This was a semester-long research paper for my International ethics and global citizenship class, therefore the paper is pretty long (though interesting), skim if you would like!
Research Question
To what extent do the Roma minority residing in Central and Eastern Europe face racial discrimination within public education systems due to governmental inaction and how do these discriminations violate human rights law?
Introduction
The Roma, or Romani, emigrated from northern India to Europe and now have communities across the globe. The greatest populations of Roma are found in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Among other minority groups, the Roma have faced severe discrimination and racism not only as individuals but as established communities. The governments of many European nation-states have made progress in improving the rights of Roma but many are still lacking in certain spheres, especially within public education systems. For example, both Poland and the Czech Republic (relatively new members to the European Union) are continuously under review for human rights violations and discriminations within education programs against Roma children. The segregation of Roma children into all-Roma or mentally handicapped schools violates national and international human rights discrimination laws and has a damaging effect on individuals and communities alike, as can be seen in the comparison between treatment of Roma in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Roots of Discrimination
To clearly understand who the Roma are and why they are discriminated against, it is necessary to look at their broader history in Europe and the Roma cultural background. Presently, the Roma are still mistaken to come from Romania, though they were originally thought to be Muslims from Turkey or Egypt by Europeans because of their skin color. Because of this association, these Europeans established the commonly used name “gypsy or gyptians” for the Roma. (Hancock). The first European to formally research the origins of Roma was a Hungarian theologian named Stefan Vali who met several Indians during his studies in Holland in 1763 and noticed their similarities to the Roma in his homeland, including ties within languages. Since then, studies have shown that Roma come from the Punjab region in India and have been claimed to come from the lowest caste within Indian society (History and Origin). This trend of prejudice continues unfortunately, due to their racial profile and norms which differ from those of most Europeans. However, Europeans cannot solely be blamed for the exclusion of Roma from popular culture in society; Roma distance themselves in attempts to retain their ethnic identity (which differs from Europeans in terms of dress, dance, social norms, etc). Potentially a consequence of this distancing, Roma suffered and continue to suffer from being ‘otherized’ within Europe and are victims of consistent discrimination and human rights violations.
Concerns by national and international communities
One of the major concerns of human rights violations against the Roma by governments is the discrimination within education systems. Roma children have been placed into all-Roma schools or remedial ‘special’ schools overwhelmingly across Europe, against the wishes or unbeknownst to the families of the children.
“According to reasonable estimates, Roma are at least fifteen times more likely to be placed in remedial schools than non-Roma. A student who has completed remedial special school has greatly restricted choices in secondary education compared to a student who has completed mainstream primary school” (A Special Remedy p11).
Evidence shows that segregation has not only short term effects but also a continuous negative impact on Roma communities which do not receive equal education opportunities and therefore hinder growth in the future.
Reasons for Concern
This paper focuses on the treatment of Roma within education systems and therefore the actual placement of Roma children into schools will be examined. Fundamental to the exclusion of Roma in the Czech Republic is an effectively segregated education system which prevents contact between Roma and non-Roma. The primary technique for initiating this process is to place Roma children into schools for handicapped children. Romani children are disproportionately placed in these schools because they underperform in tasks designed for Czech students because of inadequate testing formats, and because of the racist attitudes of school authorities. Roma children are rarely placed in such schools for actually having a mental handicap (A Special Remedy p11). According to the Czech government’s own estimates, around 75 percent of Roma children are transferred to or directly enrolled in remedial special schools; the system has been proven to produce unreliable and racially biased intelligence testing results as a primary means of evaluating children’s abilities. These results determine the future education of Romani children and unfortunately the children produce low test scores in account of having inadequate proficiency in the language of the intelligence test such as Polish or Czech (Stigmata p11). The inability for a student to not be fluent in the language taught in school is not adequate reason to be deemed mentally handicapped.
In Poland, Roma children face similar hardships as those in the Czech Republic: segregated or “gypsy classes” were established which coincides with segregation into special classes for the mentally handicapped, similar to the structure in the Czech Republic. A final reason for concern of the treatment of these school children is the racially motivated abuse of Romani children in Polish schools by teachers and students alike. All of the above discriminations occur because of racial and ethnic prejudice systemically rooted in society.
