Mădălina Albu 1
Petroleum – Gas University of Ploieşti Abstract
Ethnic group is a concrete social reality and relations resulting from human contact. Roma are one of the oldest ethnic entities in Romania and one of the most numerous. The principle of positive discrimination is widespread in protecting ethnic minorities and is widely accepted and legislated in advanced countries, but is often accompanied by the pros and cons. This paper presents some considerations on these concepts.
Keywords: Management education, ethnic minorities
In the last twenty years national minority rights in Romania have been promoted by institutionalizing ways to participate in the executive and legislative act in several dimensions of public policies, respectively through various legal and institutional measures designed to ensure the protection, preservation and development of various sizes of identity characteristics of minorities in Romania (cultural, linguistic, educational and administrative policies).
All European countries are making efforts in order to comply their legislation with EU standards concerning non-discrimination as it is defined in the Directive refering to the implementation of equal treatment between person principle no matter racial or ethnic origins are and in the Directive refering to the people employment .
Moreover, EU Member States should formally embossom and act according to the principle that prohibition of discrimination should be accompanied by positive measures.
EU Member State officials should be asked to find ways to ensure that public services are equally accessible to all, with special reference to the vulnerable minority groups.
Multiculturalism is a reality of present and future time and that is why the multiculturalism imply the recognition of pluralism and cultural variety of the cultural identity of any minority. Now a day a strong emphasis is put on mutual recognition of values, fostering a spirit of dialogue, communication and collaboration between different cultures within the territory of our country.
Cultural diversity is not a crime anymore, but a reality that must to be used in school environment. Cultural plurality put the matter not only preserving differences but the cultural dialogue which recognizes that everyone must contribute to enriching the human experience and that each one is an effort of universalization of a particular
1 Tel.: +40-244-573171
E-mail address: malbu@upg-ploiesti.ro
Mădălina Albu / Procedia – Edu World 2010
experience. Multiculturalism is not the adversary of the European universalism, but another form of it. What unifies multiculturalism with the European universalism is the common wish to put a culture above the state power or interests of a social group2.
In general, minorities are defined as those social groups that have specific attitudes and behavior toward majority.
Majority / minority ratio usually appears and manifests within the states and it understand limitation related to language, race, nationality, religion etc.
1. Peculiarities of the Roma ethnic group
Concept of “ethnical” is closely related to the “culture” one that means it refers to the membership of a nation, membership which is defined by specific cultural affiliation, i.e. specific civilization of a people. Name of “ethnical” is similar to the people concept.
Roma ethnic minority group is a part of a dominant social structure that place them in a certain position on the social scale, a position that helps them to identify with the majority group and its specific lifestyle in terms of ethnicity, culture and interaction.
Roma are one of the oldest ethnic entities in Romania and one of the most numerous.
After a period of ignorance generated by a policy of constrained assimilation, Gypsy problem lies in actuality, denser and more complex.
Roma issue can be approached from several perspectives, namely ethnographic, sociological and pedagogical. Identification and exploitation of this issue is one of the most important prerequisites in Roma integration and harmonization of interethnic relations.
Relations between majority and minority are determined by two factors:
a) a first factor has in view the numerical size.
b) the second factor relates to the balance of power and influence between majority and minority. Typically, the majority dominates numerically and gets the main levers of power and influence in society.
According to 2002 census (Table 1) in Romania live about 500 000 citizens of Roma. Romania has the largest number of Roma in Europe; as a percentage of the total population, Bulgaria has a higher percentage.
Increasing the number of persons of this nationality is not the only the consequence of a higher female fertility specific to this category.
Highest proportion of Roma is in the counties: Mures (40 425), Dolj (31,544), Bihor (30,089) and Bucharest (27 322).
România Bulgaria Slovacia Ungaria Cehia
Roma population, number
535.250 370.908 89.920 189.984 11.746
Roma
population, % 2,5 4,7 1,7 1,9 0,1
Table 1 Roma declared at the last census
Source: Population Census of 2002 for Romania and other countries census of 2001
Main features of the ethnic Roma are:
2 Cucoş C., Educaţia. Dimensiuni culturale şi interculturale, Editura Polirom, Iaşi, 2000, p.240
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o Physical: Indo-European race. Distinctive element is the skin colour from the physical point of view, criterion that is not universally true, however.
o Spoken languages: Gypsy (or gitane, Gypsy, Romani, Romany, etc..), of the Indo-European family, Indo-Iranian branch. No writing, colloquial language. Fluctuant degree of proliferation. Most romani speakers are bilingual speakers using the language of majority community. Romani language may be considered as a secret language. Romanian slang words took over from the Romani to Romanian language: barosan, a hali, a mangli, mişto, ş.a.
o Cultural and folkloric traditions. Roma ethnic characteristic is their poor representation of folklore and cultural traditions which is explained by the following conditions: symbiotic lifestyle (during history Roma predominantly were considered slaves, they lived near the boyar courts, monasteries, not allowing shaping of a group of customs, traditions which are normally contained in a community); lack of their own religion, which is intended to maintain internal cohesion of community and language; and their unwritten language, which limits the development of culture and shaping of distinctive ethnic profile.
