As activists against segregation, we’ve been told it’s about language, or behaviour, or choice. In reality, it’s pure discrimination
It may come as a surprise to many, but racial segregation in schools exists today in several countries in the EU. In Slovakia, more than 60% of Roma children attend schools where they are in the majority. Worse still: segregation is being rebranded, not removed.
In nearly a quarter of all primary schools, Roma children are separated into “Roma schools” or “Roma classes” – often in overcrowded buildings, with lower academic expectations, higher drop-out and grade repetition rates, and with little or no clear path to equal participation in life. Furthermore, Roma pupils are often placed in schools and classes for children with mental disabilities.
Kamila Gunišová is a researcher at Amnesty International Slovakia and Michal Zálešák is a legal consultant for the European Roma Rights Centre and attorney-in-law working in Slovakia
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