The long-awaited change – the Ministry of Education acknowledges the problem of segregation of Roma children and is taking steps to change it
Minority Policy 2020/01

The long-awaited change – the Ministry of Education acknowledges the problem of segregation of Roma children and is taking steps to change it

Alena Holka Chudzikova

The long-awaited change – the Ministry of Education acknowledges the problem of segregation of Roma children and is taking steps to change it 

Discrimination, in education as well as other areas, is prohibited by both the Slovak and international legislation. The Education Act explicitly prohibits all forms of discrimination in education in Section 3 and it specifically prohibits segregation.1 However, Roma children have been subject to persistent systematic segregation in Slovakia for a long time. 

Doomed to failure

Roma children in Slovakia often attend Roma-only schools or are placed to Roma-only classes. The Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child states that up to 50% of Roma children in Slovakia go to Roma-only classes.2 In our experience, there are also schools with separate entrances or separate parts in school canteens for Roma children. In 2016, this was confirmed by the Chief School Inspector who acknowledged the existence of „primitive forms of discrimination“ such as separate classes, floors or school pavilions.3 According to the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) survey of 2016, up to 62% of Roma children go to school where all or the vast majority of their schoolmates are Roma.4 These schools invariably offer education of poor quality. Moreover, research, for instance the one carried out by Amnesty International in 2017, shows that teachers expect very little from Roma children. They do not expect Roma children to succeed at elementary schools and aspire to better quality secondary school education:

 „We are glad a new vocational school has been opened in our town recently where they can continue their studies… Practical woman is one of the most useful programmes for girls because they have learned there also about [doing] household chores and looking after children.”5

Disproportionate placement of Roma children in special classes and special schools is yet another issue. These classes and schools are designed for educating children with „mild mental impairment“.6 According to the survey carried out by the Public Defender of Rights in Slovakia in 2013, Roma children constituted 88% of all pupils in special schools7 despite various experts pointing out that placement of Roma children in special schools is the result of improper diagnostic procedures and anti-Roma bias.8

Therefore, it is not surprising that Roma children have much worse results in education than their non-Roma peers. Even though the Ministry of Education does not have ethnic data available to them, data on education of children from socially disadvantaged background (hereinafter SDB) can be used instead as it is frequently just another term designating Roma children from segregated locations.  According to information published by the Ministry of Education, children from SDB repeat academic year four times more frequently than other children (13% versus 3%). When compared to other children, almost twice as many children from SDB finish their education after completing the compulsory school attendance (11% of children from SDB compared to 6% of other children).9 What chances do these children then have in their lives?

The European Commission infringement procedure against the Slovak Republic

The Ministry of Education has not been able to deal with the persistent problem of segregation of Roma children in education. Even the tools it has introduced (e.g. zero grade of primary school or teaching assistants) with a view to promoting integration or inclusion of Roma children in education have resulted in more segregation.10 

Therefore, the European Commission launched infringement procedure against Slovakia in 2015 due to the breach of the prohibition of discrimination in education laid down in the EU Race Equality Directive.11 The infringement procedure is a tool the European Commission can use to call the attention of a Member State to a potential violation of the EU legislation and to create space for cooperation in the effort to remedy the situation.12 The decision to launch the procedure came after extensive communication between the then government of Slovakia and the European Commission. The Commission noted that Slovakia had been denying the existence of segregation of Roma children in education. The official reply of the government at that time was that „(o)ne of the reasons for more frequent occurrence of genetic diseases is the fact that Slovak Roma have the highest coefficient of inbreeding in Europe.“13 It was their explanation for the alleged higher incidence of mental impairments in Roma children due to which they are placed in special schools. That meant Roma were responsible for their segregation de facto themselves. The European Commission disproved this argument by numerous examples of experience with educating Roma children from Slovakia, for example in the UK. There, the children previously placed in special schools in Slovakia are making progress in mainstream schools and continue their education at secondary schools. It is due to the existing effective system of inclusive education responding to diverse educational needs of children coming from different backgrounds and living conditions.14 The Chief School Inspector at that time said there were improper diagnostic methods and tools used in Slovakia, as well as strong anti-Roma bias in some employees of the State School Inspection.15

The government took at least some steps in response to the infringement procedure. The Education Act, for instance, was changed and it prohibited placement of children with special educational needs resulting from their socially disadvantaged background in special schools. However, a research report carried out by Amnesty International stated that this measure did not have any positive outcome in practice. The definition of a social disadvantage was expanded, and Centres of Pedagogical and Psychological Counselling and Prevention began to assess it instead of Labour Offices. Nevertheless, the centres received only vague guidelines for the assessment procedure from the Ministry of Education.16  In any case, the response of the government, however vague, focused solely on the practice of the disproportionate placement of Roma children in special schools, but it completely failed to address other forms of segregation and discrimination. In addition, no changes were made in the field of promoting inclusive education.

Acknowledgement of segregation of Roma children – an unprecedented step in Slovakia

In autumn 2019, the European Commission evaluated the situation in relation to the pending infringement procedure against Slovakia on the grounds of segregation of Roma children. The Commission concluded that all the steps Slovakia had taken since the beginning of the procedure were inadequate and gave the government two months to adopt measures to eliminate segregation of Roma children in education.17 

The situation in education has not changed in the last five years despite the infringement. However, in the past year, one crucial thing has changed – the attitude of the Ministry of Education, which has a new political management after the change of the government. While the previous government was blaming Roma for their own segregation, the current management of the Ministry has made a significant step and has acknowledged the problem: „The Ministry of Education is aware that it is a long-term problem related to poor quality and inappropriate conditions for educating children from marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia.“18 Apart from that, the Ministry has been communicating intensely with the European Commission about the ways to remedy the situation.19 Moreover, unlike the previous government, the Ministry does not focus only on „cosmetic“ changes of the system of special education, but it has taken also other steps towards promoting inclusive education. For instance, the Inclusive Education Department has been set up, as well as the post of the State Secretary for National and Inclusive Education. Next year, the Strategy for Inclusive Education together with its action plan should be submitted to the government and its drafting should begin in autumn this year. We anticipate changes also in the field of teaching Slovak language as a foreign language to children with different mother tongue. Furthermore, the Research Institute for Child Psychology and Patopsychology is preparing new diagnostic methodology and standards.20 

In the history of Slovakia, it is probably the first time when the government has acknowledged the problem to such an extent and has taken responsibility for it. Even though it is only a start, we believe the steps the ministry intends to take have great potential to bring about a positive change in education. At the same time, it is obvious it will be a very demanding and long-term process.

