The Zero.8 [editar]
Campaign on education and Roma youth
The harsh reality of education
Only 0.8% of young Roma men and women graduate from university. This is a harsh educational reality. Why is this happening? The educational path of many Roma children is conditioned by late enrolment in nursery school, curriculum gaps and grade repetition, leading to a school failure rate of 63%, compared to 4% for the student body as a whole. The lack of role models with education and expectations, school segregation, and a system that fails them means that only 0.8% graduate. This is a statistic that should make us ashamed as a country..
A creative campaign
The Zero.8 campaign seeks to raise awareness of the educational reality of Roma youth and highlight the barriers they face in accessing university. To this end, with the support of the Sra. Rushmore agency, the Fundación Secretariado Gitano has developed a comprehensive campaign with a range of materials. The main video features Carmen, a young university graduate, with 20% of her body ‘cut off’. This creative decision seeks to reflect the insignificant proportion of Roma graduates, symbolising that the figure does not even represent one person in a hundred; a visual way of showing that only 0.8% graduate from university.
Another key element in the creative strategy was the recreation of a university graduation ceremony in which, out of a total of 100 people named to receive their degrees, only Carmen took to the stage. The event, held at the Faculty of Tourism and Commerce of the Complutense University of Madrid, was attended by the Minister of Education, Pilar Alegría, and marked the launch of the campaign, which is being disseminated as news in the media, on social networks and through FSG events.
The Fundación Secretariado Gitano calls on the education authorities:
- A specific State Plan for Guidance and Educational Reinforcement to reverse the situation of educational failure and dropout among Roma students.
- Address the school segregation that affects 1 in 3 Roma children.
- Measures to guarantee the free incorporation of Roma children in the first stages of infant education.
- Develop options for the return to formal education.
Leading figure of the campaign
Carmen Jiménez has become the face of the campaign. Her speech at the graduation ceremony highlights the few Roma people who attend university and who are role models for their community and for society as a whole.
Carmen Jiménez [editar]
Protagonist of The Zero.8
‘Graduating and representing the less than 1% of young Roma who achieve this is not only a personal achievement, but also a symbol of hope and the need for institutions to commit to making education a tool for inclusion and respect for all.’
The Zero.8
Slogan or subtitle Carmen, the Zero.8 of young Roma who graduate from university
Launching date 2025
Themes Education
Main audience Public authorities, educational administration
Agency Sra. Rushmore
Funder European funds and the Ministry of Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda