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

Oct 15, 2026

Research examines how pedagogical assistants in Belgrade primary schools perceive school dropout among Roma children living in substandard settlements in Serbia, focusing on individual, school, and family factors. Pedagogical assistants maintain near-daily contact with children and also cooperate with families. The sample includes 40 gender-balanced assistants interviewed individually. Thematic analysis indicates girls leave primary education more frequently than boys, with major contributors linked to parental attitudes, especially fathers, parental involvement in school life, and school responses to children’s needs, including assistants’ interventions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Roma population context in Serbia

Challenges in counting Roma and defining substandard settlements

Research focus and participants

Perspectives of pedagogical assistants

Sampling and interview design

DOI: [https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1897](https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1897) Dropout From the Primary Education System of Roma Children from Substandard Settlements in Serbia: The View of Pedagogical Assistants Stefan Milutinović*1 and Vojin Simunović2 • 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 schoolchildren. Keywords: school dropout, pedagogical assistants, Roma, substandard settlements, Serbia 1 *Corresponding Author. MA student at the University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia; [steff.milutinovic@gmail.com](steff.milutinovic@gmail.com). 2 LIRA Lab, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia. Osip romskih otrok iz podstandardnih naselij v Srbiji iz sistema osnovnošolskega izobraževanja: pogled pedagoških pomočnikov Stefan Milutinović in Vojin Simunović • Veliko število Romov na ozemlju Republike Srbije živi v podstandardnih naseljih, v katerih slabe življenjske razmere škodljivo vplivajo navzgojo in izobraževanje otrok. Pedagoški pomočniki ohranjajo skoraj vsakodnevni stik z otroki, ki živijo v takšnih naseljih. Poleg neposrednega pedagoškega dela njihovo delo vključuje tudi sodelovanje z družinami otrok. Ta raziskava preiskuje poglede pedagoških pomočnikov v beograjskih osnovnih šolah na osip romskih otrok iz podstandardnih naselij, pri čemer se osredinja na individualne, šolske in na družinske dejavnike, ki prispevajo k osipu v šolah. Vzorec je predstavljalo 40 pedagoških pomočnikov in je bil uravnotežen glede na spol. Z vsemi udeleženci raziskave so bili opravljeni individualni intervjuji. Glavne ugotovitve tematske analize so, da deklice pogosteje opuščajo osnovnošolskovzgojo in izobraževanje kot dečki in da so glavni dejavniki, ki prispevajok osipu, povezani z odnosom staršev, zlasti očetov, do vzgoje in izobraževanja otrok, s sodelovanjem staršev v otrokovem šolskem življenju in z odzivom šole na otrokove potrebe, vključno z odzivom pedagoških pomočnikov. Izsledki so obravnavani v okviru mogočih rešitev za zmanjšanje osipa v tej skupini osnovnošolskih otrok. Ključne besede: osip v šolah, pedagoški pomočniki, Romi, podstandardna naselja, Srbija Introduction Along with other groups of so-called Traveller peoples (Council of Europe, 2012), Roma are one of the largest transnational ethnic minorities in Europe (Leggio, 2011), simultaneously characterised by the epithet of the most marginalised (Rutigliano, 2020). The Roma people on the European continent, who constitute an extremely complex and diverse group with a rich heritage, represent the third largest national minority in the Republic of Serbia (RZS, 2023) . Due to their specific and complex position, the Roma national minority has been the subject o

FAQs

What does the research investigate about Roma children in Serbia?

It investigates pedagogical assistants’ perspectives on dropout rates among Roma children from substandard settlements in Belgrade primary schools, emphasizing individual, school, and family factors.

How was the study conducted and who participated?

The study included 40 pedagogical assistants, gender-balanced, and all participants were interviewed individually.

What are the main findings on which children drop out more and why?

Girls drop out more often than boys. Contributing factors are related to parental attitudes (especially fathers), parental participation in children’s school life, and the school’s response to children’s needs, including assistants’ responses.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by A glass of water