In the beginning, the ADC “Memorial”
\nproject “Legal Assistance for Settlements of Caldarari Roma in Russia”
\nprimarily offered legal support to those experiencing difficulties with
\nrespect to housing.\u00a0 Over time, however, more and more attention
\nhas come to be paid to the problem of primary education for Roma children.
\nUnfortunately, few school-age children in compact Roma settlements have
\nthe opportunity to study in school on an equal footing with their peers.
\nMoreover, this is often related not to a lack of desire on the part
\nof the parents to send their children to school, but to various obstacles
\nthat require legal attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Problems can arise at the very moment For those children who are, in the On November 13, 2007, the Grand Chamber Unfortunately, the Czech Republic is On June 5, 2008, the European Court Segregated classes or schools for Roma In order to change the situation, legal Despite all of the difficulties that In the village Nizhnie Viazovye (Tatarstan), Meanwhile, European and world standards the term “discrimination” includes (a) Of depriving any person or group of persons of access to education (b) Of limiting any person or group of persons to education of an inferior (c) Subject to the provisions of Article 2 of this Convention, of establishing (d) Of inflicting on any person or group of persons conditions which Moreover, the creation of separate The participant states are also obliged The UN Committee on the Elimination
\nof school registration:\u00a0 frequently children are not allowed to
\nattend school because their parents do not have official registration
\nof permanent residence.\u00a0 This is unacceptable:\u00a0 according
\nto information from a representative of the Ministry of Education and
\nScience of the Russian Federation, Tatiana Petrova, presented at the
\n73rd<\/sup> Session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial
\nDiscrimination, the Ministry sent a clarification to schools that they
\ndo not have the right to demand that parents present residency documentation
\nor documentation concerning citizenship status upon the registration
\nof a child into an institution of primary education.\u00a0 This rule
\nalso applies to foreign citizens.\u00a0 Nevertheless, instances in which
\nchildren do not attend school because their parents do not have registration
\nof permanent residence are common in compact Roma settlements such as
\nthose in Ivanovo, Cheliabinsk, and Vladimir Region.<\/p>\n
\nend, allowed to attend school, then over the course of their education
\na series of other unpleasant surprises might await them.\u00a0 There
\nare well-known cases in which Roma children are placed into special
\nclasses of compensatory education for children who are lagging behind
\nand are not competent to study according to the standard school program.
\nThis is frequently related to the fact that upon entering school, many
\nRoma children, as might be expected, do not know Russian well.
\nMoreover, another reason Roma children are commonly segregated into
\nspecial classes is the desire of many non-Roma parents to have their
\nchildren study apart from Roma children:\u00a0 this is not at all acceptable,
\nas was recently made clear by a decision of the European Court of Human
\nRights.<\/p>\n
\nof the European Court of Human Rights determined that in the case of
\n“D. H. and Others v. the Czech Republic” a violation of Article
\n14 (the article on discrimination) of the European Convention for the
\nProtection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and Protocol 1,
\nArticle 2 of the Convention (the right to education) had occurred.
\nThe placement of Roma children in special classes for those experiencing
\ndifficulties in their studies was found to be disproportionate:
\nthe European Roma Rights Center showed the court that the likelihood
\nthat Roma students be placed in special schools was 27 times higher
\nthan that for students of other nationalities with the same background.<\/p>\n
\nnot an exception.\u00a0 We recently discovered that in the village of
\nKosaia Gora (Tula), on the basis of the results of examinations carried
\nout by a medical and psychological commission, 42 Roma first-graders
\nwere put into a special class.\u00a0 As it turns out, not one Roma child
\npassed the test, and each was found to have “a low level of development
\nin the cognitive sphere” and poor preparation for school.\u00a0 Not
\nlong ago the Roma residents of Kosaia Gora in Tula Region informed us
\nthat their children were dismissed from school due to truancy. Of course,
\nthere are many reasons why Roma children are unable to attend school;
\nfirst and foremost, as was already mentioned, lack of attendance is
\nrelated to poverty among the families.\u00a0 However, in ordinary circumstances,
\nany child who has not been able to successfully complete a grade or
\nwho has missed classes is allowed to re-take the same grade again in
\norder to make up lost material, but children from the Roma settlement
\nwere deprived of this right.\u00a0 This situation is reminiscent of
\nthe situation in the Czech Republic, and now, on the basis of the decision
\nof the European Court of Human Rights, petitioners should be able to
\ncontest the commission\u2019s unfair decision to segregate the Roma children.<\/p>\n
\nmade a decision on the case “Sampanis and Others v. Greece,” in
\nwhich a violation of the right of Roma children to an education was
\nalso found.\u00a0 For a second time, the Court found a violation of
\nArticle 14 of the Convention and of Protocol 1, Article 2 of the Convention.
