The “Quality education in Romani for Europe” (QualiRom) initiative has published an extensive databank of teaching and learning materials for teachers of Romani (http://qualirom.uni-graz.at). The materials developed in six Romani varieties range from proficiency levels A1 to B2 for learners at primary, secondary and tertiary levels and constitute the largest resource of its kind for the teaching and learning of the Romani language based on European standards. The databank comprises 39 sets of materials (some 16 000 pages!) in Arlije, East Slovak, Finnish, Gurbet, Lovara and Kalderaš.

The materials use a task-based approach and can be adapted to the specific needs of particular educational contexts. To ensure their effectiveness in the classroom the materials have been developed and piloted in close cooperation with local Romani teachers as well as national educational authorities in five countries: Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Slovakia and Serbia. During this process children who used the materials developed learning skills – such as the ability to make decisions when working in pairs or groups and to evaluate their own learning - that may not have been encouraged within their mainstream education.

The QualiRom initiative focusing on raising literacy levels in Romani was carried out under the European Commission’s Key Actions 2 programme. In training teachers of Romani the 3-year project made extensive use of the Curriculum Framework for Romani (CFR) and two European Language Portfolio models developed by the Council of Europe’s Language Policy Unit in co-operation with the European Roma and Travellers’ Forum. 

The ECML together with the other project partners and the project coordinators, the Plurilingualism Research Unit, Karl-Franzens University (Graz, Austria), will examine possible follow-up measures to further promote the use of this impressive resource both in teacher development programmes and directly with learners in countries with Roma populations.

For further information please contact the ECML: information@ecml.at