Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school : what can the Council of Europe do?

1. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school: whatcan the Council of Europe do? Intervention by Michaël GUET, Head of the I-CARE Unit and Secretary of CAHROM, Support Team of the SpecialRepresentative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues ERIO/ILGA event, EuropeanParliament, Strasbourg, 16 December 2014

2. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school INTRODUCTORY REMARKS • Whatcan the Council of Europe further do? (as severalsectorsalreadyaddress the topic of bullying and discrimination at school) • Beforeevenaddressingbullying and discrimination at schoolfo Roma children, weshouldaddress in manymember States and localities the access to educationof Roma (and Traveller) children!

3. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school Main issues and obstacles Roma families face multiple issues, (poverty, unemployment, debt, domestic violence, etc.) which leads to more attention being paid by the family on solving socio-economic issues rather than on children’s education. School drop-outs, absenteeism and lack of school enrollment (due to bullying & discrimination; low education of Roma parents & tendency for overprotection; lack of dialogue between schools & parents; fear of assimilation; travelling way of life; early marriage... A lower expectation from teachers concerning Roma children, lower quality education provided to Roma children and a lack of knowledge of Roma culture and history. School segregation, special classes and enrolment in schools for mentally disabled. Negative attitude and perception from non-Roma parents, and sometimes school professionals based on prejudice and stereotypes. Refusal from schools/authorities to accept Roma or Traveller children. Language barriers (many children speak Romani at home and have little knowledge of national language). Other barriers include lack of ID, ghettoisation/housing segregation, constant evictions, health problems...

4. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school STANDARDS (CONVENTIONS) Relevant Council of Europe’s Conventions provide standards addressinghumanrights, minorities’ rightsand children’srights, such as: • 1950 Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Art. 14- Prohibition of discrimination); Protocol 1 (Art. 2-Right to education), and Protocol 12; • 1961 European Social Charter (ESC) and the 1996 Revised ESC; • 1992 European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages; • 1995 Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities • 1995 Council of Europe Convention on the Exercise of Children’sRights • 2007 Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of ChildrenagainstSexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse • 2014 Council of Europe Convention on the Rights of the Child

5. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school CM RECOMMENDATIONS The Committee of Ministers (CM) of the Council of Europe adoptedseveral relevant Recommendations: • CM Rec(2000)4 on the education of Roma/Gypsy children in Europe; • CM Rec (2006)19 on policy to support positive parenting; • CM Rec(2009)4 on the education of Roma and Travellers in Europe; • CM Rec(2008)5 on policies for Roma and/or Travellers in Europe; • CM Rec(2012)9 on mediation as an effective tool for promoting respect of human rights and social inclusion of Roma. http://www.coe.int/t/cm/home_en.asp

6. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school ECtHR JUDGEMENTS Several landmark judgements of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) condemned discrimination of Roma children at school, either due to separate classes or enrolment of children in special schools (for mentally disabled): • D.H. and Others v. the CzechRepublic (13 November 2007) In the Czech Republic (in 2007), above 50% of the children in special schools for the mentally handicapped were Roma, even though they made up about only 5% of the total population (in 2014: 30%). The Court held that the Roma applicants had been the victims of indirect discrimination. The Grand Chamber concluded that: at the very least, selection tests for the schools were biased and did not take into account the particular characteristics of Roma children; the parents were not in a position to give informed consent to the children being placed in these schools. • Sampanisand Others v. Greece (5 June 2008) A number of Roma applicants complained of discrimination where a local school had firstly failed to enrol their children at all for a year, and then, once places were provided, taught Roma children in separate ‘preparatory classes’, without any objective or reasonable justification. The Court was able to infer from the facts of the case that the decision to place the Roma children in the annexe was influenced by the protests and the blockade mounted by the parents of non-Roma children and it considered that the evidence adduced by the applicants created a strong presumption of discrimination. • Oršušand Others v. Croatia (10 March 2010) Roma children attending mainstream primary schools had been placed automatically in separate classes, supposedly on account of their lack of proficiency in the Croatian language. The Grand Chamber noted that the test designed to separate the children did not assess their command of the Croatian language. Furthermore, no programme had been established in order to address the special needs of Roma children lacking in language skills that included a timeframe for addressing those needs and transferring the children back into mainstream classes. • Horváthand Kiss v. Hungary (29 January 2013) The applicants were two young men of Roma origin who had been assessed as having mild mental disabilities and placed in a school for the mentally disabled. The applicants argued that this was a misplacement and amounted to indirect discrimination. The Court held that the State has a positive obligation to undo a history of racial segregation in special schools. Handbook for legal professionals on ECtHR case law “Ensuring access to rights for Roma and Travellers: the role of the European Court of Human Rights”

7. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school OTHER COE REFERENCE TEXTS • Final Declaration of the 22nd session of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education, on “Building a more humane and inclusive Europe: role of education policies” (Istanbul, 4-5 May 2007); • Recommendations and policy orientations included in the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue “Living together as equals in dignity”(Strasbourg, 7 May 2008); • Strasbourg Declaration (20 October 2010); • CM Declaration on the rise of anti-Gypsyism and racist violence against Roma in Europe (February 2012).

8. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school ECRI (1/2) The European Commission againstRacism and Intolerance (ECRI) adopted the following relevant General Policy Recommendations: • ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 3 on combating racism and intolerance against Roma/Gypsies (1998); • ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 10 on combating racism and racial discrimination in and through school education (2006) (see § II.1); • II. Combat racism and racial discrimination at school, and to this end: • 1. ensure that schools are obliged to incorporate the fight against racism and racial discrimination as well as respect for diversity into the way that they are run: • a) by ensuring that the fight against such phenomena in schools, whether they emanate from pupils or educational staff, is part of a permanent policy; • b) by setting up a system to monitor racist incidents at school and compile dataon these phenomena in order to devise long-term policies to counter them; • c) by adopting, in order to combat incidents of racism or discrimination which do not cause physical harm, educational measures such as, for example, non formal education activities in organisations dealing with victims of racism and racial discrimination; • d) by treatingincitement to racial hatred in schools and any other serious racist act, including the use of violence, threats or damage to property, as acts punishable by suspension or expulsion or any other appropriate measure; • e) by encouraging within schools the adoption of a code of conduct against racism and racial discrimination for all staff; • f) by favouring measures (such as special anti-racism days or weeks, campaigns or competitions) to foster awareness among both pupils and parents of racism and racial discrimination issues and the relevant school policies; • ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 13 on combating anti-Gypsyism and discrimination against Roma.

9. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school ECRI (2/2) Some examples of ECRI recent country-monitoring reports: • ECRI recommends that the Swedish authorities step up their efforts to prevent and combat racial harassment and bullying at school. It draws their attention to Part II, paragraph 1 of its General Policy Recommendation No. 10 on combating racism and racial discrimination in and through school education, which proposes a range of measures that could be taken in this field. • ECRI encourages the United Kingdom authorities to pursue their efforts to reduce achievement gaps between minority ethnic pupils and the majority population, to reduce disproportionality in exclusion rates and prevent racist or religious bullying in schools. It draws their attention to its General Policy Recommendation No. 10 on combating racism and racial discrimination in and through school education, which proposes a range of measures that can be taken in this area. • ECRI recommends [to the authorities of the United Kingdom] that particular attention be devoted to combating bullying directed against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children, and draws attention to the importance both of training teachers in the history and culture of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers and of promoting a greater awareness of these amongst children and society in general.  • ECRI addressed the issue of bullying at school in §79 et seq. of its recent report on Switzerland.

10. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school CAHROM (1/2) • The Ad Hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM) endorsedseveralthematic reports addressingeducation of Roma children (http://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/cahrom) • CAHROM (2012)6 Thematic report on school drop out and absenteeism of Roma children • The Netherlands (requesting country) • Hungary, Spain , Sweden (partner countries) • CAHROM (2013)5 Thematic report on school attendance for Roma children, in particular Roma girls • Finland (requesting country) • Latvia, Norway, Sweden (partner countries) • CAHROM (2012)18 Thematic report on inclusive education for Roma children v. special schools • CzechRepublic & SlovakRepublic(requestingcountries) • Hungary, Slovenia, United Kingdom (partner countries) • CAHROM Thematic report on inclusive pre-school education of Roma children (November 2014) • CzechRepublic (requesting country) • Hungary, Latvia, Poland, “FYROM” (partner countries) • CAHROM Thematic report on school inclusion of Roma (migrants’) children access to education and distance learning for Travellers’ children (scheduled in March or April 2015) • France (requesting country) • Albania, Belgium (partner countries) + Denmark, Italy and Switzerland (tbc)

11. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school CAHROM (2/2) Someextracts of CAHROM thematic reports related to combating discrimination and bullyingof children at school: • Finland: bullying and demotivation result in unauthorised absences. Bullying is a phenomenon of concern at school, though studies conducted in Finland do not reveal that Roma children are more bullied than any other ethnic groups. The most common form of bullying is ethnic name-calling. According to school principals, addressing the issue of bullying is helpful. Good practice: the Finnish Programme “No bullying in KiVaschool” is an interesting approach on addressing bullying for all schools and for different age groups. It had been implemented in 90% of the Finnish schools, partially or entirely. However, experts of the CAHROM thematic group recommended includinga section on bullying specifically targeted at Roma pupils and giving teachers tools for reacting to ethnic discrimination towards Roma.

12. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school EDUCATION & CHILDREN PROJECTS • Project “Education of Roma children in Europe” (2002-2009)” http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/roma/histoCulture_en.asp. • Programme « Building a Europe for and with children » http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/children/ • Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2012-2015) • CM Guidelines on child-friendly justice • Child participation assessment tool (including indicators to monitor progress of children’s participation) • Guidelines on integrated national strategies for the protection of children against violence • Publication “Children and young people in care – discover your rights!” • Framework Curriculum for the Romani language • Film “Beat bullying” - Tackling Bullying at School through Citizenship and Human Rights Education http://www.coe.int/beatbullying andhttp://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/edc/Source/Resources/FlyerBeatBullying_EN.pdf

13. Bullying and discrimination • of Roma children at school THE COE’S WAY FORWARD (1/3) • (Roma) school mediators/ assistants • The joint EU/CoE ROMED programme is not just about training (Roma) mediators but about mediation as a process, each actor having responsibilities and accountability. Some lessons from past experience: • There is a need of a code of conduct and a clarification of the role of mediators in order for them to perform their work properly [cf. CM Rec (2012)9 on mediation]; • There is a need for institutionalisation of mediators (good examples: Bulgaria, Romania, the Republic of Moldova, etc.); • There is a need for involvement and contribution of local authorities (e.g. Latvia, Portugal, etc.) • The mediators should shift from service providers to facilitators of processes. • ROMED1 component on education includes school governance through which mediators, parents, teachers, education professionals, etc. are involved in the process of education of Roma. • ROMED2’s focus is on governance at local level, including governance in schools. • The ROMED programme is a learning exercise for Roma and non-Roma who sit together and agree on matters concerning them through effective participation (in decision making process, again including in schools). • www.coe-romed.org

14. Bullying and discrimination • of Roma children at school THE COE’S WAY FORWARD (2/3) • Sharing good practices such as • Pre-school enrolment of Roma children (e.g. Hungary, “The FYROM”) • Affirmative actions to facilitate school enrolment in mainstreamed education • free meals free transport or free textbooks (e.g. Latvia, Poland) • quotas and scholarships (e.g. Romania, “The FYROM”) • Incubators and inclusion of Roma parents (e.g. Slovenia) • Fighting bullying and discrimination at school (e.g. Finland) • School assistants with a Roma background (Latvia)/bridge-builders (Sweden) • Training of teachers on cultural diversity/Romani culture & history (e.g. Sweden, Pestalozzi programme http://www.coe.int/en/web/pestalozzi) • Collect and share good practices (e.g. Online database on Roma-retated good practiceshttp://goodpracticeroma.ppa.coe.int/en) • Introduction of Roma history in school curriculum (e.g. International Seminar on Introducing Roma History Teaching in School Curriculum, Rome, Italy, December 2014; Roma history factsheets http://romafacts.uni-graz.at/; joint CoE/OSCE-ODIHR website on the genocide of Roma during WWII http://roma-genocide.org/

15. Bullying and discrimination • of Roma children at school THE COE’S WAY FORWARD (3/3) • Promoting a greater awareness of Roma culture, history amongst children, young people and society in general and fight against discrimination and prejudice/stereotypes • DOSTA!campaign“Go beyond prejudice, meet the Roma!” - www.dosta.org • In 2005-2009 as joint CoE/EU Roma programmes; Since 2008 open to all CoEmember States; nationallyimplemented; Launched in 17 member States + Kosovo* ; financiallysupported by Finland • Multilingualwebsite, Dosta! toolkit, leaflets, calendar, radio/video spots, CD, etc. • 3 main objectives: addressstereotypes and prejudice; combat anti-Gypsyism; promote Roma culture, history, language and positive image/rolemodels • Activities: public debates, music/theatre festivals, media training, streetevents, schoolawareness, Roma history promotion, photos and drawingcompetitions, photexhibitions, portraits and testimonials of integrated Roma/rolemodels, CongressDosta! prize; annual Roma Pridein 13 to 17 countries, etc. • No hate speech campaign • NO HATE SPEECH MOUVEMENT / Young People Combating Hate Speech Online: project run by the Council of Europe’s youth sector in 2012-2014. It aims to combat racism and discrimination, as expressed online as hate speech, by mobilizing young people and youth organisations to recognise and act against such human rights violations. http://nohate.ext.coe.int/The-Campaign • CoE Publication: Barabaripen: Young Roma speak about multiple discrimination following a joint CoE Conference on multiple discrimination (with focus on Roma, women, migrants and LGBT)

16. Bullying and discrimination of Roma children at school More information on Roma issues at the Council of Europe at: www.coe.int (go to HumanRights / Roma Rights) On YOUTUBE: Beat Bullyingfilm (10’27): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5sB7mndfrQ Chimères absentes short movie (11’36) by Fanny Ardant, Dosta! ambassador: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo3xogU3T4c THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! Michaël Guet Head of the I-CARE Unit CAHROM Secretary Support Team of the SpecialRepresentative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for Roma Issues michael.guet@coe.int