The role of the church in facilitating Roma education in Cluj-Napoca, Romania

This qualitative research, based on a series of interviews (n=7), aims to develop a theoretical framework regarding the role of the church in facilitating education for Roma communities in Cluj-Napoca, a municipality in Romania. The study is grounded in the premise that education is a fundamental factor in the process of social inclusion. Therefore, the church’s involvement in facilitating access to education plays a direct role in the social integration of community members. The primary objective of the research was to investigate how the church contributes to improving educational access for Roma communities in Cluj-Napoca. The results from interviews with Roma experts in Cluj-Napoca suggest that the church is not only a place of worship, but also serves as a key center for non-formal education, significantly influencing the educational and social priorities of the Roma community. It contributes not only to the development of spiritual knowledge but also to the formation of moral and social values that can profoundly transform the perspectives of young Roma and their parents regarding education and their professional futures. This research underscores the church’s role as an agent of social and educational change, highlighting its impact on facilitating education in Cluj-Napoca This article was published open access under a CC BY-ND licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by-nd/4.0/ .