Opća skupština Ujedinjeni naroda je 3. prosinca 2018. godine proglasila kako će se Međunarodni dan obrazovanja obilježavati 24. siječnja, a prvi put održan je prošle, 2019. godine. Cilj je ukazati na ono obrazovanje koje može donijeti globalni mir i omogućiti razvoj budućim generacijama. Također, ovaj dan je prilika da ljudi postanu svjesni potrebe da obrazovanje bude dostupno svima i činjenice kako u današnjem svijetu to još uvijek nije slučaj.

Ujedinjeni narodi i Vijeće Europe su besplatno obrazovanje prepoznali kao ljudsko pravo. Članak 26. Univerzalne deklaracije o ljudskim pravima kaže: “Svako ima pravo na obrazovanje. Obrazovanje treba biti besplatno u osnovnim i nižim školama. Osnovno obrazovanje je obavezno. Tehničko i stručno obrazovanje treba da biti svima podjednako dostupno na osnovu njihove sposobnosti”.

Nadalje, Ujedinjeni narodi obrazovanje vide kao ključ održivog razvoja. U 2015. godini UN je postavio sedamnaest ciljeva održivog razvoja koje treba ostvariti do 2030. godine, a četvrti cilj je osigurati kvalitetno obrazovanje za sve. Brundtland komisija UN-a održivi razvoj definira kao način “zadovoljavanja potreba u sadašnjosti bez ugrožavanja mogućnosti budućih generacija da zadovolje vlastite potrebe”. Da bi buduće generacije mogle zadovoljiti vlastite potrebe, djeca trebaju biti obrazovana i steći vještine kao što su rješavanje zadataka iz matematike i pisanja, te će im to pomoći kako bi bili neovisni i usredotočeni na globalna pitanja. Obrazovanje je neophodno u razvoju jedne zemlje jer je to alat za postizanje jednakosti, posebno rodne jednakosti, i iskorjenjivanje siromaštva. To je način da budući odrasli ljudi steknu slobodu biti ambiciozni, da teže biti takvi kakvi žele biti i raditi ono što žele raditi.

Međutim, ovo pravo na obrazovanje se ne primjenjuje uvijek. Prema statističkim podacima Ujedinjenih naroda, više od 250 milijuna djece širom svijeta ne ide u školu, što je trećina europskog stanovništva. Nadalje, čak i među onima koji su pohađali školu ima oko 750 milijuna odraslih koji su nepismeni. Ovi neprihvatljivi statistički podaci su jedan od razloga za proglašavanje Međunarodnog dana obrazovanja. Život u 21. stoljeću otežan je za one ljude s nedovoljno razvijenim vještinama čitanja i pisanja i oni često završe zapostavljeni.

Nevladina organizacija 'Obrazovanje ne može čekati' (Education Can't Wait) objavila je rezultate istraživanja koji su pokazali da kada bi sva djeca na svijetu završila srednju školu, više od 400 milijuna ljudi bi izišlo iz siromaštva. Nedostatak pristupa obrazovanju jedan je od najvećih uzroka siromaštva i nezaposlenosti, a često pogađa djecu manjinskih skupina. Nacionalne manjine su često marginalizirane, a nedostatak obrazovanja može još više otežati njihovu integraciju u društvo.

Položaj Roma u Hrvatskoj to jasno ilustrira. Romi u Hrvatskoj su pogođeni velikom nezaposlenošću i diskriminacijom, a romska djeca uglavnom nisu dovoljno uključena u obrazovni sustav. Mnoga romska djeca ne završe ni osnovno obrazovanje koje je obavezno do petnaeste godine, ili ne pohađaju srednju školu. Ali već u predškolskom odgoju, romska djeca zaostaju u sustavu koji im nije prilagođen: to je program napravljen za djecu čiji je materinji jezik hrvatski, a to nije slučaj s romskom djecom. Nadalje, ne postoji mogućnost dužeg alternativnog obrazovnog sustava za njih, koji bi im pružio bolju priliku za prilagodbu.

Obrazovanje Roma, točnije uključivanje romske djece u obrazovni sustav je tema kojom se Europska komisija intenzivno bavi, a Europska unija pridaje veliku važnost radu na integraciji Roma. To se ostvaruje kroz obrazovanje koje je jedno od četiri prioritetna Okvira EU za nacionalne strategije integracije Roma, zajedno s zapošljavanjem, zdravstvom i socijalnom politikom te stanovanjem.

