Roma children in Slovakia continue to be denied equal access to education forcing them into a life of exclusion and poverty, said Amnesty International on International Roma Day.

The discrimination against Roma children in the education system is part of wider discrimination against the Roma community which denies them equal access to housing, education, health care, justice, protection from violence, and other fundamental human rights in breach of Slovakia’s legal obligations.

“Eight years after the European Commission initiated an infringement procedure against Slovakia for breach of The Race Equality Directive for the treatment of Roma people, the situation remains alarming,“ said Rado Sloboda, Director of Amnesty International Slovakia.

“Tens of thousands of Roma children in Slovakia do not have access to the same quality education as their peers and the majority of Roma children are still taught in segregated schools. Many are subjected to biased diagnostics, wrongly labeled with mental heath problems and channeled into special needs education.“

Segregated education on the rise

Despite the continued proceedings against Slovakia, the number of Roma children educated separately from their peers is rising. The state is currently constructing new premises for segregated education. Up to 65 per cent of Roma children attend schools with only or predominantly Roma classmates. Most of those schools are located near to segregated Roma communities. Consequently, social interaction of Roma pupils with their non-Roma peers is increasingly limited which only deepens as they get older.

Education system for children with special needs continues to reinforce segregation

Roma children are disproportionately highly represented in the special needs education system. One in five Roma children attends a school for pupils with special needs, while 88 per cent have exclusively or predominantly Roma classmates. This number classified as having special needs – in most cases diagnosed having a mental disability – continues to grow, whether they study in classes for children with special needs or are integrated into mainstream education.

These numbers reflect that fact that the Slovak educational system has failed to combat inappropriate, even ‘purposeful’ or arbitrary classification of Roma children as having special needs. There is continued widespread evidence that Roma children are often reassigned to schools or classes for children with special needs without the necessary examination and/or their parent’s consent.

Even after these rights violations are discovered, there is no system of redress, and children continue attending inappropriate schools or classes for children with special needs. As a result, thousands of Roma children are being deprived of their right to suitable and quality education.

“After decades of failure it is time to implement and enforce measures to prevent and eliminate segregation in education once and for all and to break the vicious circle of exclusion and poverty that Roma children are trapped in,“ said Rado Sloboda.

“The upcoming parliamentary vote on the amendment to the Education Act presents a vital opportunity for Slovakia to take steps to guarantee equal access to quality education for all children.“

Background

The vote on amending the Education Act is expected in mid-May. The amendment will introduce new a legal rights for children.

The Supreme court and two regional courts in Slovakia have ruled that schools in Stará Lubovna, Hermanovce and Šarišské Michaľany unlawfully segregated Roma children. Despite this Slovakia has not yet taken any measures that would reduce the number of Roma children educated separately from their peers.