02/07/2020
FSG Internacional
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a Recommendation on 1 July 2020 in Strasbourg which, for the first time, calls on its 47 Member States to include the history of the Roma people in school curricula and educational materials.
According to the Committee, this Recommendation would improve society’s understanding of the integral role that Roma people play in the history and culture of the respective European countries and societies. In addition, it would prove an effective tool in combating hate, discrimination and prejudice.
The Recommendation emphasises the importance of teaching about and remembering the victims of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime and its allies, as well as other acts committed against Roma people throughout Europe.
The Recommendation calls for countering persistent anti-Gypsyism by offering a balanced and contextualised teaching of the history of the Roma people. Furthermore, it stipulates that the educational content should include information on the contribution of Roma to national economies in sectors such as trade, metalworking and other crafts, as well as animal husbandry. It should also cover the various aspects of Roma history and cultural contribution, such as storytelling, literature, religion, music and traditions, while raising awareness of the “asymmetric social progress and unequal access to social rights” they have experienced throughout history.
For its part, the Fundación Secretariado Gitano has been working for years and advocating for the inclusion of the Gitano history and culture in school curricula through various campaigns and actions: on 8 April 2017, International Roma Day, we launched the La pregunta de Samuel (Samuel’s Question) campaign, in which a Roma student asks himself why the history of his people is not mentioned in his school text books. This campaign had an immense impact and even led to a meeting with the Minister of Education, who committed to making the educational curriculum more inclusive of the Gitano community.
Likewise, in November 2018, the Fundación Secretariado Gitano launched the Lección Gitana (Romani Lesson) campaign to draw attention to the same issue. This campaign features an informational video and book containing a brief overview of the history and culture of the Roma people in Spain and, to a lesser extent, in Europe. Romani Lesson proved successful and found support from many people, including prominent artists.
It is therefore encouraging that an institution like the European Council is supporting the rightful claim for the memory of millions of European people who have been ignored in the historical and cultural stories of their respective countries. We hope this changes soon.
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