MINELRES: BBC: School boycott in Slovenia

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: Roma Network <romale@zahav.net.il> 


ROMA IN SLOVENIA SCHOOL BOYCOTT 
4/4/2005

The parents of 86 Roma (Gypsy) children in Slovenia are keeping them
away from school in protest at moves to segregate them from ethnic
Slovene children. The boycott began on Monday at Brsljin school in the
southern town of Novo Mesto, on the first day of segregation.  The row
erupted a month ago when non-Roma parents complained of bullying by Roma
boys at the school.  The education ministry suggested segregation after
the two sides failed to reach an agreement.  Some 400 Slovene parents
have signed an appeal for the Roma children to be dispersed to schools
throughout the town.  "Instead of our children learning, they had to
make sure that there was order among Roma children in the school. Their
rights to learn were violated," said one parent, Niko Padevski.  A Roma
official on the city council, Zoran Tasic, rejected the segregation
idea, calling it "humiliating".  Roma form less than 1% of Slovenia's
population of two million. 

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