U izvješću o provođenju Okvira EU za nacionalne strategije integracije Roma za 2019. godinu primjećuje se kako je obrazovanje područje na kojem države članice EU najviše teže u provođenju i poduzimaju neke od potrebnih mjera. Što se tiče obrazovanja, rezultati ovog izvještaja bili su općenito ohrabrujući jer je 90% romske djece u EU pohađalo osnovnu odnosno nižu srednju školu. Sadašnji okvir će biti revidiran ove godine, a bit će zanimljivo pratiti u kojem smjeru će se statistike u sljedećim godinama mijenjati.

 

 

Today it is the 24th January, and we are observing the International Day of Education. The aim of this day is to recognise and understand how important education is, and how it is necessary in order to reduce poverty and offer the tools for children to obtain a promising future. It is also interesting to consider in what measure minorities, in particular the Roma minority in Croatia, are integrated into the education system, and what is being done to improve the current statistics.

 

The International Day of Education is quite a new event, since the first one took place only last year, in 2019. It was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on the 3rd December 2018. The principal aim of this day is to celebrate what education can bring to global peace and how it enables the development of future generations. But this day is also an occasion to make people aware of how necessary it is that education be accessible to all, and the fact that, in today’s world, this still isn’t the case.

Free and compulsory education has been recognised as a human right by the United Nations (UN) and the Council of Europe. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states in Article 26 that “[e]veryone has the right to education. [It] shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages, [and E]lementary education shall be compulsory.”. On a national level, this right to education can also be found in article 65 of the Croatian constitution, we can quote: “In the Republic of Croatia, everyone shall have access to education under equal conditions and in accordance with his/her aptitudes.”.

Furthermore, the UN sees education as a key to sustainable development. In 2015, the UN laid out its 17 sustainable development goals to be achieved before 2030, the fourth goal being ensuring quality education for all. The UN Brundtland Commission describes sustainable development as a way of “meet[ing] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”. For future generations to meet their own needs, children need to be educated and to gain skills like maths and literacy which will allow them to be independent and focus on global issues. Education is necessary in a country’s development, as it is a tool to obtain equality, especially gender equality, and to eradicate poverty. It is a way for future adults to gain the freedom to be ambitious, to strive to be who they want to be and do what they want to do.

However, this right to education isn’t always implemented. According to UN statistics, there are more than 250 million children worldwide who don’t go to school, this is equivalent to a third of the population of Europe.

Furthermore, even though a proportion of them will have been to school, 750 million adults don’t have fundamental literacy skills. This is an unacceptable statistic and one of the reasons behind the creation of this day. Having limited reading and counting skills makes life in the 21st century difficult, and these people often end up left behind.

A study shared by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Education Cannot Wait, showed that if all children in the world complete secondary school education, more than 400 million people could be saved from poverty. Lack of access to education is one of the biggest factors of poverty and unemployment, and, often, the children affected are those from minorities. These populations are generally marginalised, and a lack of education can make it even harder for them to be integrated into society.

The situation of the Roma minority in Croatia illustrates this: this community usually suffers from high unemployment and discrimination, and Roma children are generally underrepresented in the education system. It has been shown that many Roma children do not complete primary education, which is compulsory until age 15, or attend secondary school. But already in preschool, Roma children are left behind in a system that isn’t adapted to them: it is a programme made for children whose mother tongue is Croatian, and this often isn’t the case for Roma children. Furthermore, there isn’t the option of a longer alternative system for them, which would give them a better chance to adapt.

The education of Roma, and more precisely the integration of Roma children to the education system is a popular topic in the European Commission, and the EU puts a lot of importance on working towards Roma integration. This passes through education, which is one of the four policy areas of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies, along with employment, health and housing.

In the 2019 framework report, it was noted that education is the field where member states are the most striving towards integration and putting some of the necessary measures in place. As far as education is concerned, the results of this report were generally encouraging, with 90% of Roma children in the EU attending primary and lower secondary school. The current framework will be revised in 2020, so it will be interesting to see what the evolution of these statistics will be over the coming years.