Violations
Poland and the Czech Republic, the two nation states that have been chosen for this review on Roma rights, joined the European Union within the last eight years; the E.U. is an organization that is expected to react when its member governments’ violate international law. The most directly corresponding law violated by these two European nations in terms of their education programs can be found in The European Convention on Human Rights in Article 14, Prohibition on Discrimination:
“The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status” (Council of Europe).
Many governments have clearly violated this article in terms of discrimination within their education systems due to the race, color, language, and association with a national minority of Roma children. They are visibly of a different race than European populations; they often do not have a strong grasp of a nation’s language due to their tendency to speak Romani at home, and are considered a national minority within both Poland and the Czech Republic, along with many other European nation states. The Roma communities do not enjoy rights and freedoms without discrimination.
Another European law which nation states have violated is found in the Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms written in Paris in 1952 by the Council of Europe, Article 2- Right to Education: “No person shall be denied the right to education” (Council of Europe). A flaw in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is that many European nations were unable to ratify it due to their nation-state status (such as being part of the former USSR, Yugoslavia, or a satellite nation), like Poland. Only in 1993 did Poland became a party to the Convention and only in 1977 did Poland become a party to the Covenants (of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights): The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights were adopted by the United Nations in 1966 to specify the catalogue of human rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Polish Helsinki Foundation).
Both of the above European protocols for human rights protections were rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. One of the essential articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which Poland and the Czech Republic have violated is Article 7:
“All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to discrimination” (Universal Declaration).
The second right that Roma have been deprived of is their Right to Education, Article 26:
1. Everyone has the right to education.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the U.N. for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children (Universal Declaration).
Though these declarations and conventions have been established by the United Nations and the Council of Europe there is still little leverage that they have alongside NGOs and human rights organizations to force governments to improve their treatment of Roma. It is not that countries are proclaiming national sovereignty over their mistreatment of Roma or other minority groups, but rather that the governments are denying that there are major problems within the education departments.
One of the foremost reasons why Roma are still being discriminated against on a daily basis within education systems is because there are few consequences for these systems if they do not follow the ‘recommendations’ of the U.N. or other organizations. Governments in turn are not openly offering ways to improve their actions. These recommendations are more consistently being provided by Roma rights organizations, such as the European Roma Rights Centre, than the United Nations or the European Union.
For example, in the fall of 2008, a coalition of Roma rights groups outlined several steps the Czech government should take to end the segregation of Roma students, which was sent to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in hopes that the Council would put pressure on the Czech authorities. These steps included but were not restricted to:
1. “Enacting national legislation requiring public authorities to desegregate the educational system.
2. Declaring publicly the goal of providing equal access to educational opportunities for all by 2015, creating a comprehensive strategic plan for achieving that goal, and allocating funding for enacting the plan.
3. Providing better information to Roma parents on the benefits of integration (Rights Groups Press)”.
Though these improvements would certainly be beneficial to the Roma communities within the Czech Republic, there is little that activists can do but continue to promote desegregation and hope that governments and larger organizations will listen and take action.
Poland
As a case study on Roma rights, Poland is improving in its standards but still has large gaps in equality between Roma and non-Roma children concerning education. In Poland, though the Roma community is smaller than in other Central and Eastern European countries, estimates range from 30,000 - 50,000 people (Roma in Poland After 1989 p15), there is a conscious ignorance by the Polish government towards the treatment of Roma.
In 1992, the Polish government implemented a program that began grouping Roma children into segregated classes of questionable quality (below standard). Stanislaw Opocki, the Catholic priest who initiated this program, described the all-Roma classes as a means to help dropouts or kids who had problems at school because of their family situation or poor grades (Kosc). Such family situations may have included language barriers; however, many of these so-called “Gypsy classes” are still in operation today against the will of many parents and students (Roma in Poland After 1989 p 149). The “Gypsy classes” were not uncommon in 1992 in Europe and the pedagogical goals were derived from actual stereotypes of the Roma. The classes enforced basic hygiene and taught Polish culture, though few Roma or Polish cultural lessons were taught in mainstream Polish classrooms and lessons of hygiene were not common in Polish classrooms.
