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Czech Republic continues to discriminate despite Strasbourg verdict

22 October 2012
3 minute read

Yesterday in Prague a round table was held on the occasion of the third anniversary of the European Court for Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment which found the Czech Republic guilty of discriminating against Roma children in their access to education. The aim of the discussion, which was attended by representatives of various ministries, state institutions and nonprofit organizations, was to summarize the current situation and to highlight key measures which must be adopted without delay.

The representatives of nonprofit organizations find that 21 years after the events of November 1989, the Czech Republic has still not advanced far enough along the path to democracy to be able to guarantee such a fundamental human right as the right to education. Discriminatory conditions persist with respect to Roma children (and others) in their access to education. The institutions responsible have not made sufficient efforts to integrate vulnerable groups of children into mainstream elementary education. The nonprofits also point out that there does exist a handful of schools throughout the country which, despite the minimal financial and systemic support available to them, are open to all children irrespective of their backgrounds.

“It is very sad that during the past 20 years the Education Ministry has taken no fundamental steps toward integrating disadvantaged children into mainstream elementary schools,” says Robert Basch, director of Open Society Fund Prague. “We initiated today’s round table to point out the breadth and seriousness of the problem as a whole and to try to find a common path toward prohibiting discrimination in access to education.” The round table, organized by Open Society Fund Prague and the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, featured discussions between representatives of various ministries (Labor and Social Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Justice), the Office of the Public Defender of Rights (the ombudsman), the Czech School Inspection Authority, the Agency for Social Inclusion, Klára Laurenčíková (former Deputy Minister and adviser to the Education Minister), and representatives of nonprofit organizations. The Education Ministry was also invited; despite several requests for a response and a personal invitation having been extended to Deputy Minister Ladislav Němec, no one from the Education Ministry attended, which confirms the ministry’s overall lack of interest in this issue.

Today’s discussion showed that even though the ECtHR judgment requires changes be enacted by the Education Ministry in particular, a coordinated response to the issue is needed from other ministries as well. However, the government’s recent plans reveal an effort to delay the implementation of corrective measures until after the next elections, when it will once again become unclear who might bear political responsibility for them. Moreover, the current disparaging stance of the Education Ministry on this issue, bordering on aversion, prompts the concern that the eventual implementation of any measures prior to the next elections will probably comply with the country’s international obligations only formally and will not constitute a genuine effort to eliminate discrimination.

The representatives of nonprofit organizations, therefore, call on Czech PM Petr Nečas to take a clear stand on the implementation of anti-discrimination measures in education and to guarantee that specific steps will be taken within a specific time frame. All of the systemic measures proposed by the Education Ministry for the elimination of discriminatory practices since 2008 have gradually been halted and their fate is very unclear. The organizational and personnel changes which the Education Ministry has undergone since the elections in May do not indicate that the leadership of the ministry believes the prevention of discrimination is in its interest.

The delay in the implementation of already-designed measures such as the National Action Plan for Inclusive Education and the amendments to Decrees 72 and 73/2005 Coll. will not just mean more discrimination against and segregation of vulnerable groups of children, but might also be perceived as a failure to fulfill obligations flowing from the European Court of Human Rights judgment. On 30 November 2010 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will meet to review the measures taken by the Government of the Czech Republic to combat the discrimination of children in education in relation to that judgment.

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