Czech Republic: Roma children denied equal education

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE
EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTRE
ROMA EDUCATION FUND
MILAN ŠIMEČKA FOUNDATION

15 November 2007

TO:

Ján Kubiš
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Slovakia

Dušan Čaplovič
Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights and Minorities
Slovakia

Ján Mikolaj
Minister of Education
Slovakia

Anina Botošová
Plenipotentiary of the Slovak government for Roma Communities
Slovakia

RE: Slovak Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers at the Council of Europe

Your Excellencies,

We are writing to you on the occasion of Slovakia having assumed the Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 12 November 2007. Next year, Slovakia will also celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of its membership of the Council of Europe. We believe that these two events bring with them special responsibilities and opportunities. We consider that the country occupying the Chair of the highest decision-making body of this regional human rights based intergovernmental organization should demonstrate exemplary commitment and strong leadership in the fulfilment of the principles enshrined in Article 3 of the Statute of the Council of Europe - namely the rule of law and the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We note that Slovakia has made considerable progress in fulfilling a number of the commitments it entered into upon accession to the Council of Europe in 1993. Among them are the ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) and a number of its Protocols, and a number of other treaties including the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Social Charter.

We also note that in the context of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015, the authorities have undertaken specific commitments to improve the conditions for its Roma citizens.

However, we consider that in order to fully honour their obligations as a Council of Europe member state, the Slovak government must engage proactively and systematically in action to redress patterns of racial discrimination and other human rights violations against the Romani minority in the country. In particular, we consider that concerted efforts and effective measures are needed to address the problem of the systematic erroneous placement of Romani children in schools for children with light mental disabilities as well as the prevalence of other forms of segregated education of Romani children in some areas of the country. These conditions pose serious barriers for Romani children to realizing their right to education free from discrimination.

A nexus of factors work together, creating barriers for Roma in accessing equal education, particularly at the primary school level. Physical isolation from mainstream society, the prevalence of extremely substandard slum conditions in some Romani communities as well as high levels of anti-Romani sentiment in the Slovak society, all hinder access of many Romani children to the mainstream education system.

We note that the government of Slovakia has adopted a number of measures with the aim of improving Romani children's access to education. However, we remain concerned that special measures have not been systematically implemented, nor are there adequate means of monitoring and assessing the impact of such measures on the education of Romani children. Furthermore, research by the undersigned organizations, along with the findings of other bodies and experts, indicate that the measures which have been in place in the recent years have failed to address the problem of segregated education of Romani children in Slovakia. In its Resolution ResCMN(2006)8 on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by the Slovak Republic, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe stated that "in the field of education, the persistence of various forms of exclusion and segregation which mainly affect Roma children is a source of concern. The potential impact on disadvantaged Roma pupils of recent measures promoting increased decentralisation, as well as the effects of the 2004 social reform, merit particular attention, including in terms of monitoring to ensure that equal opportunities for access to education are not negatively affected. The number of classes with instruction in the Roma language remains limited."

In its priorities for the six months of the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CM/Inf(2007)46), Slovakia has emphasized the need to find "solutions to the difficult situation of the Roma, Travellers and related groups" as "in many cases they continue being victims of discrimination and prejudice and face grave difficulties related to education, housing, employment, social issues, etc." We consider the forthcoming six months of Slovakia's holding the Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe as a real opportunity for the authorities to make further progress in the safeguarding of human rights and the rule of law in Slovakia, including with respect to the rights of members of the Romani population. Slovakia has the opportunity in 2007 and 2008 to take significant steps to enhance the respect and protection of human rights at home, and to encourage such enhancement across the Council of Europe region.

We believe that taking the measures outlined below will be key to ensuring that this opportunity is not wasted and that Slovakia is able to demonstrate to the international community a real commitment to respecting and protecting human rights.

We therefore urge you to ensure that, while serving as the Chair of the Committee of Ministers, the Slovak government takes the following concrete steps:

• Prioritise the realisation of the right to free and compulsory education for Romani children, by developing and implementing a Plan of Action to ensure that all children complete compulsory education. The Plan should prioritize the integration and attendance of Romani children in mainstream education, through a combination of desegregation, and special measures to encourage attendance and reduce drop-out rates, as required under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  
  
• Make a clear and unequivocal political commitment to eradication of segregated education of Romani children. The government should consult with the Roma community about the implementation of this commitment, take concrete, targeted and effective steps to reverse existing patterns of segregated education of Roma and to prevent further segregation. Romani children should not be placed in special or segregated schools or classes simply because they are Roma or because they are socially disadvantaged. As a first step in this direction, the government should amend existing antidiscrimination legislation to introduce an explicit prohibition of segregation in education.
  