According to the Malopolska Education Society's Derkowska (a district Education Council), the very existence of all-Roma classes is discriminatory because the work load and the level of difficulty are nowhere near those of regular classes and the preach inferiority of the Roma as a minority group. Poland faces judgment of European and international courts and organizations due to its treatment of Roma students within its education system. The Polish Constitution declares “universal and equal access to education for all citizens” but Poland certainly is not putting these words to action (Kosc). The European Roma Rights Centre is of the position that Roma children in Poland cannot experience their right to education unless the Polish government implements comprehensive school desegregation (p 164), simple laws without actions are ineffective.
This is not to imply that no efforts have been made to desegregate schools or improve the value of education for Roma children. To combat discrimination, the Polish government launched a two-year pilot Romani integration program in Malopolska in 2001. The program is being expanded nationwide and is set to run until 2013. Acknowledging the shortcomings of the all-Romani classes, the Education Ministry now calls for a new approach that would gradually eliminate them (Kosc). The gains that the Polish government made have exceeded those of other European nation-states.
Czech Republic
Czech Republic is another post-communist state which struggles with the place for Roma within society. One of ways the Czech government establishes a hold on education is that it regulates the transfer of children from one school to another. Most often Roma children from mainstream schools are moved to schools for children with health disabilities (History and Origin). These children are also placed into these schools but are not provided with any plan to be reintegrated into regular schools. Because the government’s Educational Decree on integrating schools is solely focused on children with health disabilities, it has no provisions for the integration of children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds (implying Roma), nor does it provide any supportive measures for this category of children (Rights Group). Consequently, this allows Czech authorities to be under no obligation to integrate children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds into regular schools or classes after having spent years within special or remedial schools, even if they are deemed capable of handling a regular school. This serious loop hole within Czech law is not only unconstitutional, it also violates international law.
These actions by the government show little progress from the 1990 census which declared 46.4% of Roma children in the Czech Republic were in remedial special schools, compared with only 3.2% of non-Roma children; a Roma child was therefore about fifteen times more likely to have been judged to have “intellectual deficiencies” (A Special Remedy p22). As can be seen by the continuous pull for complete integration of Roma into mainstream schools from NGOs and human rights organizations, the consequences of a “disproportionate allocation to schools for the mentally handicapped affects the current and future prospects of at least 25,000 Roma children presently in primary schools in the Czech Republic, as well as numerous other Roma whose lives have been ruined by the school system” (A Special Remedy p 29). The European Roma Rights Centre appropriately demonstrates that not only do the segregation policies have short term consequences of reduced quality education and subordinate curricula; the damaging impacts of placing children into “special schools” tells them that they are inferior students to their Czech counterparts and that they have few capabilities to succeed in education in the future. The Czech government is not only physically slowing the education of Roma students; it has set up a psychologically degrading education system that ensures they will fail.
The Czech government is finally facing retribution for its actions. According to Human Rights Watch and Interrights (the international center for the legal protection of human rights), in late 2007 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Czech government engaged in indirect discrimination against Roma children, which is a major step forward (for international human rights enforcement) in implementing the European Convention of Human Rights (Roma Children Denied). This landmark case originated in 1999, where 18 Roma students were placed into “special schools” without a choice, the children were not given any chance to reintegrate throughout their years in the special schools. The case was also seen earlier by the Court in 2006, though it was not passed on a 6-1 vote. The Court panel held, as “the system of special schools was not introduced solely to cater for Roma children” and therefore did not violate the European Convention of Human Rights (European Court Fails). The 2006 ruling was a setback to the case but it did not change the focus of the anti-discrimination battle. The Court finally ruled in 2007 that the practice of racial segregation in education violated Article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which prohibits discrimination, taken together with Article 2 of Protocol 1, which secures the right to education (Landmark Victory). This case was supposed to open the floodgates for a turn-around in education policy toward the Roma, but similar to other international human rights courts, the European Court for Human Rights has little capacity to enforce its ruling. Despite “changes in legislation and a landmark ruling from Europe’s highest court, racial segregation of Roma children remains a fixture of education in the Czech Republic” (Rights Group).
European Union Roma Summit
The European Union plays an intrinsic role in pressuring its members to adhere to its policies and standards, specifically in terms of human rights. In September of 2008, a European Roma Summit was held in Brussels, Belgium. The Summit was the first time that EU institutions, national governments and civil society organizations from around Europe came together at the highest level to discuss the situation of Roma communities in the EU and to find ways to improve it. The involved parties became more aware that the inclusion of Roma is a joint responsibility of the Member States and the European Union. The European Commission is determined to act where it has the competence, in particular by ensuring that the legislation already passed is properly enforced (European Roma Summit). It is the combined pressure of an overarching institution such as the EU along with international human rights law, NGO’s, and Roma activist organizations that will eventually force European nations to end their mistreatment within education systems.
