School education of Roma children in Transcarpathia: the history of formation and development

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Department of Pedagogy of Preschool and Primary Education and educational managment

Mukachevo State University

School education of Roma children in Transcarpathia: the history of formation and development

Oktaviia Fizeshi, Doctor of Pedagogic Sciences, Professor, Professor

Mukachevo, Ukraine

Abstract

The Roma population has always been an integral part of the demographic diversity of Transcarpathia. However, representatives of this particular national community are traditionally the least involved in educational processes. Given the rights and opportunities for equal access to education for all citizens, regardless of their nationality, as well as the need to integrate the Roma population into civil society, the problem of involving Roma children in education, which depends on a number of conditions (social, economic, ideological, etc.), is relevant. The issue of "harming" Roma children in Transcarpathia at the state level began to be addressed in the early twentieth century, both through legal regulation and by establishing the first school for Roma children in Uzhhorod in 1926.

Purpose: article is devoted to the study of the history of the formation and development of school education of Roma children in Transcarpathia.

The methods are content analysis of historical, historical-pedagogical, archival and reference sources on the problem under study; problem-chronological method for studying trends in the development of school education of Roma children in Transcarpathia.

Results. The article deals with the historical and pedagogical retrospective of the formation and development of school education of Roma children. For the first time, the question of the need for a settled lifestyle for Roma families arose during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when the Hungarian government issued a decree on the fulfillment of civic duty in the context of protecting the homeland on the eve of World War I and the necessity of registering Roma children, their socialization and prohibition of begging. Later, when the territory of Transcarpathia was part of the Czechoslovak Republic, the Czechoslovak government initiated the issue of involving Roma children of school age in school. In 1923, with the assistance of the Abstract of Schooling of Subcarpathian Rus in Uzhhorod, Roma children began studying in separate classes of the Uzhhorod Ukrainian School. And in 1926, twenty-two Roma children entered the first grade of the newly built Roma school, which is considered the first such educational institution in Eastern Europe. During the Soviet period, the Transcarpathian Roma maintained a secluded lifestyle, moving from one end of the country to the other in search of work, and Roma children were rarely involved in school education (mostly only in primary school). The beginning of the twenty-first century for the Transcarpathian Roma is characterized by the consolidation of actions by the regional authorities, NGOs and representatives of the Roma intelligentsia to solve the educational problems of Roma children and the gradual increase in their coverage of general secondary, vocational and higher education.

Keywords: education, primary education, Roma population, Transcarpathia.

Анотація

Шкільна освіта дітей-ромів у Закарпатті: історія становлення та розвитку

Октавія Фізеші,

доктор педагогічних наук, професор, професор кафедри педагогіки дошкільної, початкової освіти та освітнього менеджменту,

Мукачівський державний університет (м. Мукачево, Україна)

Ромське населення завжди було невід'ємним складником демографічної строкатості Закарпаття, проте представники саме цієї національної спільноти традиційно найменше включені до освітніх процесів. Ураховуючи визначені Конституцією України права та можливості щодо рівного доступу усіх громадян, незалежно від їхньої національної приналежності, до здобуття освіти, а також необхідність інтеграції ромського населення до громадянського суспільства актуалізують розв'язання проблеми залучення дітей-ромів до здобуття освіти, що залежить від низки умов (соціальних, економічних, світоглядних та ін.). Питання «зашколення» дітей-ромів у Закарпатті на державному рівні почало розв'язуватися ще на початку ХХ століття як засобами нормативно-правового врегулювання, так і через створення першої школи для ромських дітей в Ужгороді 1926 р.

Мета дослідження: стаття присвячена дослідженню історії становлення та розвитку шкільної освіти дітей-ромів у Закарпатті.

Методи дослідження: контент-аналіз історичних, історико-педагогічних, архівних і довідникових джерел із досліджуваної проблеми; проблемно-хронологічний метод для вивчення тенденцій розвитку шкільної освіти дітей- ромів Закарпаття.

