LGI Roma Public Administration Trainings
Summer University for Roma People - Slovakia
Background
To date, the Roma remain the most deprived ethnic group of Europe. In
almost all countries where they live, discrimination against Roma in
employment, education, health care, administrative and other services is
common. Under the aegis of LGI's Managing Multiethnic Communities Program, the
Roma Public Administration Training Program has been initiated. Theoretical
and practical training arms and empowers the capacity of locally elected Roma
leaders to participate effectively in local decision-making and to represent
their community. The Program offers courses in local government management,
finance, strategy building. First offered in Hungary in 1999 as a pilot
project, the Public Administration Summer University and Training Program for
Locally Elected Roma Leaders in Hungary, LGI has organized similar training
programs with the Forum Institute in Slovakia and with the Masaryk University
in Czech Republic.
Summer University for Roma in Slovakia
Forum Institute for Social Studies in Galanta in co-operation with Nadácia
otvorenej spolocnosti - Open Society Foundation (OSF-NOS) in Bratislava and
Local Government Institute (LGI) in Budapest, organised the first part of the
project Summer School on Public Administration for Representatives of the Roma
Community in Slovakia. In the first part a two-week training was held in
Bratislava (29th July - 13th August, 2000) and a two-week training in Košice
(13th - 26th August, 2000) for selected representatives of the Roma community
in Slovakia.
The primary objective of the course was to provide theoretical and
practical knowledge on the functioning of public administration for the
representatives of the Roma minority who are to become the leading
personalities on local level. The course aims to contribute to the improvement
of human and institutional resources of local Roma communities as well as to
provide them with skills for exercising their rights and interests in the
process of implementation of development programmes focused on the Roma
community. The main objective of the training was to provide basic information
on the functioning of local governments with basic elements of project cycle
with emphasis put on the preparation and management of public projects.
In Bratislava, Csáky Pál, Prime Minister Deputy; Katarina Staronová,
co-worker of OSF in Bratislava and Öllos László, President of the Fórum
Institute and in Košice Dr. Jozef Dittrich, representative of the Local
Office of Košice District, and Öllos László had the introductory words and
commenced the Summer University for Roma People.
In his speech, Csáky Pál stressed that besides the government's efforts
there is a need of civic organizations' help towards the Roma people. At the
same time the Roma people also have to have a positive and active attitude to
the problems, for they are the only ones who should find the solutions to most
of their difficulties. Mr. Csáky is convinced that this Summer School is a
perfect opportunity for pairing these two efforts. He also ensured the
participants that the government will support such initiations.
Öllos László explained that the programme that was realised with the
co-operation of the Nadácia otvorenej spolocnosti - Open Society Foundation (OSF-NOS)
and with the support of the Local Government Institute (LGI) is a part of an
international project. Similar training will be provided in Hungary and Czech
Republic as well. In Slovakia the Forum Institute is responsible for its
realisation.
According to Tóth Károly, the director of the Fórum Institute, except
for the subject delivery, the training had more missions. "By the fact
that preparing the participants for public performance by university teachers
in university environment, Mr. Tóth emphasises the importance of the
question, but at the same time indicates that by choosing the right method
Roma people also have a positive/active attitude to the solving of their
situation. Our initial idea was to give opportunities for relevant training to
those people who can not have a share in it because of their positions."
Múdra Rozália, Deputy Representative of the Regional Office of Košice,
who was also one of the lecturers of the training, pointed out that it would
be important if the Roma people with relevant professional skills could also
take part in public administration. Mrs. Múdra appreciated the participants'
active attitude, their sense for solving problems and the Fórum Institute's
initiation and the training's organisation.
The Summer School is only the beginning of a two-year programme, during
which from autumn these participants will search for the answers for concrete
local and regional problems
The training in Bratislava was rendered by the teachers of the Faculty of
Management of the Comenius University and in Košice by the Faculty of Public
Administration of the Šafárik University. The training took place at the
Training Centre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bratislava (SUZA) and at
the Further Education Centre of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Košice
Curricula
The programme of the training included four major thematic modules: 1.
