Roma Children and Their Absenteeism in Schools: A Case of Kırklareli

It is known that absenteeism is a big problem among Roma students in our country. In our study, it was aimed to reveal the reasons of school absenteeism and to contribute to the solution of the problems in Vali Faik Üstün Primary School where many Roma children attended, in Kırklareli Province. By field visits, 189 households, where the student attending in Vali Faik Üstün Primary School live, were visited between 05.12.2016- 31.12.2016. Parent Questionnaires, Social Workers Screening Forms and Student Attendance Questionnaires were applied to reveal the reasons for school absenteeism. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used in the analysis. In determining the statistical significance, p value less than 0.05 were considered significant. While 13.7% (n = 24) of the fathers in the household where the study was conducted were illiterate, it was observed that 43.5% (n = 80) of the mothers were illiterate. Uneducated parents, the presence of elderly and disabled individuals in the household were found to be statistically significant in the school absenteeism problem. In the study, it was observed that the school absence of Roma students was primarily due to family-specific factors and partly to other factors specific to the student, school and society. It should be told to parents insistently, that they play an important role in their children's school absence, until an attitude change is achieved.