{"id":765,"date":"2011-06-15T06:21:31","date_gmt":"2011-06-15T06:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/memorial.local:8888\/www\/765.html"},"modified":"2011-08-09T12:14:45","modified_gmt":"2011-08-09T12:14:45","slug":"discrimination-and-violation-of-roma-childrens-rights-in-schools-of-the-russian-federation-obstacles-to-roma-children-s-access-to-protection-mechanisms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/news\/breaking-news\/discrimination-and-violation-of-roma-childrens-rights-in-schools-of-the-russian-federation-obstacles-to-roma-children-s-access-to-protection-mechanisms\/","title":{"rendered":"Discrimination and Violation of Roma Children’s Rights in Schools of the Russian Federation: Obstacles to Roma Children\u2019s Access to Protection Mechanisms"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the occasion of the 13-20 May 2011 visit to the Russian Federation of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg,<\/strong> the NGO Anti-Discrimination Center Memorial (\u2018ADC Memorial\u2019) takes this opportunity to support all the statements and recommendations\u00a0of the Commissioner,\u00a0expressing his\u00a0continued\u00a0concern over\u00a0violation of Roma rights in Europe. We would like to present an update of our view\u00a0on\u00a0the situation of\u00a0Roma in Russia, focused on specific topic of<\/span><\/strong>Roma children\u2019s access to judicial protection<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since 2003<\/span> ADC Memorial has carried monitoring of Roma rights<\/span> in more than\u00a0100\u00a0Roma\u00a0settlements\u00a0throughout\u00a0Russia. Roma in Russia have faced discrimination in all areas of life, facing much lower life expectancy than those of non-Roma.\u00a0We pay particular attention to the protection of the rights of Roma children, especially the right to education. <\/span>Access to education is denied to Roma children from the isolated settlements all over Russia.<\/span>The children have been subjected to discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to education on the ground of their ethnic origin, being placed in segregated classes and schools<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Segregation practice in schools: <\/span><\/strong>this practice includes segregation in so-called \u2018special schools\u2019 for Roma, segregation in \u2018Roma classes\u2019, denial of enrolment in mainstream schools. Monitoring held by ADC Memorial has shown that\u00a0the segregation of Roma children in the form of separate classes and schools is widespread throughout in the Russian regions, often\u00a0actually\u00a0approved and\u00a0supported by\u00a0local authorities and\u00a0school\u00a0administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Roma pupils from \u2018Roma classes\u2019 are usually isolated from other students at the schools, are not permitted into the corridor or the bathroom.\u00a0Conditions\u00a0in the\u00a0“Roma\u00a0schools”\u00a0are also often worse than\u00a0in mainstream schools (discriminatory conditions in Roma schooling are thoroughly documented in the 2009 report \u2018Discrimination and Violation of Roma Children’s Rights In Schools of the Russian Federation\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.memorial.spb.ru\/www\/838.html?lang=en<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Low quality of education: <\/span><\/strong>whatever the particular form of separate schooling (special schools, \u2018Roma classes\u2019, \u2018Roma schools\u2019), the quality of education provided to Roma is extremely\u00a0low<\/strong> and not usually doesn\u2019t correspond to the official standards (e.g. many subjects\u00a0are usually simply excluded from the curriculum). <\/span><\/p>\n

This was verified and confirmed in an independent examination of the level of knowledge among Roma pupils<\/strong> that was carried out by ADC Memorial experts in Roma settlements in different regions of Russia: Tatarstan Republic<\/span>, Tambov<\/span>, Bryansk