Toward and Equal Start : Closing the early learning gap for Roma children in Eastern Europe

June 4, 2012

June 4, 2012

PART I: INTRODUCTION
Ensuring that poor Roma and non-Roma children alike receive an equal start in life by investing in early childhood development is both essential to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and smart economics. More than 80% of Roma parents wishes at least a secondary education for their sons and their daughters. But multiple disadvantages stand in the way and the vast majority of young Roma – more than 75% – does not complete secondary education and enters the labor market unprepared. More

PART 2: PROVISION OF PRESCHOOL: LEGISLATIVE BASIS AND NATIONAL POLICIES
In all five countries there is one education act that regulates the provision of public education, including ECE, which determines the overall administration, the distribution of responsibilities, and the general aims of the education services. More

 PART 3: THE EARLY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
The chapter describes in more detail the early learning environment of Roma children, focusing first on the kindergarten and pre-school characteristics and parental (qualitative) perceptions of this environment. More

PART 4: WHO ENROLLS? BARRIERS TO ENROLMENT
This section explores in more detail the reasons underlying (non-)enrolment. The regional Roma survey (2011) allows us to explore the reasons for non-enrolment from several angles. More

PART 5: PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ADDRESSING PRE-SCHOOL ACCESS
This chapter highlights different initiatives seeking to improve pre-school attendance and quality for Roma in the five countries. More

PART 6. CONCLUSION
The report finds a large gap between Roma and non-Roma in pre-school enrolment with the exception of Hungary. Roma children also lack basic reading materials at home, and perform much worse in self-reported measures of cognitive outcomes. More

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/EXTROMA/0,,contentMDK:23208277~pagePK:64168445~piPK:64168309~theSitePK:615987,00.html