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rfmcdonaldA recent article in the Toronto Star about the first generation of Roma children in the Toronto school system, Louise Brown's "Roma children perplex local educators", made me think.
Brown notes that there are serious problems of integration, both among the Roma children and among the Roma parents as well as in the education system.
Oft-cited Roma "traditional values" may well be the cause. At least as important as vicious, the systemic discrimination that would effectively prevent the Roma from integrating even if these values did exist. See
and
Roma have been subjected to vicious discrimination in education and employment facing Roma, never mind unpunished hate crimes, even in such nominally liberal countries as the Czech Republic and Hungary to say nothing of the rest of post-Communist Europe. That's a fact.
As a Canadian, I favour admitting people fleeing persecution. At the same time, I'm hostile to the idea of countries exporting their unwanted ethnic minorities to Canada because they won't tolerate said minorities in their homeland. That's one reason why the visa requirements for citizens of the Czech Republic, discouraging as they may be for Roma refugee claimants, appeal to me: they send a clear signal to the Czech government and the Czech people that there are consequences to the racism that they tolerate. It's unfair to the Roma, of course, and therefore shouldn't occur for their sake, but nevertheless the visa requirement has a certain appeal to it.
They are Europe's Least Wanted – reviled for their unorthodox ways, hounded by white supremacists. Now the sudden arrival of Roma "gypsies" in Ontario has teachers here grappling to connect with some of the most perplexing students in the world.
With no English, limited education and an often shaky regard for school, the wave of Roma children give fresh urgency to the term "at-risk." Schools across Toronto and Hamilton, caught largely by surprise, are rushing to educate staff, hire more ESL teachers and find Hungarian and Czech interpreters for everything from report cards to welcome kits.
"We've got major problems with this wave of students and we need help – we've had more than 100 kids show up this fall and our staff are scrambling," said Trustee Irene Atkinson at a recent crash course on Roma culture organized by the Toronto District School Board, one of several this fall in Toronto and Hamilton.
"We need to develop curriculum for Roma teenagers in Grade 10 who are working at a Grade 4 to 6 level," she said.
Brown notes that there are serious problems of integration, both among the Roma children and among the Roma parents as well as in the education system.
Puzzled teachers say many Roma children seem unfamiliar with routines such as the school bell. Some plunge into fist-fights, show little respect for teachers, ignore homework and skip school for days at a time, even in elementary grades.
Not all feel this way; more than 25 Roma parents jammed into a breakfast meeting Friday at Queen Victoria Public School to learn, through a Hungarian interpreter, about the report cards and parent-teacher interviews coming next week.
But Czech translator Jan Rotbauer also was asked to visit a Scarborough grade school Friday to translate for Roma parents the importance of sending children to school each day.
"I have done this many times because teachers are asking for help," he said. "Roma parents do love their children, but education has not been high on the priority list."
Oft-cited Roma "traditional values" may well be the cause. At least as important as vicious, the systemic discrimination that would effectively prevent the Roma from integrating even if these values did exist. See
"It is one of the reasons we came; our children were being treated badly in the Czech Republic because they are Roma," said Katarina Polyakora, through translator Rotbauer. Her children are in Grades 3 and 8 at Precious Blood Catholic School in Scarborough.
"Our younger child has darker skin and was called racial slurs like Blackface – even the teacher would sometimes rip up her artwork," said Polyakora, whose family came here in February from the Czech Republic seeking refugee status.
"Our older child has lighter skin, so they did not discriminate against him until they discovered he was Roma, and then they kicked him off the school soccer team," she said.
"But here in Canada, the children are friendly. Everyone is friendly. It is a multicultural country."
and
"It's been six weeks and I'm starting to notice an improvement; less talking to each other, less fighting and better attendance," said Reutter.
There now is a waiting list for LEAP classes across Toronto fuelled by the arrival of Roma refugee claimants, said program coordinator Betty Ann Taylor.
"Roma children don't face gaps in their learning," she said. "They face craters."
Roma parents back home have also faced accusations of pushing their children into street crime rather than schooling. Rotbauer chose carefully which documentary he showed during a recent sensitivity session for about 100 teachers.
"The National Geographic one was okay, but a BBC documentary about Roma parents putting children out to rob people at ATM machines? I thought it was too negative and not balanced."
Such highly charged cultural baggage should not matter to Canadian schools, said Paula Markus, coordinator for English as a Second Language at the Toronto District School Board. "Our job is to help children who, through no fault of their own, have had gaps in their prior schooling, whether it's from war or persecution," she said.
"One student wrote the most touching composition about how great it is they're not beaten up in Canada just for being Roma.
"That's why people come here."
Roma have been subjected to vicious discrimination in education and employment facing Roma, never mind unpunished hate crimes, even in such nominally liberal countries as the Czech Republic and Hungary to say nothing of the rest of post-Communist Europe. That's a fact.
As a Canadian, I favour admitting people fleeing persecution. At the same time, I'm hostile to the idea of countries exporting their unwanted ethnic minorities to Canada because they won't tolerate said minorities in their homeland. That's one reason why the visa requirements for citizens of the Czech Republic, discouraging as they may be for Roma refugee claimants, appeal to me: they send a clear signal to the Czech government and the Czech people that there are consequences to the racism that they tolerate. It's unfair to the Roma, of course, and therefore shouldn't occur for their sake, but nevertheless the visa requirement has a certain appeal to it.
