The elementary school in the Slovak village of Šarisské Michaľany in the Prešov region must desegregate Roma classes as ordered by a court decision communicated earlier this month, said Amnesty International and the Slovak non-governmental organization (NGO) Center for Civil and Human Rights. 

On 7-8 December Amnesty International ran a stall at the Annual Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) conference in Brussels, which focussed on particularly vulnerable children and delivering child-friendly justice in the European Union.

Amnesty International calls on governments in Europe to end unequal and separate education for Roma children.

Sabrina started school in 1998, when she was six years old. She was not treated the same as other children in her class. Her teacher never involved Sabrina in activities and never asked her any questions. She just used to sit in the corner while other children were busy with schoolwork. Her mother was then told that Sabrina must change to a special school for children with "mild mental disabilities". She was never properly tested for learning disabilities.

In Slovakia, huge numbers of Romani children are denied the right to education free from discrimination. They are placed in "special schools" or classes for children with mental disabilities, or they are segregated in mainstream Roma-only schools or classes. In both cases they study a lower curriculum in virtual isolation from other pupils.

Amnesty International has warned that establishing boarding schools for Romani children “and gradually detach[ing] them from the way of living they currently experience in the settlements“ is discriminatory and a blatant attack on the Roma way of living.

The Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said today that the government proposes a system, in which Romani children will be taken from settlements and be placed in boarding schools.