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National law prescribes that every placement of a child to a practical school or to a special class for pupils with “mild mental disabilities” is based on a recommendation by a school advisory centre, following a psychological and educational assessment of the child. However, assessments of Romani children fail to take into account cultural and linguistic differences. Discriminatory attitudes by staff carrying out the assessments often influence the process, disadvantaging Romani children.
National law prescribes that every placement of a child to a practical school or to a special class for pupils with “mild mental disabilities” is based on a recommendation by a school advisory centre, following a psychological and educational assessment of the child. However, assessments of Romani children fail to take into account cultural and linguistic differences. Discriminatory attitudes by staff carrying out the assessments often influence the process, disadvantaging Romani children.
Parents must give their consent in order for their child to be placed at a practical elementary school. However, their consent is often not backed up with enough information about what it means for a child to be placed at a practical school and for their future prospects. Finally, parents often agree to place their children into those effectively “Roma schools”, in order to protect them from discrimination by teachers and peers in mainstream schools.
In comparison with mainstream elementary schools, pupils of practical schools acquire only shallow knowledge of the curriculum. For example, while in mainstream schools pupils normally learn the alphabet and how to count up to one hundred at first grade, pupils of the same grade in some practical elementary schools are only taught to count up to ten, and are taught the alphabet over two years. Inferior education limits Romani children’s future educational and employment opportunities.