Conclusion
In spite of the continuing efforts by reputable organizations like the European Roma Rights Centre, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and hundreds of other organizations, European governments are ultimately failing by inaction to change the school-by-school policies regarding the treatment of Roma students. The categorization of Roma as mentally-handicapped on an overarching level is of the greatest concerns for international human rights groups, as well as the segregation of students into Roma-only schools. Not only have these actions violated each nation state’s Constitutional laws, they have completely disregarded the Council of Europe and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Czech and Polish governments have made some efforts in improving the education rights to Roma but their work is unhurried due to minimal consequences against them if they do not comply with international standards. Though governments would feel the benefits of finally following their national and international laws, the greatest impact of changing the behavior towards Roma education rights would be seen within every classroom and every student who finally would be provided with equal standards for education they were given the right to by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, 60 years ago.
Bibliography
A Special Remedy: Country Reports Series NO. 8, (1999). Roma and Schools for the Mentally Handicapped in the Czech Republic. Budapest, Hungary: European Roma Rights Center.
Council of Europe, Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as amended by Protocol No. 11. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from European Court of Human Rights Web site: http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/D5CC24A7-DC13-4318-B457- 5C9014916D7A/0/EnglishAnglais.pdf
European Court Fails to Find Roma Children Victims of Discrimination in Education , Snapshots from around Europe. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from European Roma Rights Center Web site: http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=2557&archiv=1
European Roma Summit. (2008 September 12). Retrieved March 31, 2009, from European Commission Web site: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=88&langId=en&eventsId=105
History and Origin of the Roma, The. (2002, February, 26). Retrieved March 29, 2009, from Roma in the Czech Republic Web site: http://romove.radio.cz/en/clanek/18158
Hancock, Ian Origins of the Roma People. Gypsy Spirit | Journey of the Roma, Retrieved March 28, 2009, from http://gypsyspirit.org/pages.php?menuid=7
Kosc, Wojciech (2004 July 27). Poland: Down on Zawiszy Street. Central and Eastern European Library Online, Retrieved March 28,2009, from www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=29A0D352-80FB- 40D6-B814-8171C3769540
Landmark Victory in Roma Segregation Case , (2008 March 12). Europe's Highest Court Finds Racial Discrimination in Czech Schools . Retrieved March 30, 2009, from European Roma Rights Center Web site: http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=2866&archiv=1
Rights Groups Press Czech Government on Roma Education, (2008, September 25). European Roma Rights Center. Retrieved March 29, 2009, Web site: http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=2982&archiv=1
Roma Children Denied Equal Education, (2007).Ruling Finds Czech Policy of Special Schools Discriminatory. Human Rights Watch.
Roma in Poland After 1989: Country Report Series, NO. 11, (2002). The Limits of Solidarity. Budapest, Hungary: European Roma Rights Center.
Stigmata, (2004). Segregated Schooling of Roma in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest, Hungary: European Roma Rights Center.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The, (1948). Retrieved March 30, 2009, from United Nations Web site: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
Research Question
To what extent do the Roma minority residing in Central and Eastern Europe face racial discrimination within public education systems due to governmental inaction and how do these discriminations violate human rights law?
