{"id":1410,"date":"2014-03-07T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-07T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/07-03-2014-segregation-of-rroma-children-in-hungary-and-slovakia\/"},"modified":"2022-08-04T11:48:30","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T10:48:30","slug":"07-03-2014-segregation-of-rroma-children-in-hungary-and-slovakia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/07-03-2014-segregation-of-rroma-children-in-hungary-and-slovakia\/","title":{"rendered":"07.03.2014 Segregation of Rroma-children in Hungary and Slovakia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thorpe (2014) reports on \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ta court ruling that concerns a segregated school in Nyiregyhaza, in north-eastern \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHungary. Human rights activists filed suit against the school run by the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGreek-Catholic church, as it taught almost exclusively Rroma children. The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tschool was already closed in 2007, in the course of desegregation plans and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthen reopened in 2011: \u201cThe Chance for \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChildren Foundation, a Hungarian organisation that campaigns for Roma education \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trights, then sued both the Church and the Hungarian state for introducing \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsegregation. The judge ruled on Friday that the current functioning of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tschool violates both Hungarian laws on equal opportunity, and Council of Europe \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trecommendations.\u201d <\/em>The judgment could affect many other schools in Hungary, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhich also have a high proportion of Rroma children. \u2013 Consciously segregated \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tschools have to be firmly opposed, because they promote the exclusion of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma and impede successful integration. However, schools that have a high \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tproportion of Rroma children because of mere geographical reasons, should be assessed \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcarefully when deciding over a closure.<\/p>\n

Springer (2014) reports \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ton the segregation of Rroma children in Slovakia. In the northwest of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcountry, in the village \u0160ari\u0161sk\u00e9 Micha\u013eany, a new headmaster Jaroslav Valastiak \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttook office one year ago. Valastiak was hired in response to a court decision that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis hopefully a\u00a0 precedent, which \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcalled for the abolition of segregation at the local school. It is astonishing \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat segregation hasn\u2019t decreased but actually increased significantly since \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe early 1990s, to today’s estimated 40% of the Rroma-children: \u201cBefore Valastiak started, Roma students \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tweren\u2019t allowed in the school\u2019s cafeteria. They received a cold, dry \u2018lunch\u2019 of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcereal and juice before school each morning, while non-Roma students ate \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfreshly served hot meals in the lunchroom at noon. Before the court ruling Roma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand non-Roma students spent recess in segregated yards and were taught in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tseparate classes, on different floors of the school. Valastiak says non-Roma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstudents received more thorough lessons, while Roma classes were rudimentary.\u201d<\/em> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn response to the court ruling, sixteen of the best Rroma students were \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegrated into the non-Rroma classes. Reasons for the gradual mixing and not \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe complete abolition of the segregation are the sometimes inadequate Slovakian \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlanguage skills of Rroma children, the headmaster states. He wants the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdesegregation to be successful, therefore it has to take place gradually, he \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstates. Another problem for the desegregation lies in the regulation allowing \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tparents to choose the school regardless of where they live. This leads to an \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tadditional separation of ethnic Slovaks and Rroma.<\/p>\n