Segregated Roma classes at Czech school spark criticism
Czech schools have repeatedly been criticised by international watchdogs
and advocacy groups for their practice of placing disproportionately large
numbers of Romany children in segregated schools. In a most recent case, a
school in the small town of Krásná Lípa in north Bohemia has come into
the spotlight after creating a special Roma class, allegedly to help the
Roma children catch up with the rest of their schoolmates.
One of the priorities of a new school law that is to take effect in 2016 is
securing inclusive education for children in schools all over the country,
including those from socially disadvantaged families and Roma children. But
the case in Krásná Lípa, which segregated Roma children from the rest of
the pupils before they even started the education process, shows that the
idea may prove difficult to implement in real life.
The headmaster of the incriminated elementary school in Krásná Lípa
argues that her decision was based solely on the fact that most of the Roma
kids had not attended kindergarten and would therefore have a different
starting point from the others. However, the parents of the Roma children
find the argument hard to believe, adding that no one warned them about
these plans until the beginning of the school year. This is what one of
them told Czech Television:
“They told us that they had set up the special class in order re-educate
our kids and teach them some basic skills such as how to use the toilet, how
to hold scissors or a pencil in their hand. But I don’t understand it.
Why should my children have to learn things that they already know?”
The mayor of Krásná Lípa admitted that the reason for setting up a
special class for Roma children may in fact be quite different:
“Some parents from the majority society decided not to send their kids
to our school anymore because the number of Roma kids in our classrooms has
been gradually increasing.”
But according to Zdeněk Ryšavý, head of a leading Roma advocacy group
Romea, the practice of segregating Roma kids from the rest of the society
is always bad and will only create more problems in the future:
“This practice goes against the principles defined in the recently
adopted government strategy which says that kids from different
backgrounds, in this case Czech and Roma kids, should be educated together
from a very early age. Segregation has far-reaching consequences, because
it results in Czechs and the Roma not living together but next to each
other. The only good thing about this is that we are receiving complaints
from Roma parents, who are finally starting to realize the danger of their
kids being educated separately.”
According to Mr Ryšavý, the case in Krásná Lípa may not be isolated,
adding that a similar complaint from a different town is now being
investigated.
In reaction to the situation in Krásná Lípa, the Minister for Human
Rights and the Education Ministry have already pledged to send their people
to further examine the matter.
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