Introduction
The Roma, or Romani, emigrated from northern India to Europe and now have communities across the globe. The greatest populations of Roma are found in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Among other minority groups, the Roma have faced severe discrimination and racism not only as individuals but as established communities. The governments of many European nation-states have made progress in improving the rights of Roma but many are still lacking in certain spheres, especially within public education systems. For example, both Poland and the Czech Republic (relatively new members to the European Union) are continuously under review for human rights violations and discriminations within education programs against Roma children. The segregation of Roma children into all-Roma or mentally handicapped schools violates national and international human rights discrimination laws and has a damaging effect on individuals and communities alike, as can be seen in the comparison between treatment of Roma in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Roots of Discrimination
To clearly understand who the Roma are and why they are discriminated against, it is necessary to look at their broader history in Europe and the Roma cultural background. Presently, the Roma are still mistaken to come from Romania, though they were originally thought to be Muslims from Turkey or Egypt by Europeans because of their skin color. Because of this association, these Europeans established the commonly used name “gypsy or gyptians” for the Roma. (Hancock). The first European to formally research the origins of Roma was a Hungarian theologian named Stefan Vali who met several Indians during his studies in Holland in 1763 and noticed their similarities to the Roma in his homeland, including ties within languages. Since then, studies have shown that Roma come from the Punjab region in India and have been claimed to come from the lowest caste within Indian society (History and Origin). This trend of prejudice continues unfortunately, due to their racial profile and norms which differ from those of most Europeans. However, Europeans cannot solely be blamed for the exclusion of Roma from popular culture in society; Roma distance themselves in attempts to retain their ethnic identity (which differs from Europeans in terms of dress, dance, social norms, etc). Potentially a consequence of this distancing, Roma suffered and continue to suffer from being ‘otherized’ within Europe and are victims of consistent discrimination and human rights violations.
Concerns by national and international communities
One of the major concerns of human rights violations against the Roma by governments is the discrimination within education systems. Roma children have been placed into all-Roma schools or remedial ‘special’ schools overwhelmingly across Europe, against the wishes or unbeknownst to the families of the children.
“According to reasonable estimates, Roma are at least fifteen times more likely to be placed in remedial schools than non-Roma. A student who has completed remedial special school has greatly restricted choices in secondary education compared to a student who has completed mainstream primary school” (A Special Remedy p11).
Evidence shows that segregation has not only short term effects but also a continuous negative impact on Roma communities which do not receive equal education opportunities and therefore hinder growth in the future.
Reasons for Concern
This paper focuses on the treatment of Roma within education systems and therefore the actual placement of Roma children into schools will be examined. Fundamental to the exclusion of Roma in the Czech Republic is an effectively segregated education system which prevents contact between Roma and non-Roma. The primary technique for initiating this process is to place Roma children into schools for handicapped children. Romani children are disproportionately placed in these schools because they underperform in tasks designed for Czech students because of inadequate testing formats, and because of the racist attitudes of school authorities. Roma children are rarely placed in such schools for actually having a mental handicap (A Special Remedy p11). According to the Czech government’s own estimates, around 75 percent of Roma children are transferred to or directly enrolled in remedial special schools; the system has been proven to produce unreliable and racially biased intelligence testing results as a primary means of evaluating children’s abilities. These results determine the future education of Romani children and unfortunately the children produce low test scores in account of having inadequate proficiency in the language of the intelligence test such as Polish or Czech (Stigmata p11). The inability for a student to not be fluent in the language taught in school is not adequate reason to be deemed mentally handicapped.
In Poland, Roma children face similar hardships as those in the Czech Republic: segregated or “gypsy classes” were established which coincides with segregation into special classes for the mentally handicapped, similar to the structure in the Czech Republic. A final reason for concern of the treatment of these school children is the racially motivated abuse of Romani children in Polish schools by teachers and students alike. All of the above discriminations occur because of racial and ethnic prejudice systemically rooted in society.
Violations
Poland and the Czech Republic, the two nation states that have been chosen for this review on Roma rights, joined the European Union within the last eight years; the E.U. is an organization that is expected to react when its member governments’ violate international law. The most directly corresponding law violated by these two European nations in terms of their education programs can be found in The European Convention on Human Rights in Article 14, Prohibition on Discrimination:
“The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status” (Council of Europe).
Many governments have clearly violated this article in terms of discrimination within their education systems due to the race, color, language, and association with a national minority of Roma children. They are visibly of a different race than European populations; they often do not have a strong grasp of a nation’s language due to their tendency to speak Romani at home, and are considered a national minority within both Poland and the Czech Republic, along with many other European nation states. The Roma communities do not enjoy rights and freedoms without discrimination.
Another European law which nation states have violated is found in the Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms written in Paris in 1952 by the Council of Europe, Article 2- Right to Education: “No person shall be denied the right to education” (Council of Europe). A flaw in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is that many European nations were unable to ratify it due to their nation-state status (such as being part of the former USSR, Yugoslavia, or a satellite nation), like Poland. Only in 1993 did Poland became a party to the Convention and only in 1977 did Poland become a party to the Covenants (of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights): The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights were adopted by the United Nations in 1966 to specify the catalogue of human rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Polish Helsinki Foundation).
