The Council of Europe, Roma Education Fund and the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research announce the publication of the analytical report on the representation of and references to Roma in curricula and textbooks currently in use in schools across Europe. The report is a result of a joint project carried out between 2016 and 2019.

The research focuses on curricula and textbooks for history, civics and geography, and comprises both a quantitative analysis showing how often Roma are mentioned, as well as a qualitative overview on the topics that engage with the ethnic minority. With the critical contributions of Roma Education Fund Research Fellows, over 850 textbooks have been examined to evaluate their portrayal of Roma.

The research concludes that there is insufficient and inaccurate information about Roma in curricula and textbooks. In most of the analysed textbooks, Roma voices are marginalised, if not ignored, and only a few textbooks include sources from Roma authors or stories from Roma witnesses. The findings indicate the necessity for European governments to promote inclusion and antidiscrimination by addressing both the lack of representation of Roma and their misrepresentation in European curricula and textbooks.

The report’s research-based recommendations are aimed at Council of Europe member states and their respective national ministries of education, as well as authors and publishing houses, civil society organisations and academia. The results and recommendations can serve as a foundation for future activities in order to ensure that the shortcomings outlined in this report are addressed.

The report and its two appendices are available here.

For further information on the work of the Council of Europe, Roma Education Fund and the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research, please refer to the respective websites:

www.coe.int/roma

http://www.romaeducationfund.org

http://www.gei.de/home.html