Розглянуто історико-педагогічну ретроспективу становлення та розвитку шкільної освіти дітей-ромів. Уперше питання про необхідність ведення осілого способу життя ромських сімей виникло за часів Австро-Угорщини, коли угорським урядом було видано постанову про виконання громадянського обов'язку в контексті захисту Батьківщини напередодні Першої світової війни та необхідність реєстрації дітей-ромів, їх соціалізацію та заборону жебракування. Згодом, уже в період перебування території Закарпаття в складі Чехословацької республіки, чехословацький уряд ініціював питання щодо залучення ромських дітей шкільного віку до навчання в школі. 1923 р. за сприяння Реферату шкільництва Підкарпатської Русі в м. Ужгороді ромські діти розпочали навчання в окремих класах Ужгородської української школи. А вже 1926 р. двадцять двоє дітей-ромів вступили до першого класу новозбудованої ромської школи, яка вважається першим таким закладом освіти на теренах Східної Європи. У радянський період закарпатські роми зберігали відокремлений спосіб життя, переїжджаючи з одного кінця країни в інший у пошуках заробітку, а ромські діти дуже рідко залучалися до шкільної освіти (переважно навчалися тільки в початкових класах). Початок ХХІ ст. для закарпатських ромів характеризується консолідацією дій з боку обласної влади, громадських організацій та представників ромської інтелігенції задля розв'язання освітніх проблем дітей-ромів та поступове збільшення рівня їх охопленості загальною середньою, професійною та вищою освітою.

Ключові слова: освіта, початкова освіта, ромське населення, Закарпаття.

Introduction

The problem formulation. The Roma population has always been an integral part of the demographic diversity of Transcarpathia. However, representatives of this particular national community are traditionally the least involved in educational processes. Given the rights and opportunities for equal access to education for all citizens, regardless of their nationality, as well as the need to integrate the Roma population into civil society, the problem of involving Roma children in education, which depends on a number of conditions (social, economic, ideological, etc.), is relevant. The Roma issue has been studied by domestic scholars in different contexts: socio-economic problems and issues of Roma integration in European countries were studied by M. Lendiel, T. Martsenyuk, G. Melehanych, R. Ofitsynskyi and others; cultural aspects of the Roma population development - E. Baloha, M. Zan, S. Melnyk, S. Chernychko and others. The issues of education and schooling of Roma in Transcarpathia are covered in the scientific research of T. Atroshchenko ("Peculiarities of work of primary school teachers with Roma children"), K. Labosh ("Creation of educational environment for the Roma population of Transcarpathia in the early twenty-first century"), А. Papp ("Hungarian-speaking education of Roma"), M. Cherepanya ("Education of Roma children in Transcarpathian orphanages of the first half of the twentieth century") and others. It should be noted that the generalization and systematization of the current historical and pedagogical experience of organizing school education of Roma children in Transcarpathia will help to expand the possibilities of determining the prospects for reforming the Ukrainian primary school in the context of a single educational space and maximum coverage of Roma children with schooling. education roma population

AIM AND Tasks OF THE Research - to study the history of the formation and development of school education of Roma children in Transcarpathia during the XX-XXI centuries.

RESEARCH METHODS: content analysis of historical, historical-pedagogical, archival and reference sources on the problem under study; problem-chronological method for studying trends in the development of school education of Roma children in Transcarpathia.

Results of the research

The Roma population of Zakarpattia, according to the last All-Ukrainian census conducted in 2001, is 1.1% (14 thousand people) (Pro kilkist ta sklad naselennia Zakarpatskoi oblasti za pidsumkamy Vseukrainskoho perepysu naselennia 2001 roku, 2001). At the same time, researchers of demographic processes in Zakarpattia believe that the number of Roma is much higher, because "their number is characterized by the same uncertainty as the results of censuses of other European countries regarding the number of Gypsies: during the census, a significant part of Roma identify themselves with another nationality," note J. Molnar and S. Molnar D., comparing the results of the census with data from educational institutions and their own research, according to which in 2001 the real number of Roma was about 32 thousand people (Zakarpattia 1919-2009 rokiv: istoriia, polityka, kultura, 2010, p. 489-490). Demographic issues have a significant impact on the problems related to the school education of Roma children, and not only at the present stage. These problems were also present in the ХХ century, because Roma (Gypsies) led a predominantly nomadic lifestyle. The issue of involving Roma children in education in Transcarpathia at the state level began to be addressed at the beginning of the twentieth century, both through legal regulation and by establishing the first school for Roma children in Uzhhorod in 1926.

The first initiatives in Transcarpathia to regulate the way of life and education of the younger generation in the Roma environment were made by the Hungarian government in the early XX century, when the Transcarpathian lands belonged to Austria-Hungary. In particular, in 1916 The Ministry of the Internal Affairs of the Kingdom of Hungary adopted a decree "On Nomadic (Tent) Gypsies", which obliged all Roma who lived a nomadic (tent) lifestyle to register at their place of residence and provide information to obtain an identity card. This "passportization" also included information about children in the identity cards of both fathers and mothers. If a child was under the age of 7 and neither parent recognized him or her, such a child was placed under state guardianship in the nearest orphanage. In addition, children who had reached the age of twelve were also issued an identity card. Of course, this document was intended to involve the Roma male population in fulfilling their civic duty to defend Hungary during World War I. However, the identity card also allowed Roma to receive state aid, employment opportunities, and, most importantly, obliged them to undergo medical care (A m. kir. belbgyminiszter 1916. йvi 15.000. ein. sz6mb rendelete, a kybor (s6toros) cig6nyokryl, 1916, pp. 438-441). Thus, all these measures contributed to the gradual integration of the Roma population into the life of the society of that time.

