The Ombudsman has just initiated an ex officio action requesting information from the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, and the Education Councils, to find out what actions are being carried out in the different territories to achieve the educational inclusion of Roma students on equal terms with the rest of the population. It also demands to know the results of these.
Both the Ministry of Education and the Education Councils of the different autonomous communities have, each within the scope of their powers, plans aimed at achieving the educational inclusion of Roma students. Thus, the Ombudsman asks, among other things, to know the progress and difficulties that are being encountered, the evolution of the objectives set, the measures implemented and the forecast that is made of the achievements.
In addition, it requests information on the collaboration channels that may have been established with local entities and the information available on the percentage of Roma students in each territory, their distribution by educational centers and whether they are in schools or institutes with high concentration or segregated.
The Ombudsman institution has addressed this action taking into account the recent report of the Roma Secretariat Foundation The educational situation of Roma students in Spain.
It reveals the situation of early dropout and school failure of Roma boys and girls, as well as the difficulties they face both in accessing education and in completing training cycles with the corresponding qualification. The report also highlights the low rate of university degrees in the Roma population, which it considers anecdotal.