LITERATURE:

  1. Law No. 245/2008 Coll. on Education and Upbringing (Schooling Act) as amended, available at: https://www.zakonypreludi.sk/zz/2008-245
  2. UN Committee for the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations Slovakia (CRC/C/SVK/CO/3-5)., 2016, para. 44(a).
  3. Koník, J. (2016), ´School Inspector: People in the East don´t believe that Roma can change. Us, Westerners, are a laughing stock to them´, Denník N, 3 May 2016, available at: https://dennikn.sk/450374/skolska-inspektorka-vychode-neveria-ze-rom-sa-zmeni-zo-zapadu-smiech/
  4. FRA, EU Fundamental Rights Agency (2016), Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey, Roma – Selected findings, p. 27, available at: http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2016/eumidis-ii-roma-selected-findings
  5. Amnesty International and European Roma Rights Centre (2017), Lessons from Discrimination. Segregation of Roma children in schooling, London/Budapest, p. 43, available at: https://www.amnesty.sk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Amnesty-report-Slovak-WEB.pdf, 
  6. Amnesty International and European Roma Rights Centre (2017), Lessons from Discrimination. Segregation of Roma children in schooling, London/Budapest, p. 43, available at: https://www.amnesty.sk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Amnesty-report-Slovak-WEB.pdf
  7. Office of the Public Defender of Rights (2013), Report of the Public Defender of Rights on the exercise of the right to education of children/pupils – members of Roma national minority with special educational needs, 2013, p. 19, available at: http://www.vop.gov.sk/files/Sprava%20VOP-Vzdelavanie%20Romov.pdf.
  8. Amnesty International and European Roma Rights Centre (2017), Lessons from Discrimination. Segregation of Roma children in schooling, London/Budapest, p. 43, available at: https://www.amnesty.sk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Amnesty-report-Slovak-WEB.pdf
  9. Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic (2020), ´M. Filipová: Our goal is to eliminate segregation of Roma children´, press release, 17 June 2020, available at: https://www.minedu.sk/m-filipova-nasim-cielom-je-odstranit-segregaciu-romskych-deti/
  10. Gallová Kriglerová, E. – Gažovičová, T. (2012), School for All? Inclusiveness of measures targeting Roma children, Bratislava, CVEK.
  11. European Union: Council of Europe, Council Directive 2000/43/ES of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, 29 June 2000, OJ L 180, 19 July 2000, available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/SK/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32000L0043
  12. Amnesty International and European Roma Rights Centre (2017), Lessons from Discrimination. Segregation of Roma children in schooling, London/Budapest, p. 43, available at: https://www.amnesty.sk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Amnesty-report-Slovak-WEB.pdf
  13. Jancová, D. (2015), ´Brusel blames us for segregation, the government uses incest as argument´, SME, 26 May 2015, available at: https://domov.sme.sk/c/7826598/brusel-nas-vini-zo-segregacie-vlada-argumentuje-incestom.html
  14. Jancová, D. (2015), ´Brusel blames us for segregation, the government uses incest as argument´, SME, 26 May 2015, available at: https://domov.sme.sk/c/7826598/brusel-nas-vini-zo-segregacie-vlada-argumentuje-incestom.html
  15. Koník, J. (2016), ´School Inspector: People in the East don´t believe that Roma can change. Us, Westerners, are a laughing stock to them´, Denník N, 3 May 2016, available at: https://dennikn.sk/450374/skolska-inspektorka-vychode-neveria-ze-rom-sa-zmeni-zo-zapadu-smiech/
  16. Jancová, D. (2015), ´Brusel blames us for segregation, the government uses incest as argument´, SME, 26 May 2015, available at: https://domov.sme.sk/c/7826598/brusel-nas-vini-zo-segregacie-vlada-argumentuje-incestom.html
  17. European Commision (2019), ´October infringements package: key decisions´, 10 October 2019, Brussels, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/INF_19_5950
  18. Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic (2020), ´M. Filipová: Our goal is to eliminate segregation of Roma children´, press release, 17 June 2020, available at: https://www.minedu.sk/m-filipova-nasim-cielom-je-odstranit-segregaciu-romskych-deti/
  19. Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic (2020), ´M. Filipová: Our goal is to eliminate segregation of Roma children´, press release, 17 June 2020, available at: https://www.minedu.sk/m-filipova-nasim-cielom-je-odstranit-segregaciu-romskych-deti/
  20. Euractive.sk (2020), ´Ministry of Education is working on a plan to eliminate segregation of Roma children from schooling´, 29 June 2020, available at: https://euractiv.sk/section/socialna-politika/news/ministerstvo-skolstva-pripravuje-plan-ako-zo-vzdelavania-odstranit-segregaciu-romskych-deti/

Alena Holka Chudžíková has worked in CVEK as a Research Fellow since 2009. She studied Applied Social Psychology in the United Kingdom. She focuses on integration of foreigners on the local level, interethnic relations and minorities in political discourse.