The topic of Roma integration continues to be on the agenda in Bulgaria

Conference on Roma integration and awarding talented students are among the initiatives for the International Roma Day in Bulgaria

published on 4/8/25 2:40 PM

Author: Joan Kolev

Photo: AMALIPE Center

April 8 is the day when Roma people around the world celebrate their identity. "International Roma Day is a time to show that we are part of the Bulgarian nation, of the European community and contribute to the development of local, but also global culture," explains Teodora Krumova, program director of the largest Roma organization that works for better education, community development and equal integration of Roma people in Bulgarian society - "AMALIPE".

Part of their work to reduce the dropout rate of students from the educational system is the program "Every Student is an Excellent Student". Nearly 250 schools in the country have already joined it, marking today's International Roma Day with various initiatives. A large conference has also been organized in Sofia:

"The main goal of this conference is to state that the topic of Roma integration continues to be on the agenda and that we should not ignore it, regardless of the complicated political context. Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov, the German ambassador to Bulgaria, along with representatives of other embassies, as well as representatives of the civil sector, will participate in it, so that we can state what our priorities are and what we would like to see as sustainable policies, not just promises and intentions."

Meeting of Roma teachers with the Education Minister (2024)

The Roma community has enormous potential, adds Teodora Krumova, reminding that the Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance has been organizing a meeting of Roma teachers with the Minister of Education for 13 years, and this year is no exception. According to her, the appointment of more and more representatives of the Roma community as teachers in Bulgarian schools is a good example, but these teachers often share that they continue to face discrimination and rejection.

Examples of successful professional realization of representatives of the Roma community help, step by step, to overcome the habit of putting an entire ethnic group under the common denominator of hopelessness and doom.

Teacher of Roma descent Teodor Asenov with his students in Montana

"Pleven region is one of the regions in which we have a large number of Roma people who have a successful professional path as teachers. However, education is not the only area in which they manage to integrate successfully. There are also more and more examples of Roma who become doctors, and your listeners have probably already come across the report about the doctor Tanya Alekova, who was in one of the teams that came to the rescue after the tragedy in the town of Kocani (North Macedonia). This shows that the contribution that we Roma have is truly important for our entire society," says the program director of the Center, whose name "AMALIPE" is actually the Roma word for "friendship".

Children are the easiest to reach out for friendship, and on April 9, the Roma organization will present the awards in its traditional student competition:

"This year, the theme is "Bridges Instead of Walls - Overcoming Prejudices". Over 150 young people sent their essays, pictures and videos, in which they reflect on how we can build bridges instead of walls, which shows that in every corner of Bulgaria there are young people who are looking for their place and want their voice to be heard. We are glad that their awards ceremony will take place in the Committee on Education and Science in the National Assembly. These young people have their own proposals for education in Bulgaria and are not looking for preferences, but above all for opportunities."

The awards will be presented by the chairman of the committee, Prof. Andrey Chorbanov. It is important to know that the honorees are not only of Roma descent:

"One of the most valuable things we see from our practice is that when they work together, young people from different ethnicities are much stronger, united and set a much better example. I hope their messages will reach the representatives of the people, bring a touch of rationality and a desire to all work together for a common cause," points out Teodora Krumova and adds that getting to know each other is the basis of acceptance and full integration. And in this direction, the Bulgarian school also plays an important role:

"That is why for more than 20 years, AMALIPE has been organizing classes on ethnic folklore - Roma folklore in schools. These are freely selectable classes in which mixed groups of students study Roma culture, traditions, history, in the context of Bulgarian culture. They learn about the contribution of the Roma to it, about the common things between our holidays and our values, because anyone who has been tempted by the folklore and folk psychology of the Roma ethnic group very quickly sees that it contains many of the values that we see in Bulgarian and Turkish culture. We have much more things in common than differences."

Photos: AMALIPE Center, Bulgarian Teachers' Union, BTA, personal archive

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