The Educational Inequalities in the Disadvantaged Social Strata of Romani Population

The objective of this study is to determine the variables that create inequality for children from disadvantaged social strata in their process of compulsory education. The study was carried out in Erzincan, which is a significant city located in the eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, in 2017. Nearly, 117 parents from disadvantaged social strata participated in the study. Disadvantaged children face the most serious problems in education. Those families were poor and disadvantaged Romanies, so their children did not attend the school. The study reveals that the inhabitants of a disadvantaged social stratum of this study mostly come from the ethnic origin of Romanies. This study was designed in a descriptive research model and carried out with face-to-face interview method. The semi-structured interview form of “Educational Inequalities in Disadvantaged Social Strata” was used in this study. The semi-structured interview form has been developed for this study. The study also reveals that 76 percent of disadvantaged families are not able to receive any proper economic support from the state they needed for their children. The disadvantaged families claim that authorities have never told them the true meaning, significance, and functions of compulsory education. In addition, the study reveals that the biggest obstacles are having poorly educated parents and financial insecurity for disadvantaged families in terms of their social, economic, and individual growth. The study reveals that the lack of continuous cash transfers to the students of disadvantaged strata creates social injustice and inequality in compulsory education. It is highly recommended that continued economic support should be given for the students from disadvantaged families to meet their basic psychological and human needs. © 2020 Policy Studies Organization