20/07/2020
FSG
•The ‘Compulsory Secondary Education Graduate Classrooms’ (Aulas de Graduado en ESO) for Roma over the age of 18 is an initiative by the Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) in collaboration with Fundación Radio ECCA which offers a second chance to students who left school without earning their secondary school certificate.
•During the academic year 2019-2020, 62 students (57% women and 43% men) received their certificate, corresponding to 64% of those enrolled in the 4th year of Compulsory Secondary Education.
•The support and backing of tutors throughout the process has been key for students, especially in the final stage, when students were confined to their homes due to the COVID-19 crisis and had to rely on digital tools.
On 20 July 2020, sixty-two Roma youngsters who participated in the Acceder training and employment programme from the Fundación Secretariado Gitano received their Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO in Spanish) certificate at a virtual ceremony inaugurated by the Spanish Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Isabel Celáa.
The event was broadcasted live on YouTube and Twitter with the hashtag #AulasGraduado (Graduate Classrooms) and many family members and friends tuned in to witness the closing ceremony of a school year marked by the COVID-19 confinement, which made it even harder for students to obtain their certificate.
The Minister congratulated all students on their graduation and the effort they put in, before going on to encourage the graduates to continue their education: “Don’t stop here. Keep studying. Be ambassadors for education, active agents who can inspire many more to follow in your footsteps”.
She shared her concern about the high rate of academic failure in the Roma community (64 per cent) and pledged to reduce it: “Let's set a goal together to see if we can bring the rate down by 5 to 10 points next year”.
Minister Celáa spoke about the new Spanish Education Law in the pipeline: "We want it to foster an educational system that compensates for inequalities, treats talent on an individual basis ( we cannot sacrifice talent) and generates equity to give everyone what they deserve”.
In addition to the Minister of Education, the General Manager of Fundación Secretariado Gitano, Isidro Rodríguez, took part in the event: “A person’s level of education is a key factor that determines his or her opportunities to enter the job market. Holding a Secondary Education Certificate is essential for any job. Many Roma stop studying too early and are unable to receive their certificate. This initiative gives students a second opportunity and offers them the support and adjustments they need to earn their certificate and access the job market”.
Furthermore, Lucas López, Managing Director of Fundación Radio ECCA, emphasised the value of alliances like the one between FSG and Radio ECCA.
One of the priorities of Fundación Secretariado Gitano is to increase the employability of Roma people and guarantee them — especially young people — equal access to the job market. Failure to finish compulsory education is common among the Roma community, leaving many without the associated knowledge and skills. This is reflected in the alarming data from the latest "Comparative study on the situation of the Roma population in Spain in relation to employment and poverty" [1]carried out by the FSG, where a mere 17% of Roma over the age of 16 has Compulsory Secondary Education or higher (compared to 80% of the general population).
For this reason, the Fundación Secretariado Gitano in collaboration with Fundación Radio ECCA and within the European Social Fund funding framework set up the ‘Compulsory Secondary Education Graduate Classrooms’ online initiative for adults. The Classrooms programme is a second chance for those who dropped out of school and employs a distance learning methodology that allows participants from the Acceder employment programme to obtain their Compulsory Education Education certificate.
Its modular and cumulative methodology, where students do not attend physical classes, provides the necessary flexibility for students to study while seeking employment or even beginning a new job and managing daily life (caring for relatives, etc.).
Tutors assist students in small groups of ten over the course of the school year. After the declaration of the state of alarm, the role of tutors became fundamental to helping confined students with the use of digital tools.
Thanks to this effort and the dedication of students, the academic year 2019-2020 saw 62 students (57% women and 43% men) receive their certificate, corresponding to 64% of those enrolled in the 4th year of Compulsory Secondary Education level.
The ‘Compulsory Secondary Education Graduate Classrooms’ programme is currently offered in 29 cities in 14 Regions. From 2016 to 2020, a total of 1,016 Roma (60% women and 40% men) have taken advantage of these secondary education initiatives. Throughout these four academic years, 176 Roma (105 women and 71 men) have earned their Compulsory Secondary Education degree.
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