Segregation of Romany children at school is not much decreasing in spite of the criticism which the country has faced for a long time, Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Monika Simunkova told CTK Monday in reaction to the Council of Europe’s (CE) latest report.
The report was released by Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg released Monday.
He writes that too many Romany children are still placed in special [newly called practical] schools in spite of a law from 2004 that was designed to improve the situation.
It is estimated that 30 percent of Romany children are sent to these schools over their light mental disability, compared with a mere 2 percent of non-Romany children.
Under the Education Ministry’s decrees only children with a light mental handicap are to attend practical schools if their parents give an informed consent as from the current 2011/2012 school year.
Simunkova said, however, the light mental disorder is often mixed up with social disadvantage.

„The situation is not changing, unfortunately. The Czech Republic should do more in this respect,“ Simunkova said.
She said the steps of the strategy against social exclusion the government passed last year must start to be pushed through.
One of them is the strengthening of pre-school preparation. Children from ghettos should this way learn the abilities and habits necessary for managing the attendance of regular schools and the lessons.
They should be helped by assistants who would be financed from the money earmarked for funding the practical schools, Simunkova said.

Hammarberg’s report also speaks about collective violent crimes against Romanies in the Czech Republic and Hungary, for instance.
The latest such case happened in the night from Saturday to Sunday when two unknown men threw several Molotov cocktails into a dormitory in As, west Bohemia, where also Romanies live.
Hammarberg also pointed to forced sterilisation of some Romany women in the past.
The Government Human Rights Council has recommended to the government that the state compensate the victims. The government might discuss the proposal in a few months.

The Czech Republic lost a lawsuit with 18 young Romanies from north Moravia at the European Human Rights Court in November 2007 already.
According to the verdict the Czech Republic breached the Romanies‘ right to education and discriminated against them when it relocated the Romany children to special schools.

Quelle: Prague Daily Monitor
Stand: 28.02.2012