 2 and 3. According to the same source, at
the simulation exam of baccalaureate, out of 143 pupils present at the
exam, 70 obtained marks below five, and the county average was 4.91.
Author: DIVERS
summary


ETHNIC GERMAN MAYOR READY FOR A NEW MANDATE

SIBIU � The runner of the Democrat Forum of Germans from Romania (FDGR)
for the mayor position in Sibiu (southern Transylvania), has recently
announced in a press conference his Internet address where he can be
contacted, namely at www.klausjohannis.com, thus anybody can learn about
his biography and his election agenda. As president of FDGR, Klaus
Johannis presents on his own web page even the politics of the Forum due
to which he was assigned as mayor of Sibiu four years ago. The current
mayor is the favorite even this year for winning new mandate, according
to political analysts. 
Author: DIVERS
summary


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