Poverty and Education in Bulgaria

I was able to discuss poverty with one of my contacts this week.  Emil is the Executive Director of the Step by Step preschool program in Bulgaria, Sofia.  Although Emil was not able to give me much information about poverty in his country, ("From an educational standpoint, I do not know a lot about this issue- poverty.")  Emil did let me know, however, that there is a minority group in his community; Romas.  This group of children is not integrated into the mainstream of the Bulgarian education system and many of them live in poverty. Emil stated that this is a very big political issue in his country, for which he believes there is no solution. 


Due to the limited amount of information I could obtain from Emil on the topic, I decided to do a little research.  "In Bulgaria, 70 percent of young Roma, (approximately 30,000 children), attend sub-standard schools in segregated Romani neighborhoods. Inadequate material conditions and the poor quality of education provided by unmotivated teachers contribute to low attendance rates of Roma pupils. Altogether, they alienate Romani children from schools and perpetuate the cycle of illiteracy, unemployment, and poverty." (http://hub.witness.org/en/action/campaigns/campaign/1023)  Although there has been some change in the ways in which Romani children acquire their education, (selected groups are bussed into Bulgarian mainstream schools), they are still facing discrimination and poverty.  


"The main problems stem from the fact that the Roma districts are turning into ghettos.  Most Roma neighbourhoods consist of slums, precariously built without planning permission on land that often belongs to the municipalities. As the Bulgarian authorities have not taken steps to address the situation, the people living in these districts have no access to basic public services, whether health care, public transport, waste collection or sanitation." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_in_Bulgaria)  It seems to me that the segregation of this group of people runs deep and it was difficult to discuss it further with Emil, as he was very brief with his statement to me about Roma families and poverty.  


Speaking with Emil about poverty in his country has made me contemplate the causes of the continuation of poverty within certain groups of people.  Because there is no alternative being provided to the Roma population, they are forced to live in poor conditions and have limited access to education.  This begins a cycle; the members of this community remain under-educated and therefore do not have the necessary tools to provide their children with a better education.  In order for this cycle to end, the segregation of this community of people would have to end.  We see similar cycles in certain areas of the United States.  


In addition to our discussion of poverty, I have learned a lot from Emil about his country's education system.  He provided me with pictures of local classrooms and a Power Point presentation about education in Bulgaria.  From viewing the pictures, I can see that classroom sizes are large.  There are many students in a small space.  However, the materials in the classroom appear to be new and children seem to have a great deal of resources available to them.  Language barriers are also an issue in Bulgaria; whereas many children do not speak the native tongue and there are no accommodations made for them in schools.  In addition, the preschool system seems to be ineffective and many children are not properly prepared for moving forward in their education and there is a high rate of drop-outs.  


It has been rewarding to discuss education with someone from a different part of the world.  I feel that I am appreciative for the things provided to me in my community and in my line of work.  I am excited to learn more about Emil and his country's education system throughout this course.  I was unable to get in touch with  my contact in Denmark this week; hopefully I will be able to do so for next week's blog post.  


References:


-Personal Communication with Emil from Bulgaria
-http://hub.witness.org/en/action/campaigns/campaign/1023
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_in_Bulgaria