Děti

Slovakia: Girl from impoverished Romani family wins race running in flats

8.9.2018 7:08 Annamárie Horváthová, a pupil from an impoverished Romani family, has drawn attention and expressions of sympathy from the public in Slovakia after winning a race in which, unlike her competitors, she was wearing just flats. A co-organizer of the competition has found a sponsor who has now given the girl new running shoes and socks.  full story

First-graders from Czech school subjected to racist attacks online receive tablets thanks to ROMEA's fundraising drive

2.7.2018 6:15 Children attending the primary school in Teplice that faced a wave of racist online commentaries in the autumn of 2017 were given tablets and other small gifts during the end-of-year celebration that were bought for them by the school with the proceeds from the ROMEA organization's fundraising campaign on their behalf. At last Thursday's celebration, graduating pupils were given a sash to wear and were accompanied by the first-graders in addition to their teachers during the ceremony.  full story

Czech region where evictions are underway keeps rejecting plans to subsidize lunches for impoverished schoolchildren

21.6.2018 11:20 News server iDNES.cz reports that the Ústecký Regional Assembly has refused to support a motion from its Regional Council to allocate regional finances to cover the costs of lunches at school for children from impoverished families. The assembly members were especially bothered by the fact that the financing was to have been distributed through a nonprofit organization.  full story

Czech trial of shooting at Romani music camp hears testimony about shooter's verbal abuse as well

23.5.2018 16:37 Court testimony by another eyewitness to the 2016 shooting incident at a summer camp continued yesterday at the District Court in Děčín. Martin Kout is accused of having fired a gun and racially abused those attending a children's camp in 2016.
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Slovakia: Two Romani children shot in Poprad, perpetrator not yet identified

16.5.2018 18:47 Slovak news server TVnoviny.sk reports that two children have ended up in hospital in Poprad, Slovakia after being shot last weekend. Police say a still-unidentified perpetrator fired an air pistol at them on the street in the Matejovec quarter of Poprad.  full story

Slovak appeals court says video of police abuse of Romani children must be admitted into evidence

7.5.2018 7:17 A Slovak appeals court has overturned a second first-instance court verdict acquitting all 10 current and former police officers last year of abusing Romani children at a police station in the east of the country. Their humiliation of the children happened in 2009 and was recorded by them using their mobile phones.  full story

Slovakia: Meet the Romani teacher who refused to grade racist essays

14.4.2018 10:50 "I don't feel like an alien or an exotic person who significantly differs from everybody else," says Alexandra Berkyová. The young Romani woman used to work in education and says she has rarely encountered racist abuse personally.  full story

Professor Iulius Rostas about school segregation: "Bad not only for Roma children, but for the whole society"

9.4.2018 11:43 Professor Iulius Rostas participated in a panel called the "Rights of the Roma Child: The Struggle to Combat School Segregation in the EU" during the European Conference hosted by the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and the Sloan School of Management at MIT. There was discussion about the costs of Roma school segregation, the current EU and national policies towards the topic, and the role of national and local governments.  full story

Romani children from choir whose summer camp was shot at write to Czech PM, Police, seeking apology

6.4.2018 15:51 Romani children from the Čhavorenge choral ensemble led by Ida Kelarová have written a letter to the Czech Police and to Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in which they remind them of the incident they experienced during the summer of 2016 and the fact the Czech Police have not yet apologized to them for their response. "In August 2016 we were at the Romano drom summer school for the arts. As we returned from a treasure hunt, a gentlemen ran out of his house shouting racist abuse at us. He then fired a weapon. It was absolutely close by. We were all terrified. We were afraid somebody would assault us. There were some very young children among us," the children's letter reads.  full story

Slovakia: Second Romani schoolchild dies after February car accident

23.3.2018 15:26 A tragic car accident that happened in February near Poprad, Slovakia in the village of Spišské Bystré has now claimed its second victim at the hospital in Martin. One week after the accident a 12-year-old girl named Vanesa succumbed to her injuries there, and now her 14-year-old sister Alžběta has succumbed to her own injuries as well.  full story

Live online press conference 11 AM TODAY: Czech school targeted by racists hosts fundraisers from "THEY WANT TO GAS THEM, WE WANT TO SEND THEM TO SCHOOL!"