The next important step in the involvement of Roma children in schooling was made during the Czechoslovak period, when the territory of the Transcarpathian lands (Subcarpathian Rus) became part of the Czechoslovak Republic, which was established after the end of World War I and as a result of the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919) and the Trianon Agreement (1920). In the context of the new administrative structure, the education and schooling authorities were reformed (the creation of the Uzhhorod Education and Schooling Department) (1919), which allowed for a large-scale policy of involving all children of school age, including Roma children, in education at the local level. In the works devoted to the study of demographic processes of the Czechoslovak period, scholars (V. Zadorozhnyi, M. Tokar, and others. ) on the number of the Roma population of Subcarpathian Rus mainly indicate only the results of the 1930 census, in particular, they note that "according to official statistics, as of 1930, the population of the region numbered 725.957 people", of which "Gypsies - 1.357 people" (Zakarpattia 1919-2009 rokiv: istoriia, polityka, kultura, 2010, p. 67, 151). We consider this figure not an absolute number of the Roma population in the region, but only an indicator of the number of registered persons, because in the postwar period many Roma returned to a nomadic lifestyle and, accordingly, not being registered in a particular community, it was difficult to establish the exact number of Roma. Therefore, in 1927, the Czechoslovak government issued the Law on Nomadic Gypsies (Z6kon ze dne 14. cervence 1927 o potulnach cik6nech, 1927), which obliged Roma to obtain identity cards, which included information about children under the age of fourteen (§ 4). Roma who did not take proper care of their children, including in cases where children were deprived of the opportunity to study at school, had their children removed and placed in foster families or boarding schools by court order (§ 12, paragraphs 1, 4). The law provided for compulsory education for Roma children, as upon completion of education, children had to have not only basic knowledge, but also practical skills for an adult non-nomadic lifestyle (§ 12, paragraph 2).

At the same time, the Abstract of Education and Schooling of Subcarpathian Rus already in the first decade made every effort to organize school education for Roma children. For that purpose, in 1923, the first classes for Roma children were opened at the Ukrainian school in Uzhhorod, where they were taught the elements of literacy, numeracy, and, most importantly, basic hygiene skills, social behavior, etc. The problem of involving Roma children in education was drawn attention to during the Social and Medical Congress held on June 4-7, 1922 in Mukachevo, whose delegates appealed to the Abstract of Education and Schooling of Subcarpathian Rus to provide opportunities for education and upbringing of the Roma population of the region, because many Roma children "grow up without education and upbringing, without knowledge of ethics, aesthetics, husbandry and without participation in the life of our humane institutions" (Fizeshi, 2015, p. 115-116). Subsequently, with the support of the Czechoslovak government (10,000 Czech crowns) and the governor of Subcarpathian Rus (5,000 Czech crowns), construction began on a separate school for Roma children in Uzhhorod. Researchers (B. Kachur, P. Strichyk, V. Khymynets and others) note that the Roma community took an active part in the construction of the school, which made it possible to start classes in December 1926 (Khymynets, Strichyk, Kachur, Talapkanych, 2009, p. 231). In the report of J. Peshina (the first school inspector of Subcarpathian Rus), it was noted that 56 Roma children studied in the new school, and the teaching was carried out in Slovak (Pe^ina, 1933, p. 9). It is worth noting that this school for Roma children was the first not only in the Czechoslovak Republic, but also in the whole of Eastern Europe.

The events of the Second World War and the state-territorial subordination of Transcarpathia to Hungary (1939-1944) again made adjustments to the school education of Roma children, which had been relatively well established in the previous period. It should be noted that the Roma population of Subcarpathia, like the Jewish population, (here: the name of the Transcarpathian lands in 1939-1944 - O.F.) was persecuted: Roma families living in cities were evicted to camps outside the city, deported from the country, etc. Local authorities involved the Roma population in forced labor, in particular, in April 1941, they appealed to the Hungarian Minister of the Internal Affairs to "lock all Roma in special camps and use them for the construction of river dams, planting forests, harvesting timber, and other works. Roma camps were surrounded by barbed wire and guards were posted. It was forbidden to enter and leave the ghetto camps without permission" (Romolohiia: istoriia ta suchasnist, 2013, p. 81).

