Indicator history

There are many obstacles that ground the significantly lower enrolment rates among Roma. Integration problems and distance are the two main factors discouraging Roma pupils to attend consolidated schools. According to the World Bank, parents are citing the shortage of arrangements (transportation, semi-boarding facilities and school canteens) and the difficult integration with other pupils as the main factors discouraging attendance in rural areas. Besides the financial problems related to the inability to send their children to school thus including them to the “family way of earning the living”, the poor family traditions in education can also be noted.

The closure of schools in small municipalities as a part of the education reform aiming at cutting costs, resulted in slightly higher dropout rates, especially among the Roma population in rural areas.

Another specific feature of the Roma group is that functional illiteracy among women is three times more common than in men under Partners Bulgaria Foundation data of 2004. Women take care of the children, their illiteracy or low education are crucial for the educational aspirations and educational success of children.

Source: National Statistical Institute data cited in "Project for National Strategy of the Republic of Bulgaria for Roma Integration", 2011.