7.2.2018 9:23 A press conference announcing the results of the fundraising campaign by ROMEA called "THEY WANT TO GAS THEM, WE WANT TO SEND THEM TO SCHOOL!", which immediately responded to the wave of online hatred and racism last year against first-graders at a primary school in Teplice, Czech Republic will be broadcast live online today at 11 AM. The press conference will feature a discussion and the delivery of the money raised and will take place at the school itself on Plynárenská Street. The press conference will feature a discussion of the issues involved, the delivery of the money raised, and will take place at the school itself on Plynárenská Street.  full story

Czech Police investigating three suspects over death threats against first-graders

31.1.2018 8:23 Czech Television reports that the Czech Police have begun to investigate three suspects whom they believe were involved with the case of the death threats and hateful commentaries made online in response to a photograph of the children in a first-grade class at the Plynárenská Primary School in Teplice. Charges have yet to be filed in relation to the incident.  full story

New Czech Education Minister to focus on which diagnoses do not necessitate inclusive education

17.1.2018 6:32 The new Czech Education Minister, Robert Plaga, says that because educating children together inclusively concerns tens of thousands of children in the Czech Republic, he does not intend to cancel the recently-introduced programs designed for that approach. "It makes sense to discuss to what degree those children should be provided support, or, for example, how to most effectively get them the support they need," he said in an interview for news server iHNED.cz.  full story

Czech pro-Kremlin disinformation Facebook page sparks wave of racist, vulgar comments about non-white infant

13.1.2018 11:04 News server Aktuálně.cz reports that police in Třinec, Czech Republic are investigating racist comments made online against a male infant whose parents have Czech-Vietnamese and Kurdish roots. The commentaries were posted to the xenophobic Facebook page WeAreHereAtHome, which has renamed itself Zprávy.cz and purports to publish serious news reporting.  full story

Czech EdMin says number of Romani children educated according to reduced standards has not changed in three years

7.1.2018 17:17 The number of Romani children who are educated according to reduced standards has almost not changed at all during the last three years. Almost every eighth Romani child in primary school is learning according to the curriculum for schoolchildren with mild mental disability.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani children's grades improve after joining floorball teams

3.1.2018 10:23 Last week the Czech daily Mostecký deník reported that Romani children attending a primary school that serves the Chánov housing estate have begun to dedicate themselves to the sport of floorball. They play after school twice a week.  full story

Greek court sentences woman who kicked Romani girl on the street to three months in prison

3.1.2018 7:12 News server Keep Talking Greece reports that a woman who assaulted a young Romani girl on the streets of Athens four years ago has finally been convicted and sentenced to three months behind bars. The incident happened on 17 September 2013 when the woman saw the seven-year-old sit down on the sidewalk of Dionisiou Aeropagitoy Street, which leads to the Acropolis, and begin playing the accordion.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani businesspeople raise funds to support visually impaired children

27.12.2017 6:40 Robert Tonelli has repeated last year's initiative and organized a Christmas charity event sponsored by several Romani entrepreneurs and tradespeople. This year's proceeds were donated to children at the Visual Impairment Clinic in Dvůr Králové nad Labem.  full story

Czech Republic: Families of children targeted with online hate spend Christmas in the mountains thanks to generous donor

26.12.2017 9:17 Children attending the Plynárenská Primary School in Teplice, Czech Republic are spending Christmas together with their families in the Krkonoše Mountains this year after hotelier Alexandr Bílek offered them a free stay in the resort town of Špindlerův Mlýn. The businessman decided to organize the gift because he disagrees with the racist attacks committed online against the children and their parents, and he wanted to make the situation more pleasant for them.  full story

Czech sociologist: We must face down xenophobia by supporting those who are intimidated

30.11.2017 9:30 Former Czech MP Ivan Gabal, who is also a well-known sociologist, has been interviewed by the Czech online broadcaster DVTV, describing to reporter Martin Veselovský why he decided to initiate the fundraising drive in support of the Romani and other children at a school in Teplice who were recently attacked online - "THEY WANT TO GAS THEM, WE WANT TO SEND THEM TO SCHOOL!" ("ONI JE DO PLYNU. MY JE DO ŠKOL!"). In his view it is important to support children and their parents when they become the targets of xenophobic attacks.  full story