Milanka Okuka, pedagogue and mentor at the Secondary Vocational School in Bar: Mentoring support is a form of correcting inequality

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Tuesday, 04 August 2020 12:42

For pedagogue Milanka Okuka, a responsible and complex job of a mentor, whose abilities largely determine the further educational, but also the life path of Roma students, is a form of correcting inequality. Social, cultural, linguistic, and economic barriers are disappearing in her office at the Secondary Vocational School in Bar - differences are being erased. Knowing that conversation is perhaps the only link between people, the pedagogue from Bar connects all students in a creative way. She is wearing their shoes through sessions and workshops, providing them with motivation and advice on how to overcome any problem. With a warm word and a smile, she admits that nothing is unsolvable. That is why the fact that all ten enrolled Roma students finished high school arrived as a valuable reward. We talked with Milanka about the humanitarian vocation she performs, the challenges and prejudices she faces, and we scratched up some other important topics when it comes to the education of young children.

How long have you been mentoring, how many children are involved, and at what age?

OKUKA: I have been providing mentoring support to Roma students since the beginning of the implementation of the technical inclusion of Roma students in the education system of Montenegro. These are high school students and mostly all of them were in three-year occupations. It is good that all of them, about ten, have finished high school regularly. Engagement in mentoring was preceded by coach training. In the last few years, I, like other mentors, have had excellent cooperation with the NGO Young Roma, and previously with the Roma Education Fund.

How is your job different from the job of a teacher, professor?

OKUKA: The job of a mentor is extremely complex and responsible. The mentor is focused on supporting and continuing the education of Roma children, respecting diversity, and nurturing cultural identity, which is crucial in the inclusion of Roma men and women. In particular, the mentor helps students to attend classes regularly, to master the teaching contents, we motivate them to improve their knowledge and go further. Of course, the mentor is the mediator between the students and the subject teachers. We also work with parents, who find it much easier to turn to mentors, so we further refer them to teachers to establish communication.

In the work of a mentor, it is especially nice when you see the progress of the children, when they are satisfied, accepted, socialize and when they come to brag about how it was in a class.

Describe to us how one working day of a mentor and your work with students goes.

OKUKA: Considering that I am a pedagogue and that I am in my office, the door is open to all students, and of course to students of the Roma population. They are informed about the activities and their implementation. These are usually individual or group sessions. But, mostly it is inviting students and a mutual agreement on cooperation, defining problems, possibilities for solving and the like. It is important that there is no imposition of ready-made solutions, no strict rules; the focus is on initiating dialogue and cooperation. Internal professional support, additional, supplementary classes, attending practical classes with employers, is some of the activities that are an integral part of daily mentoring.

What are the biggest challenges you face?

OKUKA: Understanding children and putting themselves in their shoes is the initial step. Provide a favorable climate in the classroom, establish good contact with students of the RE population, parents, teachers, reduce dropouts. Continuously improve work with children who need additional support in education and upbringing.

What are the prejudices that students of the majority population have towards Roma students?

OKUKA: The basic prejudice is that they are different and that leads to speculation - that they have low intellectual skills, that they can't, they don't know. Sensitizing teachers and students to cultural and social specifics is the key support of pedagogue-mentor.

Why is a mentor an important link in the education chain?

OKUKA: The mentor is an important link in the education chain because he is in school; the mentor knows everything that is happening with the students. A mentor is someone who supports them, motivates them, takes care of them so they can stay in the education system; achieve the appropriate level of educational outcomes, and to feel good and safe in that environment.

What are the difficulties that Roma students face in the education process and how do mentors help solve these problems?

OKUKA: Switching responsibility to the family and the individual can have a noticeably negative effect. It is very important to keep in mind that not all children have the same initial conditions that can affect a successful education, so the responsibility for failure in education should not be sought exclusively in the child but should be focused on the social and educational context. Mentoring support is a form of correcting the inequality of initial conditions on the educational path and reducing the social exclusion of members of the Roma population. The life satisfaction of this population generally contributes to wider social utility.

What needs to be done to make Roma children fit in better and encourage them to achieve better results?

OKUKA: We need support at an early age, i.e. a preparatory preschool program based on early learning, which is important for further educational achievements, reducing the poverty of Roma families. Financial support through appropriate projects is also important. Greater inclusions of Roma children in the education system, popularization of healthy lifestyles, reduction of violence, problems in begging, are topics that we need to address.

Author: Milena Cavic, NVO Mladi Romi

Text adapted by: Samir Jaha

Translation: Milena Cavic, Milos Knezevic, Irijana Rizvanovic

The views expressed in this article do not represent in any way the views of the NGO Young Roma, Roma Education Found and the European Union