1. Benefits of VET for Roma as a means to counteract early school leaving
Irene Psifidou, PhD
Cedefop Expert
Department for Learning and Employability
EESC Public Hearing on ESL amongst Roma
4 June 2018, Brussels, Belgium

2. Cedefop intensive work to combat early leaving from education and training
Supports evidence-based policy making in Europe
Promotes cooperation and mutual learning
Offers guidance and tools for policy makers and VET practitioners

3. Cedefop recent contribution on Roma issues and next steps
4th Council of Europe Dialogue with Roma and Traveller Civil Society September 2017, Strasbourg
15th CAHROM Meeting May 2018, Athens, Greece
EESC Public Hearing, 4 June 2018, Brussels, Belgium
Invited to 16th CAHROM meeting in Croatia, September 2018
Ensuring wide dissemination of Cedefop VET toolkit for tackling early leaving to Roma stakeholders
Enriching and making relevant Toolkit’s resources to Roma needs (e.g. successful practices, guidelines, evaluation tools)
Making the toolkit a valuable source of support to Roma stakeholders
Linking with outcomes of related EU projects (e.g. PREDIS, PAL, etc.)

4. Roma and Traveller youth at risk of social exclusion
Roma students experience big disadvantages in education and high rates of early school leaving
Segregation in schools persists across the EU
Difficulties also remain in the transition to upper secondary or tertiary education
The number of Roma NEETs increased since 2011
50% of Roma aged 6-24 do not attend school
68% are early school leavers in 2016 (87% in 2011)
63% of Roma aged are NEETs (from 56% in ). EU average for that age group is 15,2%.
15% of Roma aged 6-15 attending classes where “all classmates are Roma” In SK, HU and BG more than 60% of Roma students learn in segregated environments where most of the students are Roma
Only 15% of young Roma adults complete upper secondary general or vocational education
FRA, Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey | Roma – Selected findings page 27: School segregation – concentration of Roma children aged 6-15 years in school, by EU Member State (%). If classes in which ‘most’ classmates are Roma are considered as segregated, the share of children attending education in segregated classes ranges from 63% in Slovakia 61% in Hungary, 60% in Bulgaria to 19 % in Portugal.
Source: FRA, EU MIDIS II , 2016 and ILO Resource Guide, 2016

5. VET not always a winner for Roma
Roma students over-represented in VET programmes at low educational levels
Challenging to find a training place in apprenticeship- based VET due to discrimination
Segregated communities with limited local availability for VET offer
Limited transition opportunities for employment
The situation of Roma students and VET is complex. VET often does not lead to successful outcomes, as Roma students are in many countries more likely to face difficulties in academic education and are oriented towards less academically challenging VET pathways with few employment opportunities. A recent study published by CEDEFOP on early schoolleaving shows that migrant and ethnic minority students, including Roma students are in some counties (e.g. Czech Republic, or Hungary) over-represented in VET programmes at low levels. Furthermore, there is a geographical challenge, as Roma tend to be in segregated communities where the VET offer available locally is rather limited and at lower educational levels, with limited transition opportunities for employment. For Roma students it might also be challenging to find a training place in apprenticeship-based VET, if there is discrimination at entry to the workplace.

6. Empowering Roma youth through VET
suits well learners who struggle with basic learning habits
may prevent early school leaving
may be recuperating dropouts from general education
has a motivational role through work-based learning
VET
Safety net for
at risk Roma youth
Transmission belt to the labour market
However, even taking into account the issues associated with VET, it can be seen as a solution to early school leaving for Roma students and support for the re-integration in the school system of those who have already left. In general, the practical approach in VET suits well learners who struggle with basic learning habits and are not comfortable in general education. This is the case for many Roma students, who potentially become early school leavers. CEDEFOP data shows that VET is likely to play a role in preventing early school leaving and may be recuperating dropouts from general education. The data shows that countries (e.g. LU, SI, CZ, NL, SK, HR, FI, AT) with high VET enrolment have lower early school leaver rates (below the EU target numbers)

7. Recommendations drawn from Cedefop research are major challenges for Roma stakeholders
1. Usually Roma accumulate disadvantage and require multidisciplinary support
2. Compensation measures are needed to address Roma needs which are more difficult in implementation, more costly and time consuming
3. Developing data collection and monitoring for Roma has been technically & legally challenging & expensive for Roma population
4. Conducting impact evaluation to inform future policy making has not been possible so far for Roma initiatives

8. Benefits of tailored interventions to address the needs of Roma youth at risk
The toolkit further includes several tips for identifying learners at risk of early leaving. These include identifying the relevant risk factors associated with early school leaving (such as family environment, educational attainment, behaviour and attitudes of learners as well as health and wellbeing). It is especially important to assess the family environment of Roma students, including the socio-economic status of their families as well as potential family responsibilities such as taking care of siblings.

9. Case management and multi-faceted support to improve health, well-being and attitude towards E&T
Due to systematic discrimination and marginalisation in the society, Roma children require multidisciplinary support that tackles their multifaceted disadvantages, while at the same time addressing their individual needs. The Cedefop VET toolkit for tackling early leaving can support experts and practitioners in effectively tackling early school leaving of Roma students. It provides guidelines and steps to follow for building multisdisciplinary teams, involving local stakeholders and designing case management support.

10. Guidance to make informed choices to prevent drop-out
Many Roma students do not even know about VET opportunities, raise awareness about different VET pathways and guide then to select the right one is key to increase education opportunit9es for Roma and prevent ESL.

11. An inclusive and supportive learning environment to reduce discrimination
Create a welcoming and inclusive learning environment
Support VET teachers and trainers to understand the needs of Roma
Promote school-family partnerships actively engaging parents in their child’s education and personal development can be a powerful determinant to reducing the risk of early leaving

12. Structured around three action areas: Identify, Intervene and Evaluate, the toolkit provides with:
Good practices based on evidence of success
Guidance and tips drawn from research findings
Quick wins easily applicable
Self-reflection tool for policy makers to assess policies’ strengths and weaknesses
Evaluation plans to design monitoring and evaluation
Rich literature and statistics
News – forthcoming events

13. http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/TEL-toolkit vet.toolkit@cedefop.europa.eu
CEDEFOP toolkit provides support for policy makers and practitioners to:
Detect
Monitor
Counteract
Early school leaving