Multicultural Education and the Education of Minority Pupils

This paper is designed to encourage open discussion among the Soros foundations. These foundations operate in diverse countries, in which minority groups' relationship with society differs from country to country. The implications of a state's educational policies may not be the same for each minority group. This paper highlights the Romani minority as an example, since it is socially and economically the most disadvantaged group in much of Central and Eastern Europe, and its relationship within current educational systems is characterized by low achievement and high drop-out rates.

The goal of the paper is to contribute to the development of a holistic and multicultural framework for the problem. Multicultural Education and the Education of Minority Pupils, therefore, has several purposes: to raise the often-neglected issues regarding the education of minorities, to present the current situation regarding this issue in a way that is clear yet does not hide the intrinsic complexities of this issue, and to explore the concept of open society education.