TODAY! Livestream of discussion about segregation of Romani children after "Europe: Which Children Matter" screens in Ostrava

On Friday, 17 November at the PANT studio in Ostrava the documentary film “Europe: Which Children Matter?” will screen at 16:00, followed at 17:30 by a discussion with human rights activist Gwendolyn Albert, director Jenne Magno, activist Edita Stejskalová and other guests about the inclusion of Romani children into mainstream schools. News server Romea.cz will LIVESTREAM THE FOLLOWING DEBATE.

In the Czech Republic, Romani children have been recommended for assignment into segregated “special schools” for the mentally disabled for generations irrespective of their actual ability. In November 2007, the European Court of Human Rights found that the Czech Republic had illegally, indirectly discriminated against such children and had therefore violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

Because not much has changed since then, the European Commission has recently filed an infringement proceedings against the Czech Republic (and Hungary, and Slovakia) for violating their obligations with respect to protecting Romani children from being discriminated against in their access to education. In this film, you will meet Czech and Slovak Romani children who have emigrated to Great Britain along with their families.

These children, some of whom were labeled ineducable by their native countries, have now successfully achieved educations in their new schools, in a foreign language, and in the non-discriminatory environment of Great Britain. You will also meet children in the Czech context who today are studying at a school where prejudices of the “us vs. them” type are being broken down, and where the limits of what is possible are being redefined.

The trailer for the film is here. For further information about the film, please use this contact form.