Amengo skoola was a cooperation project with the Finnish Roma Association implemented in 2023–2024. The name Amengo skoola is Finnish Kalo language (dialect of the Finnish Roma people), and it means “our school”.
The aims of the Amengo skoola project were to:
- increase the participation and inclusion of Roma youth,
- raise awareness of Roma culture in Finnish schools,
- decrease discrimination and increase equality.
In Finland, the Roma’s experience discrimination in different societal levels, for example in housing and the labor market. The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman states discrimination against Roma is a serious human rights problem in the country.
Thus, the Amengo skoola project wanted to increase knowledge and promote dialogue to advance understanding and reduce stereotypical thinking.
The main activities of Amengo skoola included:
- organizing three workshops with Roma youngsters,
- developing a set of activity cards on Roma culture for teachers to use in class,
- creating an additional teacher´s guide with background information for teachers on Roma culture.
Roma youth played a key role in the project creating and deciding what information they wanted students and teachers to learn about their culture.
They brainstormed and developed learning materials in the workshops, based on which the activity cards set and teacher’s guide was created.
The activity cards contain twenty-two participatory exercises that teachers can use in the classroom. The exercises deal, for example, with Roma history and people, art, contemporary phenomena, and discrimination. The materials are available in Finnish on our Finnish website.