  
• Ensure the content and means of education are consistent with human rights. In consultation with Romani communities and organizations, ensure that Romani culture, history and traditions, and information about the contributions Roma have made to society, are included in the formal school curriculums; amend the School Act to grant the Romani language the same recognition as that given to the other minority languages specified; ensure the availability of teaching materials in Romani language; provide training to teachers and other staff working in primary schools; ensure the genuine participation of members of the Roma community in the development and implementation of educational policy relating to the inclusion of Roma; and recruit Romani teaching staff to teach at all levels and ensure they are not subjected to racial discrimination in the school system.
  
  
• Collect equality data (data which takes ethnicity into account) to monitor patterns of segregation in practice and ensure oversight of educational placements on the basis of reasonable and objective.

Moreover, to enhance the protection of the human rights in Slovakia, during the Chairmanship, the government should seek to finalize the processes for the ratification of the following Council of Europe treaties:

• Protocol 12 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which contains a general prohibition of discrimination in the enjoyment of any right in law (Article 1);
  
  
• the Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter providing for a system of collective complaints; and
  
  
• the Revised European Social Charter.

Yours sincerely,

Nicola Duckworth
Europe and Central Asia Programme Director
Amnesty International

Vera Egenberger
Executive Director
European Roma Rights Center

Laco Oravec
Programmes Director
Milan Šimečka Foundation

Andre Wilkens
Director
Open Society Institute - Brussels

Alexandre Marc
Director
Roma Education Fund

Copy to:

Pavol Paška
Speaker of the Slovak National Council

Pavel Kandráč
Public Defender of Rights of Slovakia

Emil Kuchár
Slovakia's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe

Boris Zala
Chair of Slovakia's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Terry Davis
Secretary General of the Council of Europe

René van der Linden
President of the Parliamentary Assembly
Council of Europe

Thomas Hammarberg
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.

Deputy PM Caplovic called the report intentionally misleading, and warned that he would strongly protest against it through international authorities.

One aspect of the problem highlighted by human rights groups is the system of financial incentives in many countries.

In Slovakia, special schools receive twice the sum per capita for pupils, compared to ordinary primary schools. This has maintained and even increased the practice. [..]

In Hungary, pressure from Roma groups has shifted the balance to financial incentives for normal primary schools which enrol children from what are described as "disadvantaged backgrounds" - often a reference to the Roma.

That is seen as one of the main tools for ending segregation - and one that could become a model in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Controversy within Roma

There are a small number of schools in eastern Europe where Roma communities have set up their own, largely Roma schools, to prove that, with a high teaching standard, they can do as well as "white" children.

One example is the Gandhi Secondary School in Pecs in southern Hungary.

There is also a growing controversy within the Roma community in several countries.

The tension is between Roma rights activists who demand the full integration of Roma children into ordinary schools and others who lay the emphasis on the need for more teaching of Roma language, history and culture.

The latter group wants this teaching to take place both in ordinary schools, in order to erode the prejudice of the majority, and in schools which have a high proportion of Roma children - to increase the pupils' pride in their own identity.

Minorities' ombudsman calls on gov't to do more to tackle Roma segregation

Budapest Times
November 7

The [Hungarian] government must do more to strengthen structures monitoring segregation in schools and enforcing zero tolerance, said the minorities' ombudsman on Wednesday.

Erno Kallai called on the civil service administrative office and the education ministry to strengthen co-operation with the minorities' ombudsman's office to bolster efforts to stamp out segregation, which mainly affects Hungary's Roma community.

Appearing at a press conference with Socialist politician Andras Tatai-Toth, Kallai said the state must play a much bigger role in intervening to ensure that Roma students are not the victim of educational segregation. He said local governments were ill-equipped to deal with this type of problem.

[..] instead of looking at the next four years [Hungary's political elite] should plan for the next twenty to thirty, he said [..], adding that making students who have been discriminated against fit for the labour market would ensure that society did not have to look after them.

Tatai-Toth said that the ruling Socialist parliamentary party's educational working group supported giving the ombudsman all the necessary powers to enable him to achieve effective results. [..]