Both of the above European protocols for human rights protections were rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. One of the essential articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which Poland and the Czech Republic have violated is Article 7:
“All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to discrimination” (Universal Declaration).
The second right that Roma have been deprived of is their Right to Education, Article 26:
1. Everyone has the right to education.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the U.N. for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children (Universal Declaration).
Though these declarations and conventions have been established by the United Nations and the Council of Europe there is still little leverage that they have alongside NGOs and human rights organizations to force governments to improve their treatment of Roma. It is not that countries are proclaiming national sovereignty over their mistreatment of Roma or other minority groups, but rather that the governments are denying that there are major problems within the education departments.
One of the foremost reasons why Roma are still being discriminated against on a daily basis within education systems is because there are few consequences for these systems if they do not follow the ‘recommendations’ of the U.N. or other organizations. Governments in turn are not openly offering ways to improve their actions. These recommendations are more consistently being provided by Roma rights organizations, such as the European Roma Rights Centre, than the United Nations or the European Union.
For example, in the fall of 2008, a coalition of Roma rights groups outlined several steps the Czech government should take to end the segregation of Roma students, which was sent to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in hopes that the Council would put pressure on the Czech authorities. These steps included but were not restricted to:
1. “Enacting national legislation requiring public authorities to desegregate the educational system.
2. Declaring publicly the goal of providing equal access to educational opportunities for all by 2015, creating a comprehensive strategic plan for achieving that goal, and allocating funding for enacting the plan.
3. Providing better information to Roma parents on the benefits of integration (Rights Groups Press)”.
Though these improvements would certainly be beneficial to the Roma communities within the Czech Republic, there is little that activists can do but continue to promote desegregation and hope that governments and larger organizations will listen and take action.
Poland
As a case study on Roma rights, Poland is improving in its standards but still has large gaps in equality between Roma and non-Roma children concerning education. In Poland, though the Roma community is smaller than in other Central and Eastern European countries, estimates range from 30,000 - 50,000 people (Roma in Poland After 1989 p15), there is a conscious ignorance by the Polish government towards the treatment of Roma.
In 1992, the Polish government implemented a program that began grouping Roma children into segregated classes of questionable quality (below standard). Stanislaw Opocki, the Catholic priest who initiated this program, described the all-Roma classes as a means to help dropouts or kids who had problems at school because of their family situation or poor grades (Kosc). Such family situations may have included language barriers; however, many of these so-called “Gypsy classes” are still in operation today against the will of many parents and students (Roma in Poland After 1989 p 149). The “Gypsy classes” were not uncommon in 1992 in Europe and the pedagogical goals were derived from actual stereotypes of the Roma. The classes enforced basic hygiene and taught Polish culture, though few Roma or Polish cultural lessons were taught in mainstream Polish classrooms and lessons of hygiene were not common in Polish classrooms.
According to the Malopolska Education Society's Derkowska (a district Education Council), the very existence of all-Roma classes is discriminatory because the work load and the level of difficulty are nowhere near those of regular classes and the preach inferiority of the Roma as a minority group. Poland faces judgment of European and international courts and organizations due to its treatment of Roma students within its education system. The Polish Constitution declares “universal and equal access to education for all citizens” but Poland certainly is not putting these words to action (Kosc). The European Roma Rights Centre is of the position that Roma children in Poland cannot experience their right to education unless the Polish government implements comprehensive school desegregation (p 164), simple laws without actions are ineffective.
This is not to imply that no efforts have been made to desegregate schools or improve the value of education for Roma children. To combat discrimination, the Polish government launched a two-year pilot Romani integration program in Malopolska in 2001. The program is being expanded nationwide and is set to run until 2013. Acknowledging the shortcomings of the all-Romani classes, the Education Ministry now calls for a new approach that would gradually eliminate them (Kosc). The gains that the Polish government made have exceeded those of other European nation-states.