\nIn this instance, children had missed a year of elementary education
\nas a result of difficulties in the admittance process, after which they
\nwere placed in preparatory classes, located in a separate building.
\nThe court did not see any clear criteria for the separation of the children
\nand emphasized that although some of the children actually did need
\nthe additional help offered in the preparatory classes, the placement
\ninto such classes should not take place on discriminatory basis.
\nIt does happen that Roma parents themselves prefer that their children
\nbe placed into special classes or schools.\u00a0 For instance, in Chudovo,
\nseveral families did not contest their children\u2019s placement into a
\nschool for those who had fallen behind because they were satisfied with
\nthe conditions in that school.\u00a0 It is, indeed, possible to understand
\nwhere the parents were coming from:\u00a0 free lunches are no small
\nincentive to poor Roma families.\u00a0 In the Czech case, the parents
\nalso agreed to their children\u2019s placement into special schools.
\nHowever, the European Court for Human Rights found that the behavior
\nof parents cannot infringe upon the right of their children to an education
\nand that the government must, by law, protect the children\u2019s rights.
\nThe parents\u2019 consent to have their children study in separate facilities
\ncannot, in such instances, have any power.\u00a0 Moreover, the Roma
\nparents in the case “D. H. and Others” as well as many other Roma
\nparents in the various countries of Europe simply do not have sufficient
\ninformation about what it actually means to be placed into “special
\nschools.”\u00a0 Because the parents themselves are not very educated,
\nthey are not aware of the consequences and risks that come out of such
\nsegregated instruction; they do not realize that they are allowed to
\nappeal the results of the testing that puts their children into special
\nschools, and they do not know that alternative forms of education would
\nalso be possible.\u00a0 The result is a vicious circle:\u00a0 because
\nthe Roma parents are not sufficiently educated, they do not understand
\nthat they are within their rights to protect their children\u2019s right
\nto receive the education that is necessary for every modern person.
\nAnd the powers that be often take advantage of this.<\/p>\n
\nchildren are common.\u00a0 For instance, in the village Kalinichi in
\nTambov Region there is a school in which children of the local Caldarari
\nRoma and Yazidi Kurds study.\u00a0 The building has been in a dangerous
\nstate of disrepair for a long time and is in no condition to be the
\nplace of instruction of children.\u00a0 However, the school continues
\nto serve 65 students studying at the elementary school level.<\/p>\n
\nsupport for the parents was arranged, so that they might represent the
\ninterests of their children.\u00a0 These parents are being assisted
\nby the lawyer Valentina Shaisipova.\u00a0 However, even this legal assistance
\nhas not helped to initiate a dialogue with the local authorities:
\nthe lawyer\u2019s questions were not answered within the designated deadline,
\nand all efforts to meet with the head of the administration of the Tambov
\nRegion, V. F. Semchenko, were rejected.\u00a0 With the help of their
\nlawyer, the parents turned to the court; however, here too the parents
\nran into difficulties.\u00a0 The petitioners were asked to present their
\ncomplaint at an arbitration court because the regular court decided
\nthat the case was related only to economic questions, namely school
\nrepairs, demanding significant funding.\u00a0 Currently, the Roma parents\u2019
\npetition regarding the inactivity of the local authorities (of the province
\nand municipality) have again been filed with the district court and
\nwill shortly be reviewed.<\/p>\n
\nthe lawyer and petitioners have faced, their actions have nevertheless
\nhad some effect on the attitude of the local authorities to the education
\nof Roma children:\u00a0 in the fall of 2008, a school bus was arranged
\nto take junior high and high school students to a school in the village
\nof Kuz\u2019mina Gat\u2019.\u00a0 Unfortunately, many families, because of
\ntheir relative poverty, were unable to provide their children with the
\nnecessary school clothes or even with any warm clothes at all.
