Digital skills development at Roma pupils

Romi se kot največja evropska nadnacionalna etnična manjšina soočajo z različnimi izzivi, ki jih naslavljajo številne lokalne, nacionalne in evropske strategije. Ker živimo v času bliskovitega razvoja tehnologije, je med pomembnimi izzivi tudi izrazit digitalni razkorak, ki je pri ranljivih skupinah veliko bolj opazen. Magistrsko delo obravnava digitalne spretnosti romskih učencev v Sloveniji, na Hrvaškem in v Severni Makedoniji, s poudarkom na zaznavanju ključnih ovir pri razvoju digitalnih spretnosti, iskanju razlik med državami in vzrokih za te razlike ter analizo vloge ravnateljev, učiteljev in romskih pomočnikov pri razvoju teh spretnosti. Naloga temelji na pregledu literature , izvedeni spletni anketi med romskimi učenci v treh omenjenih državah ter intervjujih s ključnimi osebami, ki imajo na institucionalni ravni bodisi posreden ali neposreden vpliv na razvoj digitalnih spretnosti romskih učencev. Izkaže se, da učenci svoje digitalne spretnosti ocenjujejo kot zelo dobre. Razlike med državami so zelo majhne, kljub temu pa podatki kažejo, da slovenski učenci v povprečju izkazujejo boljše digitalne spretnosti od učencev iz drugih dveh držav. Ključni oviri pri razvoju digitalnih spretnosti sta obstoj ustrezne infrastrukture in dostopnost do digitalnih naprav, najbolj pomembno vlogo pa imajo učitelji. Za zmanjšanje razlik v digitalnih spretnostih je potrebno še veliko skupnih korakov, ne samo z vidika izboljšanja infrastrukture in dostopnosti, temveč tudi opolnomočenja tako izobraževalcev kot staršev romskih učencev.As Europe\u27s largest transnational ethnic minority, the Roma face a variety of challenges addressed by several local, national and European strategies. As we live in a time of rapid technological development, one of the most important challenges is the noticeable digital divide, which is much more apparent for vulnerable groups. This master\u27s thesis examines the digital skills of Roma pupils in Slovenia, Croatia and North Macedonia, focusing on the perception of key barriers to the development of digital skills, looking at the differences between countries and the reasons for these differences, and finally analysing the roles of principals, teachers and Roma assistants in the development of these skills. Thesis is based on a literature review, a web survey carried out among Roma pupils in the three countries and interviews with key people at institutional level who have either a direct or indirect influence on the development of digital skills of Roma pupils. Analysis shows that pupils rate their digital skills as very well developed. The differences between countries are marginal, however the data show that Slovenian pupils on average have better skills than pupils from the other two countries. The key barriers to the development of digital skills are the existence of adequate infrastructure and access to digital devices, with teachers playing the most important role. To reduce the digital skills gap, many mutual steps are still needed, not only in terms of improving infrastructure and accessibility, but also empowering both educators and parents of Roma pupils