The German Child Protection Association (der Deutsche Kinderschutzbund) has urged German politicians to explicitly include children's rights in the Basic Law (2012). This article deals with the latest developments in strengthening the children’s rights in Germany. It focuses on document analysis and comparison of studies. On 1 January 2019, Good KiTa Act (Gute-KiTa-Gesetz) and Strong Family Act (Starke-Familien-Gesetz) came into force to improve childcare and fight child poverty throughout Germany. In 2018, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children in Germany was around 20 per cent, i.e. 20 per cent or 2.4 Million of children were affected by relative income poverty (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2019). According to Eurostat (2019, 56) children from households with a low level of education have a 61 percent risk of growing up in poverty in Germany. If parents have a higher level of education, only 6 per cent are at risk. As the PISA (2019) has shown, the socio-economic status of the parents still affects children’s performance at school. The family background still determines the access to school in Germany. With regard to Roma and Sinti children, it has to be mentioned that the social and legal status still influences their school access. While the educational disadvantages of German Sinti and Roma in formal school system are traced back to National Socialist regime and are described in various studies (see Krause 1989; Hornberg 2000; Strauss 2011; Rolly 2012; Hornberg/ Brüggemann 2013), the disadvantages of Roma immigrants and refugees are mainly due to social-economic, legal status and different legal frameworks of the federal state they live in (see Mihok 2001; Schlagintweit und Rupprecht 2007; Mirga 2017). However, recent studies also have focussed on successful educational biographies of Sinti and Roma (Jonuz/ Schuch 2017; Scherr/Sachs 2017; Jonuz/Weiß 2019). Nevertheless, stigmatisation and discrimination often remain challenges and barriers that they have to face at school, in society and at work (Jonuz 2009; Mirga 2017). This article will explore the interface between the implementation of UNO Convention of children’s rights in Germany and its impact on the school performance of Roma and Sinti children.

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