Ending Segregation and Fostering Inclusion for

Roma ChildrenStanislav DanielEuropean Roma Rights CentreBudapest

Segregation

the action of segregating or the state of being segregated;

the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment;

NOT voluntarily chosen education of ethnic minorities in their language.

55 years ago...

• On 17 May 1954 the US Supreme Court in the case of Brown v. Board of Education confirmed, that separate is not equal. Segregation was banned. Fifty-five years later, many Romani children in Central and Eastern Europe are still educated in separate classes, schools, given various labels keeping them out of the mainstream education.

Forms of Segregation

segregation into special schools or special classes;

Roma-only “mainstream” schools and classes, residential segregation;

physical separation within the mixed class;

symbolic exclusion.

ERRC litigation against education

discriminationD.H. and others v. the Czech Republic

Patterns of Discrimination

Segregation is Discrimination

Equal Access to Education for Roma is a Persistent Problem Throughout Europe

Unified Anti-Discrimination Principles for Europe

D.H. and others v. the Czech Republic

The Court further established, clarified or re-affirmed the following principles:

Indirect Discrimination

Intent Not Required

Facially Neutral Law may be discriminatory

Statistics

Shifting Burden of Proof

No Waiver of Right to Non-Discrimination

The Special Situation of Roma

Orsus and others v. Croatia

While D.H. and others v. the Czech Republic was mainly about segregating Romani children into special schools on the basis of their assumed mental disability, the case Orsus and others v. Croatia is about segregation of Romani children on the basis of their assumed language barrier. The case is still pending.

The most important facts in the case:

School results and their performance did not play any role in placement of the children into classes. The only time they were placed into a mixed class was in the year when the school did not have enough pupils to create a Roma-only class;

The last report of the Croatian government shows, that there were 68 Roma-only classes in 2008, compared to 27 such classes in 2004

Even though the justification of the government is the langauge barrier of the children, there was no language support in Roma-only classes, only reduced curriculum.

Ending Segregation

Even though segregation is prohibited in legislation, guidelines on what is segregation and what exactly is prohibited are still missing;

The structural nature of discrimination and exclusion of Romani children in accessing equal education must be addressed;

Targeting the reasons that Romani parents consent to the enrolment of their children in separate classes, especially information on their rights

Fostering Inclusion

Measures taken in order to foster inclusion of Romani children in mainstream education have to be:

targeted;

in line with the principles of non-discrimination and equality, addressing the actual needs of the children;

immediate;

regularly evaluated.

Recommendations

Statistical collection of ethnic and other sensitive data;

Preparing legal definitions of segregation;

Enact in national legislation a statutory duty to desegregate schools;

Immediate moratorium on the placement of any further Romani children in segregated classes or schools;

In consultation with Romani representatives, adopt comprehensive multi-dimensional desegregation plans with targets, adequate funding;

Provide adequate information to schools, teachers and parents: separate is not equal

Thank Youstanko.daniel@errc.org