In 2009, 20 years will have passed
\nsince the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United
\nNations.\u00a0 This anniversary provides us with a wonderful excuse
\nto turn our attention to the problem of children\u2019s rights, including
\nthe rights of schoolchildren-those children who are attending elementary
\nschool, middle school, and high school.\u00a0 Indeed, it is this very
\nConvention which guarantees the right of all children to an education,
\nregardless of nationality, citizenship, status, or social position.
\nThe Convention also protects children from any and all forms of discrimination.
\nUnfortunately, the problem of discrimination against children in the
\nsphere of education is still acute, even 20 years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is important to say that, at least
\nformally, discrimination is almost always condemned and almost always
\nconsidered unacceptable.\u00a0 Many countries, including Russia, have
\nratified the European Convention, the UN Convention on the Elimination
\nof All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the European Framework Convention
\nfor the Protection of National Minorities; each of these international
\ndocuments condemns discrimination, both direct and indirect.\u00a0 But
\nin practice, schoolchildren often find themselves treated unequally,
\nsome receiving instruction that is much worse than that which is received
\nby the majority.\u00a0 The quality of education received by children
\ngoing to school from compact Roma settlements is particularly unsettling.
\nThe schools that these children attend are frequently in no condition
\nto provide a quality education to children who have not had any preparation
\nin pre-school and who, moreover, have poor mastery over the Russian
\nlanguage (speaking at home in the Roma language, the children begin
\ntheir education in Russian as if, for all intents and purposes, in a
\ncompletely foreign language).\u00a0 For this to be resolved, in order
\nto help such children reap all of the benefits of their school programs,
\nadditional time and effort on the part of teachers are necessary, as
\nare good teaching methodology and high-quality textbooks.\u00a0 Unfortunately,
\nas a rule, none of these are provided.\u00a0 These schools often lack
\neven the specialists that are necessary for all children in all schools,
\nincluding speech therapists, psychologists, and social workers, whose
\nhelp would be particularly valuable in the preparation of children with
\na different language and culture.\u00a0 No methodological support is
\noffered to teachers in multi-ethnic schools.\u00a0 In effect, these
\nteachers find themselves in the difficult position of having to teach
\nthemselves how to educate and integrate children whose language, culture,
\nand way of life are, even to the teachers themselves, an intimidating
\npuzzle.<\/p>\n
As a result, teachers in such schools
\noften seek out ways to lighten the burden that has been placed upon
\nthem, and in so doing often make completely inexcusable mistakes.
\nIn one school in Vladimir Region they have tried to even refuse to educate
\nRoma children, and in response to our question, “don\u2019t all children
\nneed an education?” the teachers confidently answered, “Roma parents
\neducate their children according to their own system.\u00a0 Their Roma
\nsystem of education is much better than ours.”\u00a0 Roma parents,
\nof course, have never heard of any such system, and they had a hearty
\nlaugh upon hearing what these teachers came up with.<\/p>\n
In many schools children from Roma
\nsettlements are put into separate classes or even separate buildings,
\nwhich the teachers and administrators explain by saying that under such
\nconditions the instruction of Roma children is much easier, and, furthermore,
\nthe Roma themselves are more comfortable this way-they do not have
\nto wake up early, and the lessons can start later (“on the request
\nof the parents”).\u00a0 In reality, such “favors” have a terrible
\neffect on the quality of education received by Roma children, and the
\nsegregation of children into separate classes only strengthens the mutual
\nprejudices of both Russian and Roma children and parents, which in itself
\nfacilitates future segregation, leading to more discrimination and more
\ninter-ethnic tension.\u00a0 Instead of school becoming a place in which
\nchildren of various cultures can meet one another, a place where these
\nchildren can learn to understand and love one another, help one another
\nmaster a single language, become more closely acquainted with new things,
\nit becomes a veritable “reservation,” a place where people of different
\nethnic groups are kept separate.\u00a0 Instead of giving those students
\nwho have had less preparation additional instruction, a more intense
\nprogram, they are offered easier classes and are presented with lowered
\nexpectations.\u00a0 All of this leads to Roma children, who have somehow
\nfinished their elementary education, being much less prepared to move
\non to middle school than non-Roma students of the same age group who
\nstudied in standard classes.\u00a0 Many Roma completely drop out of
\nschool, and those who decide to continue on to the fifth grade are offered,
\nonce again, some kind of simplified program or individual lessons.<\/p>\n
In other words, instead of additional
\nefforts being made by the educators to make up for what was missed by
\nthe Roma children, these children are stuck with an education of exceedingly
\nlow quality.<\/p>\n
Blaming the teachers alone would be,
\nof course, unfair. The responsibility for the quality of education,
\nfor the fostering of a non-discriminatory attitude towards all children,
\nand for the offering of equal opportunities to all lies first and foremost
\nwith the government.\u00a0 Certainly, it is harder for teachers to work
\nwith children who have not attended pre-school, who have been raised
\nusing a language that the teachers themselves do not understand, in
\nanother culture.\u00a0 But because of this, these teachers need to be
\noffered additional help and support and payment for additional working
\nhours; specialists need to be attracted; better textbooks must be prepared.
\nAll of this demands attention and funding.\u00a0 And before any improvements
\ncan be made, the existence of such a problem must be recognized; the
\nproblem must be studied; and a unified, adequate resolution must be
\ndeveloped.\u00a0 But for now, those government bureaucrats who are responsible
\nfor education often announce without giving the matter any particular
\nthought:\u00a0 “No need to look for any discrimination here. There
\nis not and could never be any such thing.\u00a0 We, on the contrary,
\nfoster all of the necessary conditions, allow the teachers to work a
\nsecond shift, provide for the creation of classes offering compensatory
\ninstruction…”<\/p>\n
It is not clear when instruction by
\nteachers working a second shift began to be considered a privilege,
\nor when a weakened educational program began to be considered a solution
\nfor those children who are in fact capable, just not properly prepared.
\nTo the objection that a more robust system of instruction is necessary
\nfor such children, one hears the response that “everything should
\nbe equal; we should not offer supplementary assistance for any one group;
\nall are equal under the law.”<\/p>\n
An impression inevitably arises that
\nall of these measures have been devised only to simplify the lives of
\nthe teachers, to lighten the burden of responsibility for the instruction
\nof children, not in order to truly overcome the difficulties that arise
\nwhen educating children with another language and different background.
\nMoreover, it is absurd to rely on voluntary acts of good will in order
\nto help children for whom, because of life circumstances, studying in
\nschool is more difficult; it should be the responsibility