2. Positive discrimination, part of the Roma ethnic education management
Under pressure of the European integration, positive discrimination was adopted by the Romanian authorities as a basis for a series of public policies intended to ensure improving of socio-economic conditions of groups considered disadvantaged. Most eloquent examples in the local area are various legislative and administrative measures adopted in favor of the Roma community.
The principle of positive discrimination is widespread to protect disadvantaged groups (not only ethnic minorities) and is widely accepted and legislated in developped countries, and is often accompanied both by pros and cons considerations.
The concept of positive discrimination is also in dispute; however, considering that it is dependent on an egalitarian concept of the human condition, and in practice egalitarianism penalizes the most deserving individuals and replaces reward of individual skills to the benefit derived from belonging to a particular social group. Or, becoming an employee, admission to college, earning some money should be judged on the basis of individual merit and not as an inherent benefit of belonging to a group. If they do otherwise it means actually to replace justice with injustice.
Regarding the Roma ethnic education management, Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sport awarded special places for the entrance of Roma candidates into the faculties of 26 state universities annually. The process of allocating places for Roma candidates requires they are matriculated only if they get at least mark 5 per contest. Once entered young Roma do not pay tuition fees during their university studies.
Five or eight places reserved each entry session for Roma candidates certainly does not significantly affect chances of any Romanian student reasonably well prepared, especially in many cases they are provided as a supplement of the usual number of places.
Chance that these places offer to young Roma is not negligible, however. They will graduate a college, and then have the chance to integrate them into a wider society; they will have jobs and will enter the middle class.
Indeed, it is quite possible Roma students to be under the level of their majority colleagues especially in the early years, and this chance should not be missed.
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On the other hand, skeptics say it is clear that positive discrimination is a losing battle from the very beginning practically, disadvantaged groups are not so cooperating to recover their lost advance as they theoretically suppose to be.
Consequently, Roma students are often accepted to the college on their budget reserved places getting marks little more than five, while Romanian students getting higher grades are not accepted or are accepted on payed places.
Competition exists even in these places, but its standard is clearly weaker because of lack of motivation. Roma students will probably be very unpopular among his romanian colleagues just because their chances were not equal and their work disproportionate.
3. Conclusions
Although arguments against positive discrimination can sometimes be very plausible, they can say with conviction that positive discrimination is an act of social justice arisen from the requirements of a right society that would have been appeared without any discrimination and injustice.
For more than five years, young Roma have special places for both college admission and for admission to any college in the country selection criteria are minimal.
Regarding these places state universities in Romania, it should be noted that Romanian students or from other ethnic groups other than the Roma, are not disadvantaged because the places reserved for Roma students are a result of government decisions in category affirmative measures, the encourage and foster their access to university education.
A social motivation arising from comparing study conditions that Roma high school students benefit to study conditions that high school students belonging to Romanian ethnic majority benefit.
The Roma student (or students) of that college should not be suspected by the other colleagues that he does not deserve his place and was accepted only because he is part of a certain social group; so that the Roma student can lose his confidence in these conditions.
Positive discrimination should be designed to promote their integration without causing tension, animosity or conflict.
The fact they can apply for places especially created for them should not draw our attention they are "different", but should be a helping hand for those less fortunate.
We are all from the same place but we get an influence that has led each other of us in our place. School environment should affect us very much and to open up our minds.
My own experience as a university teacher allows me to say that Roma students I have met and trained within the University of Petroleum and Gas in Ploiesti are well integrated, students of merit, and very ofthen, they represent an example to be followed for their peers.
Roma youth who want to attend a college may choose among hundreds of free places annually offered by public universities across the country. This year, for example, Ministry of Education has approved more than 430 places for this population. But among Roma youth who want to study there are also Romanians, who lie on they belong to this ethnic group in order not to pay school fees.
Unfortunately, statistics show that because of poverty the number of Roma students dropped, they are unable to financially support themselves during the college. This must be the field all competent authorithies should act in order to increase the number of Roma competent graduates.
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Mădălina Albu / Procedia – Edu World 2010 References
Cucoş C., (2000) Educaţia. Dimensiuni culturale şi interculturale, Editura Polirom, Iaşi, 2000, p.240 Orţan, F (2004), Management educaţional, Editura Universităţii din Oradea, p.29
www.edu.ro
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