The Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic presented a national project to support desegregation of education of children from marginalized Roma communities. In the initial phase, it will monitor selected municipalities in the implementation of anti-segregation measures. The total budget of the national project is 6.9 million euros. Education Minister Tomáš Drucker (Hlas-SD) announced this at a press conference on Wednesday. The project is called Opportunity for All.
The project will result in model desegregation standards for each locality, which schools will be able to incorporate into their own school regulations. The Ministry is to prepare them by the end of the year.
The Ministry has also announced another national project, to be launched in 2025, which will focus on the inclusion of misclassified pupils in special schools with a diagnoses of mild intellectual disability. "What we want to do in this national project is that we want to re-diagnose children between the ages of six and ten – all children, no matter what their background, whether they are Roma or non-Roma," the minister explained. The incidence of diagnosed disabilities is five times higher among pupils from marginalised Roma communities.
Both projects are part of a broader effort by the Ministry of Education to integrate children from marginalised communities, while also responding to a European Commission lawsuit alleging a violation of the European directive on racial equality. They will be funded by the Slovakia Programme.
Source: TASR
