Education ministry planning effective action against discrimination
of Romanies in the education system
The Czech Education Ministry has unveiled a new series of comprehensive
measures aimed at removing widespread discrimination of Romany children in
the Czech education system. Although the European Commission has long urged
the Czech Republic to address the problem little corrective action has been
taken since the matter was first raised in 1998.
Five years after the 2007 landmark ruling of the European Court of Human
Rights which concluded that the Czech Republic had discriminated against a
group of 18 Romany children by placing them in special schools for children
with mental disabilities the Czech government has done little to address
the problem. Although the name “special” schools, deemed to be
insulting, was changed to “practical” schools nothing much has changed
about the way the system works. Today there are around 300 practical
schools around the country and one in three pupils enrolled in them is a
Romany child.
Julius Mika is one of the Romany fathers who filed a joint complaint to
the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg and won. His son spent two
years at a special school because he had problems catching up after a long
illness.
“I know a lot of families with children and they complain that they have
similar problems. When their children need a bit of special attention
teachers automatically advise special schools.”
Although the final decision is in the hands of the child’s parents the
pressure applied is usually so great and so persistent that parents usually
give in, believing that their child will have an easier time at a school
tailored for children with special needs. However such a transfer is
usually permanent and means a lower quality education and a stigma for
life. The Education Ministry has now moved to draw a clear line between
children with mental disabilities and children who are socially
underprivileged. Deputy Education Minister Jiří Nantl explains how the
ministry intends to go about it.
“In order to ensure an ethnically unbiased system and end the ongoing
discrimination of Romany children we need to change the diagnostic methods
used by teachers and psychologists in ascertaining a child’s potential
and have greater control over those who make these decisions. The
accreditation of consultancies who make these decisions will be much
tougher and they will be under close scrutiny. Practical schools will no
longer be able to set up kindergartens where many Roma children are placed
to learn social skills and overcome the language barrier and then
automatically stay on. The ministry will also closely monitor the number of
Romany children at practical schools. In short we aim to make sure that
children who get enrolled in these schools are children with mental
disabilities and not socially disadvantaged children.”
The Czech Education Ministry will present its comprehensive action plan to
the Council of Europe in Strasbourg next week and set down the ground rules
for these changes in the course of next year. According to the ministry the
first tangible results should be seen in the course of 2014. In the
meantime it will be solely up to Romany parents to stand up to the
authorities and prevent their children’s transfer to an educational
facility that will almost certainly mean a dead end.
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