Roma children, fighting discrimination with chess, here's what they do in Romania

Published connected 09/06/2025 - 15:00 GMT+2•Updated 15:01

Adriana Pascu, 16 years old, of Roma ethnicity, is simply a skilled chess player.

Thanks to nan game, she has developed beardown study and attraction skills that besides thief her successful her studies.  Playing chess was not a matter of people for her and nan different children of nan Roma organization successful nan Romanian metropolis of Satu Mare. They learnt through nan 'Chess for change' project started successful 2019 by nan Stea association, progressive successful nan societal integration of Roma children.

These children made advancement successful each areas, particularly astatine school. 

"I americium overmuch much reflective, much focused, and memorise lessons faster," Adriana explains. Chess activates memory, nan expertise to analyse and anticipate.

For Alex Geiger, a chess teacher, it is 1 of nan astir antiauthoritarian sports: "Chess teaches children fair-play; it is nan only sport, I would say, wherever we are each equal, nary matter if you are antheral aliases female, if you person a handicap."

Chess against early schoolhouse leaving

The first nonsubjective of nan Stea relation was precisely to combat early schoolhouse leaving and motivate children to astatine slightest complete nan compulsory schoolhouse cycle. 

"Chess allows these youngsters to realise that if they put their mind to it and are persistent, they tin execute bully results," explains Cristina Bala, nan head of nan Stea centre.

 "Children and teenagers," she says, "have managed to participate successful competitions, moreover world ones, and person besides won prizes; they person been capable to summation affirmative experiences and summation nan nickname and esteem of others.

EU cohesion argumentation down nan project

Initially, teachers astatine schoolhouse were sceptical, not reasoning that Roma children could ever win successful chess: coming they support nan task because nan children progressive are much motivated and amended astatine studying arsenic well. As Delia Sabou, Adriana's teacher, says: "We person noticed successful each nan children progressive successful nan task that location is an important cognitive progression, an summation successful attraction and an betterment successful societal relationship pinch their peers and teachers.

The head of nan Stea centre, Cristina Bala, instantly realised nan imaginable of chess and introduced nan activity successful 2019. The full costs of nan task for nan first twelvemonth was EUR 70,000, pinch the European Union contributing EUR 60,000 thanks to Cohesion Policy funds.

The chess portion that Adriana prefers is nan queen, because it is nan astir powerful piece. She plans to beryllium an accountant erstwhile she grows up. It is clear that her life has taken connected a caller impetus and she will beryllium nan existent queen of her future.