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OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE: OPEN SOCIETY
INSTITUTE DECRIES DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ROMA CHILDREN:
31/12/07
(MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED
NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / - 31
December 2007 -- Despite
years of governmental promises, Roma children in many European countries remain
excluded from quality education, according to a report
released by the Open Society Institute.
Segregated
into Roma-only classes or schools, wrongly shunted into special schools for
children with intellectual disabilities, crowded into decrepit classrooms and
let down by teachers’ low expectations, Roma children face serious challenges
to complete even basic education.
Roma
are Europe’s largest minority and a key part of its future.
Unless
European leaders live up to their promises, Europe will pay dearly for losing
another generation of Roma children to discrimination and neglect.
The
situation of Roma children in education is detailed in the series of monitoring
reports, Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma.
The
volume includes a Europe-wide overview and individual country reports on
Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovakia.
OSI
released country reports in the same series on Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and
Serbia in April this year.
The
reports give an in-depth perspective and highlight policy actions necessary to
address an alarming situation.
MEP Viktória
Mohácsi said, "The OSI reports confirm that segregation of Roma children
is not only based on the colour of their skin, but also provides lower quality
education for our children. Europe should not accept such serious
discrimination.
Hungary
was the first country to create a legal basis for desegregation.
At least
a dozen EU Member States should follow these steps."
Segregation
of Roma in schools, recently condemned by the European Court of Human Rights in
the case D.H. and
Others v. the Czech Republic, is pervasive but unacknowledged in
Slovakia, Macedonia, Croatia, and Montenegro.
There
are credible reports of segregation in education are available, yet Governments
continue to deny that Roma children are placed in separate schools and classes
and taught according to lower standards.
In all
monitored countries, there are also significant gaps between the official data
and data collected by NGOs or research initiatives.
In
Macedonia, unofficial data puts the Roma population in the country at almost
three times the number indicated by the national census.
In
Slovakia, schools do not even report when students drop out.
Education
policies cannot be effectively targeted without this basic data, nor can they be
assessed on the basis of such fragmented and incomplete information.
Governments
must also attend to fundamental inadequacies in national school systems.
In
Montenegro, there is a shortage of places in pre-schools and children whose
parents are both working are given priority placement.
As
unemployment is high among Roma families, many Roma children thus miss the
chance to attend pre-school.
In
Croatia, school costs present a major obstacle to Roma families, and while some
municipalities find resources to help meet these costs, there is no programme in
place to ensure all children have the appropriate materials and supplies.
Teachers
in the monitored region must receive better support.
Teachers
in schools with a majority of Roma students rarely have access to training
preparing them to work with a diverse classroom; inflexible curricula further
limit their ability to tailor lessons to meet students’ needs.
The
reports released today also give examples of noteworthy progress achieved in the
countries monitored, often with EU support.
These
include the Roma Education Initiative in Montenegro and the NGO community’s
outreach programmes in Macedonia, which have helped forge connections with Roma
families.
In a
significant step, each of the countries monitored has also joined the Decade of
Roma Inclusion 2005-2015, an international initiative establishing a coordinated
approach to improving the situation of Roma in Europe.
However,
positive examples and commitments alone are insufficient to ensure meaningful
improvement.
The Open
Society Institute calls upon governments and the European Union to bring about
meaningful change: where they have not done so, governments must acknowledge and
prohibit segregation in education.
At the
European level, education policies must address racial segregation and the
unequal and inadequate level of provision for Roma.
To
fulfill existing commitments to equality for all, the EU must articulate a clear
and comprehensive framework for progress, enacting policies that can effectively
promote the social inclusion of Roma communities across Europe.
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
~~~~~
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