The few situation studies and statistics on the roma population show a highly segregated group with serious difficulties in the access to the labor market and education, reflecting the following: that only 10% manage to complete secondary or higher education, that unemployment affects us in 36,4% compared to the 20,9% of the average of the population, and that in the case of roma women it is even higher than 84%. These data highlight the needs that we have addressed in the project: their vulnerability, especially in the field of equality and inclusion, the almost non-existent opportunities of access to the labor market, and the systematic family, social, public, educational, and labor discrimination that we face daily. In order to overcome these severe barriers and deconstruct the prejudices and stereotypes that society assigns us, with the project “EDUCATION REQUIRES OUR POINT OF VIEW: EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS FOR THE TRAINING OF ROMA WOMEN THROUGH PEER LEARNING” we have established methods to make adult education accessible and adapted for the many roma adults who were unfortunately never able to access school in their childhood, or did not complete it. This mere access to formal education represents a real change in our capabilities for empowerment, opportunities, and competences.. To this end, over 30 months we have generated key improvements and innovations in the field of adult education to promote the access of roma students to formal education, with the following results standing out especially: ‒ O1 “ONE FOR THE OTHER: COOPERATIVE LEARNING METHOD FOR ROMA WOMEN THROUGH SHARED ITINERARIES”, which is the learning methodology itself, based on the creation of asymmetrical pairs of roma women (peer learning), in which they themselves take sometimes on the role of teacher and others on that of student, depending on their competences. ‒ O2 “DIGITAL ARGIRÚ: OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES TO CREATE A COOPERATIVE LEARNING ITINERARY”, which consists of open educational resources (OERs) that can be used fully independently to the O1, but that perfectly match the contents of the guide and our previous project’s course. These educational materials are high-quality audiovisual resources taught and created by roma women themselves, facilitating their access and the acquisition of skills. To achieve all this, we have worked intensively during the 30 months of the project, carrying out multiple national development, visibility, and dissemination activities, in addition to 4 Transnational Meetings, virtual meetings, and 2 Multiplier Events, all of them leading to the creation of the ambitious results achieved. These activities were divided between: The PREPARATION PHASE, which included activities for the management, administration, and logistics, activities to prepare the main activities, preparation and participant selection activities, and others like the signing of collaboration agreements, the review of the project to include proposals from the ANE - SEPIE, and the development of security measures and good practices. The IMPLEMENTATION PHASE, with coordination meetings, activities for the development of results and services, national activities, multiple virtual activities with beneficiaries and experts, and visibility activities in Spain, Portugal, Romania, and Germany. And the DISSEMINATION AND EVALUATION PHASE, including almost a hundred activities for dissemination, evaluation, and follow-up, with periodic virtual meetings and the final evaluation. This project has led to the development of objectives and priorities of the Erasmus+ Programme, promoting equity and inclusion by enabling the participants from disadvantaged backgrounds and fewer opportunities to access education. It has also contributed to achieving the objectives of the European Commission and the Erasmus+ Programme, especially the European Framework of National Strategies for the Social Inclusion of the roma population, and those of the Europe 2020 Strategy, including the Education Strategy and those of the Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in the field of Education and Training (ET 2020).
With these needs in mind, the project “EDUCATION REQUIRES OUR POINT OF VIEW: EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS FOR THE TRAINING OF ROMA WOMEN THROUGH PEER LEARNING” was born with the aim of promoting significant improvements and innovations in the field of adult education, to enhance the access of roma students to formal education. We have created an innovative methodology and open educational resources that allow roma women to collaborate with one another (peer learning) and develop the habits and study skills necessary for them to re-engage in the formal adult education system. This project specifically matches Erasmus+ Programme’s objective of promoting equity and inclusion by enabling the participants from disadvantaged backgrounds and fewer opportunities to access education. Our objectives also match those of the European Commission and the Erasmus+ Programme, especially the European Framework of National Strategies for the Social Inclusion of Roma, and those of the Europe 2020 Strategy, including the Education Strategy and those of the Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in the field of Education and Training (ET 2020).
The few situation studies and statistics on the roma population show a highly segregated group with serious difficulties in the access to the labor market and education, reflecting the following: that only 10% manage to complete secondary or higher education, that unemployment affects us in 36,4% compared to the 20,9% of the average of the population, and that in the case of roma women it is even higher than 84%. These data highlight the needs that we have addressed in the project: their vulnerability, especially in the field of equality and inclusion, the almost non-existent opportunities of access to the labor market, and the systematic family, social, public, educational, and labor discrimination that we face daily. In order to overcome these severe barriers and deconstruct the prejudices and stereotypes that society assigns us, with this project we have established methods to make adult education accessible and adapted for the many roma adults who were unfortunately never able to access school in their childhood, or did not complete it. This mere access to formal education represents a real change in our capabilities for empowerment, opportunities, and competences.