ATTITUDES OF PARENTS, EDUCATORS, AND STAKEHOLDERS TOWARD ROMANI LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN SERBIA [1]
Slavica Komatina
Preschool Teacher Training College “Mihailo Palov”, Vršac,
Republic of Serbia
Abstract
This paper examines the attitudes of parents, educators, and professional stakeholders regarding the provision of education in the Romani language for children belonging to the Roma national minority in Serbia. Although Serbian legislation permits members of national minorities to receive education in their mother tongue, Roma children—unlike other minority groups—do not attend classes conducted in Romani. This study investigates the underlying causes and consequences of this discrepancy, as well as potential avenues for reform.
The research is part of a broader study on the education of Roma children in Serbia and employs a qualitative case study approach, incorporating scientific observation, relevant statistical data, and documentary analysis from educational institutions. Data collection techniques included in-depth interviews tailored to specific respondent categories, along with the examination of institutional documentation.
While technical and organisational challenges—such as the socio-economic marginalisation of the Roma population and the lack of qualified teachers proficient in Romani—constitute visible obstacles, the findings reveal deeper, more complex issues. Notably, many Roma parents express reluctance to have their children educated in their mother tongue, fearing it may hinder their social mobility and integration into broader Serbian society. Furthermore, despite the formal standardisation of the Romani language, there is widespread resistance among Roma communities to adopt standardised norms, with a continued preference for local dialects.
A particularly critical issue is the limited awareness within the Roma community of the importance of preserving, modernising, and promoting the Romani language as a means of cultural development and identity preservation. This is further exacerbated by the overall low educational attainment within the Roma population, resulting in a shortage of qualified professionals capable of contributing to the advancement of Romani language education.
Keywords: Romani language: Education; Identity; Social integration; Social emancipation.
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How to cite this paper: Komatina, S. (2022). Attitudes of parents, educators, and stakeholders toward Romani language education in Serbia. Journal of Linguistic and Intercultural Education – JoLIE, 15(1), 81–94. https://doi.org/10.29302/jolie.2022.15.1.5
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[1] In the article “Attitudes of Parents, Educators and Professional Stakeholders about Teaching in the Romani Language in Serbia,” I examine and contextualise a selected portion of the data drawn from a broader, complex, and in many ways unique study on Roma education in Serbia, originally published in the monograph The Educational Enigma of Roma. This source is explicitly cited and acknowledged. Given the scarcity of qualitative research focused on the perspectives of key stakeholders in the educational processes involving Roma children, I considered it both relevant and valuable to present these findings to a wider international readership. In particular, the journal JoLIE, with its global academic audience, offers an appropriate platform for disseminating this research and contributing to the current debate on minority language education, cultural identity, and educational inclusion.