human rights

Roma Children Forced into Schools for Learning Disabled

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January 4, 2009

Jozef Vook, Director
Košice Regional School Authority
Zádielska 1
040 78 Košice
SLOVAKIA
 
Dear Director Vook:
 
I respectfully request your immediate attention and decisive action on behalf of mentally capable Romani children inappropriately placed in “special schools” for children with mental disabilities in Pavlovce nad Uhom in the Košice region.
 
Your Attention:  I respectfully urge your office of Košice Regional School Authority to ensure the following in Pavlovce nad Uhom and throughout the Košice region:
  •  An independent re-assessment of all students currently attending the special school
  • The swift integration of mentally capable students into the mainstream school
  • The distribution of reparations to students inappropriately placed in the special school
  • Appropriate measures against all employees who participated in the misplacement of capable Romani children

History:  Independent studies suggest that as many as 80% of children placed in special schools in Slovakia are Roma.
 
According to Amnesty International, nearly two-thirds of Romani children attending primary school in Pavlovce nad Uhom are unofficially segregated and placed in the special school.
 
Approximately 99.5% of the students assigned to the special school in Pavlovce nad Uhom are Roma.
   
General Issue:  Schools with learning levels and curricula aimed at children with mental disabilities provide substandard education for mentally capable children. Additionally, mentally capable students who graduate from such special schools are severely and unfairly limited in their pursuit of further education or employment.
 
Segregation of Romani children in special schools, which provide an inferior education to mentally capable children, constitutes discrimination and is prohibited.
 
Incorrectly assessing and denying an appropriate education to Roma children in Pavlovce nad Uhom also underscores the continuing discrimination and segregation faced by Romani people around the world.
 
A strong action by the Regional School Authority on behalf of Romani children in Pavlovce nad Uhom places your office, the region of Košice, and Slovakia in the unique position of leading a long overdue international movement to recognize Romani people everywhere and extend to them the justice and equality that all people deserve.
 
Thank you for your attention. I look forward to your response.
 

(Based on a template for one of 3 cases presented in January 2009 by Amnesty International Freedom Writers Network, a letter-writing campaign on behalf of people facing human rights abuses worldwide.)

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