[child-rights] Roma: Discrimination starts with primary education

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE 
AI Index: EUR 05/004/2006
16 November 2006 

Children do not come to school because they do not have clothes or a
sandwich to bring to school. 
A teacher in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina 

It is too crowded to do any work at home. 
A Romani child attending the Macinec primary school in Croatia 

Romani children are not interested in physics or mathematics; they
may learn Spanish, because they watch a lot of telenovelas. 
A teacher in an elementary school in the Dolenjska region, Slovenia 

Extreme poverty, discrimination in schools, and the lack of truly
inclusive and multicultural curricula prevent Romani children in Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia from enjoying their right to
education. Amnesty International’s latest report focuses on the
exclusion of Romani children from primary education in these three
countries and on the failure so far of the governments to address their
needs.

"The barriers Romani children face in accessing education deprive them of
the chance of fulfilling their true potential and perpetuate the
marginalization of Romani communities,” said Omer Fisher, Amnesty
International's researcher on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and
Slovenia.

"Tackling these barriers to education is the responsibility of
governments."

The rights to education and to be free from discrimination are enshrined
in international human rights law and in the constitutions of the three
countries featured in the report. Their governments have adopted special
programmes and action plans aimed at the inclusion of the Romani
population in education. However, governments and non-governmental
organizations alike admit that access to education for Romani children is
partial at best.

Free meals, textbooks and transportation are sometimes provided to Romani
children. But just getting to school can be impossible when the school is
too far to reach on foot and your clothes are not warm enough to cope with
a bitter winter. Children are often unable to study or do homework in
cold, overcrowded homes. As members of the Romani community in Slovenia
told Amnesty International, “Some of us live in huts. How can the
children do well at school?”

Romani children are in some cases discriminated against by their own
teachers. Sometimes, children are segregated into “Roma only”
groups or classes and are offered a reduced curriculum. Negative
stereotypes about the Roma’s “way of life” or attitude
towards education are often used to explain poor school attendance and
grades. Teachers at Macinec primary school in Croatia used the following
arguments in a court submission to explain their decision to segregate
Romani children: “Romani parents are frequently alcoholics, their
children are prone to stealing, cursing and fighting, and as soon as the
teachers turn their backs things go missing, usually insignificant and
useless objects, but the important thing is to steal”.

It is generally acknowledged by teachers, Romani children and parents,
that many of the difficulties Romani children encounter in primary schools
are due to linguistic barriers. Many Romani children have no or limited
command of the language spoken by the majority population. At present, the
languages spoken by Roma are virtually absent from schools of the three
countries, unlike other minority languages. Other measures that could help
overcoming language obstacles, such as improving access to pre-school
education for Romani children and the employment of suitably trained
Romani teaching assistants, have not been implemented in a systematic and
comprehensive way. Romani culture and history in general are not included
in a systematic way in curricula in the schools of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia and Slovenia.

“The authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia
must adopt an approach to the education of Romani children based on their
integration into a school system that adapts to their needs and
culture,” Omer Fisher said.

Amnesty International is calling for immediate action to confront
discrimination against Roma in schools by ensuring that no Romani children
are placed in special classes or groups simply because they are Roma, by
monitoring the composition of classes and, where needed, the activities of
teachers working with Roma, and by providing training to primary school
teachers aimed at eliminating negative stereotypes and prejudices.

Tackling obstacles in access to education which are the result of extreme
poverty, and including Romani language and culture in schools are parts of
a long-term process which should be aimed at the full inclusion of Romani
children in primary education.

"Romani children, like all other children, have the right to an education
that will empower them to take their place in and contribute to the
society of the country they live in," Omer Fisher said.

"It is the responsibility of the governments to break the vicious cycle of
illiteracy, poverty and marginalization and to integrate the most
vulnerable part of their populations."

See: 
False start: The exclusion of Romani children from primary education
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia (AI Index: EUR
05/002/2006) http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur050022006 
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Roma and the right to education Factsheet (AI
Index: EUR 63/014/2006)
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur630142006 
Croatia: The Roma and the right to education Factsheet (AI Index: EUR
64/001/2006) http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur640012006 
Slovenia: Roma and the right to education Factsheet (AI Index: EUR
68/002/2006) http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur680022006