The project aimed to develop the reading literacy of Roma pupils by creating innovative additional content that will help teachers raise the level of cultural capital and reading literacy of Roma children in order to make up for the deficit with which these pupils enter the education system. This will have long-term positive effects on their academic performance and other areas of their lives. By developing a curriculum and didactic materials based on a preliminary analysis of the situation, we wanted to offer additional support to teachers and pedagogical staff in their work with Roma pupils. At the same time, the project also aimed to increase the participation of Roma pupils in school and extracurricular activities. Objectives we set ourselves in the project application were: -to compensate for the lack of cultural capital of Roma pupils, -develop reading literacy among Roma pupils, -to strengthen the role of teachers in raising the level of cultural capital of Roma pupils, -strengthen teachers' activities to enhance the raising of cultural capital in Roma pupils, reduce the disparities in literacy and cultural capital between Roma and majority pupils, -develop innovative approaches and tools for working with Roma pupils.
We applied for the project because of the need to reduce inequalities in the educational achievements of Roma and majority pupils. The organizations involved in the project often come into contact with members of the Roma community in the course of their work. The gaps in cultural capital and reading literacy between Roma and majority pupils are already very pronounced when they enter school and widen during their schooling. The project is based on the recognition that the cultural capital and basic literacy levels acquired are not only the result of the school system but are shaped in the family environment, and that due to the specific way of life in the Roma community, children do not develop the cultural capital of a legitimate culture, which is reflected in their performance. In order for Roma children to make up for this shortfall, cultural capital needs to be systematically developed. One of the ways in which the partners have seen how to successfully address this challenge is through activities to develop reading literacy among Roma pupils, thereby reducing the differences in the level of cultural capital between pupils. To address the needs of Roma pupils, the project has developed a curriculum and didactic materials.