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The given chapter of the monograph presents the distribution and diversity of the Romani community in Poland, their current social situation in reference to the period of socioeconomic changes in Poland as well as the results of research conducted by the authors regarding the education of young Romani in Poland.

The authors analysed a number of determinants (especially economic, social and cultural ones) that are important in the process of an effective dealing with a social exclusion, supporting integration and even an implementation of the education of Romani children. Bad financial situation and a cultural diversity cause integrative problems of the Romani in Polish society, as evidenced by the results of the authors’ research.

A sociometric study in Polish–Roma classes showed that Romani students are not accepted by their Polish classmates. However, despite both the educational and integrative difficulties, Romani students are more and more actively involved in a school life.

The chapter likewise incorporates an evaluation of the governmental programme aiming at equalisation of knowledge levels and opportunities between Poles and Romani in areas such as education, employment, health, hygiene, housing conditions and the ability to function in a civil society. The education thus became a priority area of the programme and the most important activity that was implemented under the given programme was creation of positions of a Romani assistant and a supporting teacher.

Progress, which has been achieved in Poland over the last dozen or so years as far as organisation of the Romani education is concerned, is indeed enormous. An implementation of the compulsory education by Romani students has become widespread and their attendance at classes is satisfactory. Although the attitude of the majority of Romani parents and their children towards the institution of school has changed, the contact between parents and the school is still limited. Both difficulties in the education and a low level of education of parents stimulate a reduction in educational aspirations on the part of Romani students.

The current condition of the organisation of the Romani education indicates that despite these positive initiatives, the Romani education is now in the early stage of its development and it requires further support and monitoring.

In this chapter, Andrea Óhidy provides an overview of some central issues of the book. First, she shows the similarities in the challenges to increase the participation and success of Roma people in education and lifelong learning in the selected European countries; then, she discusses their policies and support programmes, which, on the one hand, try to improve the social situation of the Roma while promoting minority language and culture, on the other hand. She finds the reason for their similarities regarding the wording, defining and communicating and also concerning the main ideas and concrete projects for possible solutions, in the Roma inclusion policy of the European Union in the frame of the Open Method of Coordination, which has been introduced within the Lisbon Strategy, linked to the idea of lifelong learning. She considers the realisation of these policy measures at national, regional and local levels to have shown only unsatisfactory results until now.

This introduction from Katalin R. Forray and Andrea Óhidy provides a brief overview of the social and education situation of European Roma and also about the structure of this book.

Roma are here described as a ‘hidden minority’ (see the country study about Italy from Valeria Cavioni in the book Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Western and Southern Europe (2019)), because – although they are the largest minority group living in Europe for more than a hundred years – we still know very little about them. Although most of the Roma people have been living for centuries in European countries, their situation is still different from the non-Roma population; they often suffered from poverty and exclusion. There is a host of Roma, especially in Southern and in Eastern Europe, who is considered to be the most disadvantaged group in European societies; that is, regarding their (1) health situation, (2) on the labour, (3) on the housing market and (4) also in education. Questions of education are the central elements of politics making the situation of Roma better. To fulfil these requirements, some European countries have taken determined steps. As Natascha Hofmann in the country study about Germany wrote in the book Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Western and Southern Europe (2019), we are in the phase of the ‘dawn of learning’ because there are more and more policies and programmes to develop attainment and success of Roma in European education and lifelong learning. This book wants to change this and gives an overview about retrospective and prospective tendencies in the situation of European Roma in education and lifelong learning.