Hindus Want Probe Into Segregation Of Gypsy Children In Czech And Slovak Schools

Hindus have demanded thorough probe into the reportedly disproportionate number of Roma (Gypsy) children placed in special schools for mentally disabled in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

According to a release of Equality, a registered charity in England and Wales: “In the Czech Republic, Slovakia and some other new EU Member States, Roma ethnic group children are disproportionately placed in special schools for the mentally disabled or in de facto segregated schools”.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in New Delhi (India) today, said that such reported segregation of Roma children was unreasonable, unfair, unacceptable, immoral and discriminatory, especially in Europe which prided itself for its human rights record. Zed urged immediate intervention of European Union on this matter.

One of the key findings of a pilot research given on Equality website is: “A large majority of Roma students said they had experienced racist bullying or some sort of verbal abuse by their non-Roma peers at Czech and Slovak schools, as well as discriminatory or unequal treatment by their teachers, who were alleged to have punished them physically in a number of cases.”

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, argued that this maltreatment of Roma children was shocking and heartbreaking and such practices had no place in 21st century Europe and should immediately go.

This reported continual segregation of Roma children in Czech Republic and Slovakia schools had resulted in inferior quality education and limiting success for them, thus causing them to fall into poverty, Rajan Zed pointed out.

Zed stressed that all children were equal and should mix with each other for better Czech, Slovak and European future societies. All children should have the right to education without any discriminatory practices to become healthy members of the society. Roma children should be accorded equal opportunities and avenues of full participation in Czech and Slovak life, Zed added.