“NO ROLE models,” says Zvezdelina Atanassova when asked why education is not valued in Lozenets. In this Roma (gypsy) neighbourhood in Stara Zagora, a town of 138,000 in south-eastern Bulgaria, she is a rarity: a Roma, a woman and a student. Girls here rarely study beyond primary school. Boys drop out around 15, as soon as they can get a driving licence. Asked about their aspirations, seven in ten say they want to become pimps, laments Gantcho Iliev, who runs a charity working with Lozenets’ youth. No other occupation comes with a big house, posh car and the attention of attractive women.
Roma make up 5% of Bulgaria’s population, says the census. Yet this is an underestimate, as many distrust officials and refuse to register, or misstate their ethnicity because prejudice equates it with backwardness and petty crime. In six central and eastern European countries the Roma are thought to make up 7-10% of the population (see chart 1). Across Europe, half of Roma lack such amenities as running water. Only 15% have secondary education.
from The Economist: Europe http://ift.tt/1Fxw7s9
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