Travellers' tales

The Guardian
March 11

British schools minister Lord Adonis has warned that many Roma and Traveller pupils are struggling in school and that the situation is not improving. Fear of prejudice makes many families too scared to identify themselves, and so schools are unable to apply for extra support and funding. The government suggests schools should recruit governors from Roma and Traveller backgrounds, adapt their behaviour and anti-bullying policies, and encourage parents to volunteer.

Poll: Czechs say Roma unlikely to integrate soon

Prague Daily Monitor (CTK)
March 26

Most Czechs believe that Romanies living in ghettoes will not be integrated into Czech majority society soon, according to a GAC agency's survey conducted for the Open Society and released Wednesday.

One of five Czechs said they believe the integration may last up to 25 years. One-fourth believed it would take 25 to 75 years and the same portion believed it would take centuries or that it could never be achiev

The poll was conducted last autumn among 2,616 Czechs most of whom lived in regions where Romany ghettoes were more frequent. [..]

Nine out of ten Czechs believe the problem of Romany ghettoes needs to be dealt with. The same number also believes that Romanies are to blame for their situation. Some 80 percent say the bad situation is also the fault of Romany organisations and two-thirds said the government and local authorities are to blame, too. [..]

Czech mostly believe that the situation may be improved through education. A majority of them support the idea of preparatory schools and systemic tutoring of Romany children so that they can keep up the pace, according to the poll. [..]

A new Czech agency social inclusion in Romany localities started functioning in March. It is to focus especially on employment, education and accommodation of Romanies. More than three-fourths of Czechs believe that the agency will bring positive change, the poll showed.

Roma's struggle for fair education

BBC News
28 August 2008

For generations, millions of Roma and Sinti people have been excluded from mainstream schools in Europe. But the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled last year that this was discrimination. Examining what impact the landmark judgement has had, Ray Furlong finds no sense of victory in the small flat of Berta Cervenakova, who launched the law suit.

The verdict was seen by Roma groups as an important tool to fight a practice that is found across Europe; lawsuits have followed in Greece and Croatia, while other countries have taken steps to desegregate classes. But real change is slow to filter through. While the Czechs abolished special schools in 2006, critics say the only change was on the nameplate by the door.

But members of the Roma community say parents also need to take more responsibility. Radek Bhanga, a Roma rapper who draws large, mixed-race audiences mixing hip-hop with traditional gypsy sounds, has become notorious for challenging what he has called the 'victim mentality' of Czech Roma. "Czech people are racist and xenophobic. But many Gypsies are worse. They don't send their kids to school because they don't want them to be white. It's a big mistake."

A visit to the special school in Straubing, German, yields a more upbeat impression than one to a former special school in the Czech city of Ostrava. The lessons seem much more demanding. But still, the Sinti are massively over-represented. "The Sinti families see this school as their school," says headmaster Wolfgang Steinbach. "They send us their children, and we try to send them back to a normal school. But they like to have their kids in schools where the other Sinti are."

The experience is a warning to anyone expecting quick change in the Czech Republic after the ECHR ruling. But Jim Goldston, who represented Cervenakova on behalf of the European Roma Rights Centre, says the judgement is still a crucial moment.

Romani children segregated in Slovakia's schools
Amnesty International
24 July 2008

Large numbers of Romani children are still being segregated within Slovakia's public school system according to a new Amnesty International report.

A tale of two schools: Segregating Roma into special education in Slovakia documents the violations of the human right to education of Romani children in Slovakia, through the study of the situation in Pavlovce nad Uhom, a town in the east of the country.

As the report shows, the special school in Pavlovce nad Uhom with its near 100 per cent Roma composition has effectively become a segregated, Roma-only school, with a number of Romani children being placed there erroneously.

The report is a follow-up to Amnesty International's November 2007 report, Still separate, still unequal: Violations of the right to education for Romani children in Slovakia.

Read more..

Study: Czech Roma still segregated at school

Aktualne.Cz
13 November 2008

European Roma organizations said at a conference on 12-13 November that the Czech government has failed to prevent segregation of Romani children in special primary schools for children with mental disabilities.

The charge is backed by research conducted earlier this year by the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and the Roma Education Fund (ERF). Romani children represented more than half of the students in 14 of the 19 so-called 'practical schools' visited by the researchers.

The accusation comes exactly a year after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that such a practice represents unlawful discrimination under international laws.