Dropout From the Primary Education System of Roma Children from Substandard Settlements in Serbia: The View of Pedagogical Assistants

A large number of Roma in the territory of the Republic of Serbia live in substandard settlements, where poor living conditions have a detrimental effect on the education of children. Pedagogical assistants maintain almost daily contact with children who live in such settlements. In addition to direct pedagogical work, their job also involves cooperating with the children’s families. The present research explores the perspectives of pedagogical assistants in Belgrade’s primary schools on the dropout rates of Roma children from substandard settlements, focusing on individual, school and family factors that contribute to school dropout. The sample consisted of 40 pedagogical assistants and was gender balanced. All of the research participants were interviewed individually. The main findings of the thematic analysis are that girls drop out of the primary education system more often than boys, and that the main contributing factors to dropout are related to the attitudes of parents, especially fathers, towards children’s education, parental participation in children’s school life, and the school’s response to the child’s needs, including the response of pedagogical assistants. The results are discussed within the context of potential solutions to reduce dropout rates among this group of primary school children.