Critical, Anti-Oppressive and Human Rights Social Work in the 'Rough Pathways' of the Muslim Roma Neighbourhoods in Thrace: Towards Inclusion in Education.

This article draws on critical, anti-oppressive and human rights perspectives and presents a social work project, developed in the disadvantaged 'Muslim Roma' neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the big cities in the region of Thrace-Greece. The project aims at dealing with school drop-out, encouraging children's regular attendance and improving their educational attainment. It encounters multilevel and holistic interventions, aiming at challenging discrimination and exclusion. Inclusion in education is a prerequisite for the implementation of any anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive policies, as illiterate people face severe difficulties in profiting from any of these. It is claimed that, although education is both a right and an obligation for children, families, schools and the state, this is not always the case for the population under study, as safeguarding children's right to education is being hindered by the complexity of imposed obstacles in the Muslim Roma communities, namely poverty, poor health, frequently unregistered children, inadequate health services and inter-generational illiteracy. It has been even more perplexed by negative stereotypes and prejudices attributed to them. Direct practice and empowerment, systemic analysis, counselling and community-oriented social work interventions formulated the project, which aimed to bridge schools, families and communities and tackle school drop-out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]