Abstract:

The paper aims to highlight the importance of the school club (SC) as an important educational facility in the school education system in Slovakia, specifically for Roma pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. The research involved 24 female educators with varying lengths of experience in SC who have or have had personal experience with the educational process with Roma pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds in the past. The main research method was a semi-structured interview. Based on the results obtained, the qualitative significance of the presence of Roma pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds in the SC can be stated. Especially in improving their behaviour concerning classmates, teachers, and tutors, improvement of preparation for classes, eliminating truancy, effective spending of free time and self-realization. On the other hand, these pupils were found to have persistent problems with a lack of proficiency in the Slovak language as the language of instruction at school, lack of concentration, lack of focus and emotional instability. Similarly, the persistent problem of weaker interest of parents of Roma pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds in their school performance was identified.

Keywords:

School club, Roma pupil, socially disadvantaged environment, pedagogue.