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24 January, International Day of Education. We demand the right to quality education, also for Roma children [editar]

192 Roma students in Spain graduate from secondary education with the support of our Promociona programme

23/01/2025
FSG Educación

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24 January, International Day of Education. We demand the right to quality education, also for Roma children
  • During the 2023-24 school year, Fundación Secretariado Gitano has worked with 1 707 primary and secondary school students to promote their school success through its Promociona programme, a model that works.
  • 2 195 Roma students have achieved a Compulsory Secondary Education Certificate with the support of the Promociona programme since its beginnings 15 years ago.

24 January marks International Day of Education, a key date on which Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) focuses on Roma children's right to education, a right that is still not sufficiently guaranteed in Spain: 2 out of every 3 Roma children do not finish compulsory secondary education and half of Roma students study in segregated centres, isolated from the rest, according to the FSG's latest report on the educational situation of Roma students in Spain

On this day, and in the year in which the 600th anniversary of the presence of the Roma in Spain is commemorated, FSG calls for equal opportunities for the Roma population and presents the results of its educational guidance and support programme Promociona, which aims to offer an effective model to reduce the high rates of school failure and ensure that more and more Roma students graduate from compulsory secondary education and continue their education. During the 15 years that this programme has been running in 13 Spanish regions, it has been able to adapt to the most important educational milestones of recent times, such as the change in educational legislation, the COVID crisis and the rise of digital skills in the education system.

Currently, the Promociona programme is developed in 51 localities and during the 2023-24 academic year it has worked with 1 707 children: 479 in primary education, 1 157 in secondary education and 71 in Basic Vocational Training. To date, 2 195 students have graduated from compulsory secondary education since it began in 2009.

Promociona boosts the academic success of Roma students

Promociona includes priority actions such as individualised support and guidance for students and families in close collaboration with educational centres, school reinforcement sessions and the development of digital skills.

The results show that 86% of students successfully completed their compulsory studies and 90% have continued their pathway to post-compulsory studies. In many cases, they are the first generation of their families to reach this level of education.

The Promociona programme shows that the implementation of specific measures favours and boosts the educational success of Roma students.

Education, the fundamental pillar

On the 15th anniversary of the Promociona programme, Ahinoa, Sara, Paco and Noemí from Madrid, José from Córdoba and Marcos from Jerez are examples of those who form part of the pool of former students from the first promotions of the programme. With academic qualifications such as Social Education, Teaching, Business Administration, Journalism or Cinema, today they are independent young persons who develop their professional facet in different jobs, and have become educational models for their community. ‘Promociona offered me a very important space for guidance and educational accompaniment, not only for me, but also for my family. I realised that I was not the only one who wanted to study. Promociona gave me the strength to know that besides wanting to, I could reach whatever I wanted to reach’. This is how José Santos, journalist, describes his time in the programme. ‘Today I am proud to be a ‘Promociona child’, he concludes.

At the end of 2024, Fundación Secretariado Gitano launched the awareness-raising campaign #NOTBackToSchool to denounce the unacceptable educational situation of Roma students and to call on the public authorities for a specific plan to reverse the situation of educational failure and early leaving suffered by Roma students.

Promociona is financed by the European Social Fund+ and co-financed by the Spanish Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Protection and Agenda 2030, in addition to numerous regional and local public administrations and private entities.

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