Segregated classrooms are not a thing of the past – look at what is happening to Roma children in Slovakia | Michal Zálešák and Kamila Gunišová
It may be a surprise to many, but the apartheid in schools is present today in many countries in the European Union. In Slovakia, More than 60 % of Rome children who go to schools where they are in the majority. Worse: the chapter is renamed, and it has not been removed.
In nearly a quarter of the primary schools, the children of Rome are divided into “Rome Schools” or “Rome Chapters”-often in crowded buildings, with less academic expectations, high rates of frequency and class, and with a clear or non-existing path to equal participation in life. Moreover, Rome’s students are Often put In schools and classrooms for children with mental disabilities.
Activists, we were told that they are related to a language. Or behavior. Or the choice of parents. Or mental disability. Or because Rome often lives in separate spatial neighborhoods. We were told that it is temporary. However, with the passage of years (and contracts), the situation remains the same.
Rome in SlovakiaAs anywhere else in Europe, it was pushed into the margins of society. As a result of centuries of anti -growth (the specified form of racism towards a Roman people), Rome has long been treated with suspicion and hatred. This has led to the largest group of ethnic minorities in Europe, and it can be said that the most distinctive. In Slovakia, there are many Roman societies that live in such bad conditions (often without access to running water or electricity) that cannot be identified for most Europeans as places to live in.
The level of discrimination in all levels of society is sometimes overwhelming. But among many barriers against Rome in this informal apartheid, education can provide a small opportunity for new generations to escape. It is the cornerstone of equality – the place where it begins to include. However, in Slovakia, the school remains one of many institutions that are systematically separated from the rest of society. The US Supreme Court also ruled in 1954 in Brown Fif Education Council The case: “separate educational facilities are not equal to their nature.”
Despite the legal guarantees at the national level and the European Union, contracts of pressure from civil society and international human rights bodies, the rulings issued by the courts and even The procedures began against Slovakia by the European CommissionThe separation continues to determine the educational experience of tens of thousands.
For several years, the Slovak government denied the discriminatory treatment of Rome students. They justified the excessive representation of the children of Rome in the special education system by indicating that Rome in Slovakia has a The occurrence of the genetically specified disorders Because of the “highest decline coefficient” in Europe. In 2020 only the Slovak government Finally, she publicly confessed to the presence of the chapter And implement steps to eliminate it.
Several repairs have been presented. A legal definition has been added to the school law. Legitious binding standards have been published to cancel discrimination. The legal entitlement to kindergarten has been expanded. The introductory grades were presented instead of “classroom classes” (academic years from the front to bring students to the main level), which was largely attended by Rome students. A experimental project described by the “Rome National School” has been announced that would rename the education imposed on the emergence of minority rights to learn in your own language and cultural environment, while changing anything from separate schools.
I took in isolation, without context, some of these measures may seem constructive. However, it was implemented without clear guarantees, supervision and coordination, and they often enhance the chapter they claim to treat them. The criteria for canceling the new discrimination are focused primarily on the inclusion of the level of separation in separate schools, instead of addressing the class at the school level. Likewise, the establishment of Rome National Schools can lead to institutional classification at the school level under the pretext of minority rights.
The shift in the name from “scratch classes” to “introductory grades” is another example. Although these chapters often repeat the same separate logic – to delay the arrival of children in Rome to the prevailing education and their flow in separate paths.
Slovakia should stop managing the chapter and start its termination. We already know what success: various classes, mixed environments, early and certain support. These are not radical ideas.
Responsibility is not only with Slovakia. The continuous separation of Rome children is a long violation of equality in race and the European Union Code of basic rights. At the same time, the goals of the European Commission Reducing the separation of Rome in primary schools by only 50 % by 2030 not only gives a free pass to the semester via the mass, but undermines the legitimacy of separation in the first place. The European Union cannot look away. Allowing the separation by re -filling it undermines the credibility of its commitment to equality and human rights. The chapter, with any other name, the chapter. The European Union must respond to this systematic failure now, before other generations of Roman children are rejected in the future.