Czech Republic
Czech Republic is another post-communist state which struggles with the place for Roma within society. One of ways the Czech government establishes a hold on education is that it regulates the transfer of children from one school to another. Most often Roma children from mainstream schools are moved to schools for children with health disabilities (History and Origin). These children are also placed into these schools but are not provided with any plan to be reintegrated into regular schools. Because the government’s Educational Decree on integrating schools is solely focused on children with health disabilities, it has no provisions for the integration of children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds (implying Roma), nor does it provide any supportive measures for this category of children (Rights Group). Consequently, this allows Czech authorities to be under no obligation to integrate children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds into regular schools or classes after having spent years within special or remedial schools, even if they are deemed capable of handling a regular school. This serious loop hole within Czech law is not only unconstitutional, it also violates international law.
These actions by the government show little progress from the 1990 census which declared 46.4% of Roma children in the Czech Republic were in remedial special schools, compared with only 3.2% of non-Roma children; a Roma child was therefore about fifteen times more likely to have been judged to have “intellectual deficiencies” (A Special Remedy p22). As can be seen by the continuous pull for complete integration of Roma into mainstream schools from NGOs and human rights organizations, the consequences of a “disproportionate allocation to schools for the mentally handicapped affects the current and future prospects of at least 25,000 Roma children presently in primary schools in the Czech Republic, as well as numerous other Roma whose lives have been ruined by the school system” (A Special Remedy p 29). The European Roma Rights Centre appropriately demonstrates that not only do the segregation policies have short term consequences of reduced quality education and subordinate curricula; the damaging impacts of placing children into “special schools” tells them that they are inferior students to their Czech counterparts and that they have few capabilities to succeed in education in the future. The Czech government is not only physically slowing the education of Roma students; it has set up a psychologically degrading education system that ensures they will fail.
The Czech government is finally facing retribution for its actions. According to Human Rights Watch and Interrights (the international center for the legal protection of human rights), in late 2007 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Czech government engaged in indirect discrimination against Roma children, which is a major step forward (for international human rights enforcement) in implementing the European Convention of Human Rights (Roma Children Denied). This landmark case originated in 1999, where 18 Roma students were placed into “special schools” without a choice, the children were not given any chance to reintegrate throughout their years in the special schools. The case was also seen earlier by the Court in 2006, though it was not passed on a 6-1 vote. The Court panel held, as “the system of special schools was not introduced solely to cater for Roma children” and therefore did not violate the European Convention of Human Rights (European Court Fails). The 2006 ruling was a setback to the case but it did not change the focus of the anti-discrimination battle. The Court finally ruled in 2007 that the practice of racial segregation in education violated Article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which prohibits discrimination, taken together with Article 2 of Protocol 1, which secures the right to education (Landmark Victory). This case was supposed to open the floodgates for a turn-around in education policy toward the Roma, but similar to other international human rights courts, the European Court for Human Rights has little capacity to enforce its ruling. Despite “changes in legislation and a landmark ruling from Europe’s highest court, racial segregation of Roma children remains a fixture of education in the Czech Republic” (Rights Group).
European Union Roma Summit
The European Union plays an intrinsic role in pressuring its members to adhere to its policies and standards, specifically in terms of human rights. In September of 2008, a European Roma Summit was held in Brussels, Belgium. The Summit was the first time that EU institutions, national governments and civil society organizations from around Europe came together at the highest level to discuss the situation of Roma communities in the EU and to find ways to improve it. The involved parties became more aware that the inclusion of Roma is a joint responsibility of the Member States and the European Union. The European Commission is determined to act where it has the competence, in particular by ensuring that the legislation already passed is properly enforced (European Roma Summit). It is the combined pressure of an overarching institution such as the EU along with international human rights law, NGO’s, and Roma activist organizations that will eventually force European nations to end their mistreatment within education systems.
Conclusion
In spite of the continuing efforts by reputable organizations like the European Roma Rights Centre, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and hundreds of other organizations, European governments are ultimately failing by inaction to change the school-by-school policies regarding the treatment of Roma students. The categorization of Roma as mentally-handicapped on an overarching level is of the greatest concerns for international human rights groups, as well as the segregation of students into Roma-only schools. Not only have these actions violated each nation state’s Constitutional laws, they have completely disregarded the Council of Europe and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Czech and Polish governments have made some efforts in improving the education rights to Roma but their work is unhurried due to minimal consequences against them if they do not comply with international standards. Though governments would feel the benefits of finally following their national and international laws, the greatest impact of changing the behavior towards Roma education rights would be seen within every classroom and every student who finally would be provided with equal standards for education they were given the right to by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, 60 years ago.
Bibliography
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