The European Commission has brought a lawsuit against Slovakia on Wednesday at the Court of Justice of the European Union because it does not effectively address the issue of segregation of Roma children in education. The Commission pointed out that EU rules on racial equality (directive as of 2000) strictly prohibit discrimination based on ethnic origin in key areas of life, including education. In Slovakia, however, Roma children are often placed in special schools for pupils with mild mental disabilities. And even many Roma children who are involved in mainstream education are often segregated in separate classes or schools.
Discrimination against Roma children in education in Slovakia is a long lasting problem. This was recently confirmed by a survey on Roma conducted by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). In Slovakia, 65 percent of Roma students between the ages of 6 and 15 attend schools where all or most of the pupils are Roma. Compared to 2016, this represents an increase of five percentage points. Slovakia is thus the EU member state with the highest rate of segregation of Roma in education.
Back in 2015, the Commission initiated a legal procedure against Slovakia in case of non-fulfilment of obligations, and in 2019, as a next step, it sent a reasoned opinion. According to the Commission, since then, Slovakia has carried out several legislative reforms and adopted several strategies and action plans to support the inclusion of Roma in education. However, after a thorough assessment of these measures and monitoring the situation on the spot, the Commission concluded that these reforms are insufficient.
In response to the decision of the European Commission, the Slovak Education Ministry pointed out that it does not yet have a notification about the lawsuit, so it does not even know its content. Government Proxy for Roma Communities Jan Hero claimed on Wednesday that the office he leads has been drawing attention to the need of applying equal access to education in schools for many years. According to Jan Hero, equal access to education is an issue that Slovakia didn't address in an adequate and systemic fashion before, however, he pointed out several measures that have been introduced into effect since 2020.
Interim Prime Minister Eduard Heger stressed that the Commission praised the current leadership of the state for the steps taken in this area. "They're well aware that it isn't possible to solve it right away as well as the fact that the pandemic and the energy crisis, which we had to face, also entered the intensity of our addressing the issue. But I understand that even so, given the situation, they must have a critical attitude," added the interim premier.
Source: TASR