Management of Public Administration 2. Financial Management and Functioning of
Public Administration 3. Strategic Planning 4. Case Studies and Future
Perspectives
Professors of the Faculty of Management of the Comenius University in
Bratislava (Fakulta managementu Univerzity Komenského v Bratislave) and
experts from the field of public administration, historians and
representatives of the media as well, important foundations and social
organisations delivered lectures and seminars. The training consisted of
lectures and practical exercises when the participants solved specific issues
by model situations. During the practical exercises the participants were
taught to techniques and methods of successful communication and gaining one's
point as well as to social-economic diagnosis and interpersonal interaction.
Besides the academic programt, the Summer University offered participants
the opportunity to visit major actors of central and local administration:
participants visited the Parliament, and Office of the Government
Representative of SR for Solving Problems of the Roma Minority and met with
the representatives of Únia miest a obcí Slovenskej republiky - Union of
Towns and Communities of the Slovak Republic.
Study Tours
Besides practical exercises and lectures two study-tours during the
weekends were also organic parts of the training. On Saturday (5th August,
2000) the participants visited the Roma Centre in Brno (Czech Republic) and on
Sunday were the visitors of the Komorán Civic Association that operates in
the upper part of Žitný ostrov in the district of Dunajská Streda. In Brno
they were acquainted with the situation of Roma people in the Czech Republic
and with the activities of the Roma Civic Association in the Czech Republic.
In Žitný ostrov they had the opportunity to meet with the representatives of
the successful community organisation that performs activities in the field of
village tourism.
Participants in Košice visited Local Roma Minority Self-Government in Sátoraljaújhely
(Hungary) and were delivered a lecture on the functioning, roles, and
opportunities of the local government of Hungarian minority and had the
opportunity to discuss with the representatives of this local government. In
Sárospatak they also meet with the representatives of Local Self-Government
of the Roma Minority and visited the castle of the town.
Participants
Eighteen representatives of the Roma community took part on the training in
Bratislava who came from South-western and Middle Slovakia, mainly from the
district of Nové Zámky, Levice, Banská Bystrica, Lucenec, and Rimavská
Sobota. These participants were selected on the basis of oral interviews that
took place in Bratislava and Rimavská Sobota on 18th July, 2000.
As of the number of women and men represented in the group of participants
was equal (nine to nine). The age structure was from 18 to 46 years, while the
most of them were young people between 22 and 30 years old. As of the highest
education earned were mainly (11) the participants with high school or
vocational education. Two of the participants had university education, two of
them have been university students, and three of them had elementary
education. Most of the participants of the Summer School were employed persons
(12).
In Košice the average age of participants was 30 years with mainly high
school education with final exam, one of them with a pedagogical diploma, one
of them a student. Women represented 33 percent of the participants.
Sixty-five percent of the participants were unemployed.
According to the plan at the end of the two-week training the participants
had oral exams from the taught subjects, which was successfully passed by each
participant scored from 1 to 3 (1-excellent, 2-very good a 3-good).
Comparing with the primary objectives, the Summer School fulfilled the
expectations. The courses were held according to the planned schedule and the
participants showed interest for continuing in co-operation and for the
participation in planned consultations.
The participants/students were satisfied with the organisational part of
the training, found the place, conditions and other details convenient. The
daily ten-hour lectures were a bit tiresome for them and wanted some more
leisure time - they requested to visit the theatre and to attend a concert.
The evaluation of the subjects provided by the participants shows that each
subject was important and useful and the participants requested even more
information.
The most important positive sides of the training declared by the
participants: establishing contacts with Roma associations, developing skills,
expanding knowledge, high-rank co-operation with the lecturers.
During the training in Košice, the representatives of the Local Office of
Košice District and the Local Government offered on-the-job training in their
offices for the participants of the training for a few days. The participants
also liked the offer.
One of the key moments that considerably contributed to the success of the
Summer School was the good co-operation with the representatives of the media.
Slovenský rozhlas - The Slovak Radio, Madarské vysielanie Slovenského
rozhlasu - Hungarian Broadcasting of the Slovak Radio, denník Új Szó -
daily paper which is also the media partner of the programme contributed
mainly to the publicity of the training. The Slovak Radio broadcast two
extensive programmes in Slovak and two shorter ones in Hungarian.
Project Manager: Petra Kovacs kovacsp@osi.hu
Contact Person: Károly Tóth toth@salamon.sk
See on the Internet: www.foruminst.sk/fiss_j_roma.html
