Segregation and Exclusion of the Roma in Romanian Education

Abstract

Education is emphasized by the Romanian government as the strongest tool which can raise the Roma in Romania out of social and economic poverty. Still, there are several structural challenges within the Romanian education system and society that increase rather than mend the gap between the Roma and non-Roma. The aim of this thesis is to get a deeper understanding of how structural issues constrain the Roma’s access to quality education through segregation and social exclusion in Romania. The research is conducted from a social justice perspective, specifically addressing the distributional, recognitional, and procedural dimensions of social justice and how they intersect. Primary data was collected using qualitative interviews in Romania, and secondary sources such as academic literature and political strategies and reports have supplemented the analysis. The thesis contributes to inform and raise awareness of the significant challenges that segregation and exclusion of the Roma in education create, and how there is a need for a multidimensional approach to address these issues further.