The situation with the Roma population did not improve much in the postwar period (November 26, 1944 - January 22, 1946 - transitional state formation of Transcarpathian Ukraine), and later in the Soviet period (from January 22, 1946 Transcarpathian region as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic). This was confirmed by the decree "On the employment of Gypsies engaged in vagrancy" (1956), according to which Roma who evaded socially useful work were brought to criminal responsibility. "In this regard," notes R. Ofitsynskyi, Transcarpathian Roma resorted to tricks and disguised their ethnicity" (Zakarpattia 1919-2009 rokiv: istoriia, polityka, kultura, 2010, p. 300). It should be noted that, in addition to the Roma, in the first postwar years, representatives of other national communities living in Transcarpathia had to "disguise" their ethnicity, as they were subjected to repression, eviction, forced labor, etc. by the Soviet authorities. As for the Roma, this led to the fact that even at the present stage of independent Ukraine, they continue to identify themselves as Hungarians and Ukrainians. This problem was pointed out by J. Molnar, S. Molnar D., analyzing the results of the All-Ukrainian census of 2001, they concluded that "only one fifth of Roma named Gypsy as their native language; almost the same proportion speaks mainly Ukrainian, more than 60% - Hungarian" (Zakarpattia 1919-2009 rokiv: istoriia, polityka, kultura, 2010, p. 498). Thus, during the Soviet period, Roma children studied in educational institutions according to their place of residence, but their attendance at schools was extremely unsatisfactory, as their parents often changed their place of residence in search of seasonal work. For this reason, a large number of Roma children were also brought up in boarding schools in Transcarpathia, but at least there they had access to a full education.

After the declaration of Ukraine's independence (1991), the policy on national minorities was significantly democratized. The Roma population began to identify themselves as a separate national group. National and cultural organizations and societies played an important role in this, encouraging the Roma population to preserve their identity in the context of culture, language, traditions and customs, and to engage in schooling. For example, in 1996, within the framework of the project "Spiritual Heritage for Children", the organization "Romani Yag" (headed by A. Adam) initiated the creation of a preschool for Roma children with 75 places, and with the assistance of the organization "Roma" (headed by J. Adam), in 1998, a Roma Sunday school was opened, where students had the opportunity to study the Roma language and literature (Romolohiia: istoriia ta suchasnist, 2013, p. 13-14). It should be noted that both institutions were opened in Uzhhorod and were the first such institutions in Ukraine. With the support of the regional state administration, targeted programs for the development of the Roma population of the region were introduced in Transcarpathia, according to which the regional education department, together with public, religious, cultural and educational organizations of the region, promoted the involvement of Roma children of school age in education. Large-scale educational activities have yielded results, as in the early twenty-first century the number of Roma children enrolled in school education was increasing, for example: at the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year in Transcarpathia, there were 5,383 Roma students in 115 educational institutions, mostly in schools in Beregovo (No. 7), Mukachevo (No. 14), Svaliava (No. 3, 5), Uzhhorod (No. 13, 14), Vyshkovo village in Khust district (only primary school), etc. (Khymynets, Strichyk, Kachur, Talapkanych, 2009, p. 232). The Roma population is also intensively integrating into Ukrainian- and Hungarian-language schools, for example, in Berehove, Vynogradiv, Mukachevo and Uzhhorod districts, which creates certain staffing problems, as there are no pedagogical education institutions for primary school teachers in the region that would teach the Roma language and methods of teaching the Roma language at least at the disciplinary level (Fizeshi, 2015, p. 274). This problem also applies to preschool education institutions, which need educators trained to work with the growing number of children of Roma origin.

Conclusions and prospects of further research

Equal access to school education for representatives of different nationalities is a guarantee of training conscious and active citizens of their country, capable of self-development and self-realization, as well as a means of preserving national identity, language, and culture. In this context, representatives of the Roma nation of Transcarpathia have always belonged to outsiders, mainly because of their nomadic lifestyle, difficulties in socialization and integration into society, etc. The historical and pedagogical experience of the formation and development of school education of Roma children allows us to identify the following trends: the introduction of legal regulation of the nomadic way of life of Roma and the establishment of parental responsibility for the education of children (Austro-Hungarian, Czechoslovak, Soviet periods), the use of the Roma population as a labor resource (Hungarian and Soviet periods), the democratization of Roma school education in the context of the establishment of educational institutions and the mandatory involvement of school-age children in education (Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland), the assimilation of Roma children, which was observed in all periods, as education was conducted mainly in the state language (Slovak, Hungarian, Russian, Ukrainian) due to the lack of curricula, textbooks and staffing for teaching in the Roma language, which outlines the prospect for further research and development.

References

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