The Roma ethnic group has been living on the territory of Lithuania since about the 16th-17th centuries (Mróz, 2015), so they cannot be considered newcomers. On the contrary, they are historical neighbours of Lithuanians, with whom Lithuania  shares  common history. But in spite of this, we are still faced with mutual misunderstanding and sometimes complete ignorance. As an example, cureent presentation gives a brief history of Roma[1] education in Lithuanian capital - Vilnius.

Historically, Vilnius city (where the concentration of Roma students is largest in the country (Romų platforma, n. d.)) faced a paradoxical situation: for more than 30 years, the education of Roma children was very isolated, with only a few schools educating them. This situation was influenced by the geographical location when the former nomad Roma, after becoming a very sedentary, immobile, and isolated community, were educated in the schools closest to the Roma settlement. An interesting and unique field of education for Roma children in Vilnius emerged when by collecting oral history interviews from older and younger generations of the Roma people, teachers and other participants in the field of education, as well as by analysing archival data, strategic educational documents, and visual sources, an attempt was made to distinguish the historical cross-sections that have not only influenced the elements of change in the situation of Roma education, but have also determined the reproductive situation of Roma education today. The field of education in question has been confronted with both local educational challenges and global ones that are characteristic of other European countries educating Roma children: early dropout of school, ethnic marginalisation (Alexiadou, 2019; ERRC, 2017), school absenteeism, low academic achievement, early marriage and childbirth, gender inequality (FRA, 2014, 2016; REF, 2010),  etc. These schools, which had educated Roma children for more than 30 years, accumulated a wealth of experience that perfectly illustrates the interesting, localised relationship between the Roma and the others (non-Roma) (Stonkuvienė, Žemaitėlytė-Ivanavičė, 2019). Currently, when referring to the education of this ethnic group in the educational field of Vilnius, examples of both segregation and excellent inclusion, local achievements can be provided, but they are revealed only by studying the historical context.

At present,  the situation is drastically changing: the Roma settlement (Kirtimų gyvenvietė) have been liquidated by government decision, almost all the families who lived there have changed their living places, and Roma children are starting to attend new to them schools. Lithuania is also introducing drastic changes to inclusive education policies and practices, which will directly affect the education of Roma children. Non-governmental organisations and day care centres have also contributed to these changes. Therefore, considering how these and other factors will affect future processes of Roma education processes in Vilnius and all over the country remains a challenge.

[1]The term Roma is used here to refer to different groups (Roma, Litovska roma, Polska roma, Ruska roma, Kalderash). It is recognised that Roma are a heterogeneous group, and there is a need to be sensitive to framings that problematise the minority (Matras, 2011).

The oral history method was used to construct the research and the observations and recommendations of various authors in this field (Vinogradnaite et al., 2018; Ritchie 2011, 2015; Shopes 2012; Leavy, 2011; Yow, 2005) were followed. The presentation summarises and introduces data collected from the following groups of respondents working with Roma children: teachers and their assistants in Vilnius; education specialists (special pedagogues, speech therapists, social educators) working in schools and in the specialised education service in Vilnius; administrations of schools; volunteers of the day care centres; and the Roma representatives themselves. This may seem like an extremely broad range of respondents, but it covers the entire spectrum of professionals working with the same Roma families including class masters and administration to schoolteachers, specialists, and after-school educators. Thus, employing the method of oral history, interviews were conducted with educational specialists (26 in total), who are involved in Roma education from pre-school to around 16 years of age, when Roma people often start their professional or family life. In order to clarify how Roma people, perceive relationship with school culture research was based on anthropological point of view (Okely, 2002; Bhopal & Myers, 2008; Durst, 2010). Ten Roma representatives were also interviewed, and this way not only people’s memories were recorded but also a new historical source was created. It is common to assume that applying the method of oral history people’s memories are considered to be the primary source, but this study chooses to use transcribed oral history interviews as the primary source. Therefore, with the consent of the participants, all oral history interviews were recorded and later transcribed. In the transcription process, and in line with the ethical requirements of qualitative educational research, the informants' data were depersonalised. Considering the limitations of the oral history research method and the criticism that this type of interview transcript is affected by the researcher’s interpretation, all the participants had access to the transcribed versions of their interviews. Content analysis was conducted using MAXQDA Analytic Pro 2022. In addition, such historical sources as archival and other documents (G. McCulloch, 2004) and photographs (Freund, Thomson, 2011) are also analysed.

1. The field of education is one of the few areas where the example (and in particular the example of education in Vilnius) can be used to define the similarities and differences between Roma and non-Roma, and to understand whether the Roma education in Lithuania today can be seen as a problem, or as a success achieved in the course of many years. 2. Using historical methods of educational research such as oral history, archival data analysis, document and photo analysis, it is clear that the process of integration of Roma in general education schools in Lithuania has not been smooth, as it has faced with specific and complex challenges: local-geographical, linguistic, social, gender, age, power, and segregationist issues. 3. From a historical perspective, Lithuania is currently undergoing a process that can be considered to be the beginning of a radical change in the education of Roma. First of all, this is linked to the changes in the field of Roma education in Vilnius, which are introduced in this presentation and include the recent disbanding of the Kirtimai settlement (tabor), and the accompanying increased mobility of Roma across the city, which has opened up the opportunity for Roma children to be educated in other parts of the city and its suburbs. Secondly, reference can be made to political and practical changes in inclusive education in Lithuania. Thirdly, visible strategic and significant concern of Vilnius municipality and the increased and accelerated activities of NGOs and day centres are also observed. It is true that the precise and constructive impact of these changes on the educational processes of children and adults in the Roma community in Vilnius, and perhaps even in Lithuania, still has to be observed and discussed in new educational research.

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