\nTherefore, in the winter the number of schoolchildren in Kuz\u2019mina
\nGat\u2019 drops dramatically:\u00a0 only 9-10 children ride on the bus
\nto school.\u00a0 It is not surprising that these children, after attending
\nRoma elementary school, are not as well-prepared for the upper-level
\ngrades as the non-Roma children in their age group who studied in regular
\nschools.\u00a0 But the very fact that these Roma children had the opportunity
\nto continue their education after fourth grade, and, moreover, in classes
\nwith non-Roma children, offers some hope that the situation with the
\neducation of Roma children in Tambov Region has begun to take a turn
\nfor the better.<\/p>\n
\nfor example, Roma children study in the regular village school, but
\nchildren of all ages and levels of preparation sit in a single, separate
\nclass.\u00a0 They are taught the same subjects as the other students,
\nand are even presented with a multi-level program, for each student
\nfrom all four grades.\u00a0 After elementary school, it would seem,
\nnothing should prevent these Roma children from moving on to the fifth
\ngrade.\u00a0 Indeed, it did happen that a Roma boy continued on to fifth
\ngrade, entering the class with non-Roma children, but then after just
\na few months, he dropped out and returned to the Roma class.\u00a0 As
\nit turns out, it is not just the general level of preparation that plays
\na role in the segregation of the Roma children, but also the attitude
\nin the school with regard to Roma students.\u00a0 Although the administration
\nof the school points to the lack of desire of the Roma parents themselves
\nto send their children into the regular classes, from our conversations
\nwith the Roma in the Roma community, the actual reason is completely
\ndifferent:\u00a0 “Russian children receive an all-around better education
\nbecause after completing the first grade, Russian children move on to
\nthe second grade, whereas Roma children are taught for four years all
\nin one class,” the local Roma explain.\u00a0 In addition to being
\nsegregated into a special class, the Roma children are also not allowed
\n(or allowed only with great difficulty) to use the school bathrooms,
\nwhich not only insults their human dignity, but also potentially threatens
\ntheir health, inasmuch as the children are forced to go out to the street
\neven in winter.<\/p>\n
\nfor education do not allow for segregation in schools or other educational
\nfacilities. In 1960, UNESCO adopted its Convention against Discrimination
\nin Education.\u00a0 Article 1 of the Convention defines “discrimination”
\nin the following way:<\/p>\n
\nany distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference which, being based
\non race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
\nnational or social origin, economic condition or birth, has the purpose
\nor effect of nullifying or impairing equality of treatment in education
\nand in particular:<\/p>\n
\nof any type or at any level;<\/p>\n
\nstandard;<\/p>\n
\nor maintaining separate educational systems or institutions for persons
\nor groups of persons; or<\/p>\n
\nare in-compatible with the dignity of man.<\/p>\n
\neducational facilities on the basis of language is considered admissible
\nand justifiable only when such education is offered in accordance “with
\nthe wishes of the pupil\u2019s parents or legal guardians, if participation
\nin such systems or attendance at such institutions is optional and if
\nthe education provided conforms to such standards as may be laid down
\nor approved by the competent authorities, in particular for education
\nof the same level” (Article 2, b).<\/p>\n
\nto “ensure, by legislation where necessary, that there is no discrimination
\nin the admission of pupils to educational institutions” (Article 3,
\nb).<\/p>\n
\nof Racial Discrimination (CERD)\u2019s General Recommendation XXVII (http:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/refworld\/type,GENERAL,CERD,,45139d4f4,0.html