Enforcement of the Decision and Outcomes
Over the years, national and international NGOs launched various initiatives to push for implementation, including reporting to the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers (the body which supervises member state execution of ECtHR decisions), advocacy before UN treaty bodies, publications and national level events. These efforts kept the issue on the agenda but unfolded with little leadership or participation of Roma, many of whom were not even aware of the decision or implementation efforts. In practice, little to nothing changed for Roma children.
In 2013, it became obvious that the issue would not be addressed if those most affected by it – Roma families – were not at the forefront of pushing for change. The Open Society Foundations (OSF) initiated a project in the applicants’ home town to support Roma parents who want to organize themselves to challenge all forms of ethnic discrimination in education. Parents came together to strategically target discrimination during the enrollment process and the first year of primary school, as disproportionate numbers of Roma children were still being assigned to practical or low quality, majority Roma schools at that stage. Since the launch of the first enrollment campaign in 2014, community organizers (with the support and mentorship of the OSF’s Justice Initiative and Roma Initiatives Office) have helped Roma families enroll nearly 200 children in mainstream, good quality education, in turn diverting financial resources away from schools that offer very poor educational outcomes. The campaign consists of an organized enrollment process backed up by the threat of litigation, to strengthen parents’ positions vis-a-vis schools and municipalities. The parents prepare themselves through community organizing training, legal education about their rights, and tactics to resist pressure by teachers to enroll in substandard schools. Monitors (usually Roma parents themselves) collect evidence during enrollment to support any necessary litigation. In September 2016, the special educational curricula were formally abolished. In March 2017, a discrimination case was won in the regional court in March 2017.
However, as Roma children continue to be assigned to substandard schools, continued advocacy and organizing remains vital. The parents’ group is engaged in legal advocacy with the European Commission in connection with infringement proceedings against the Czech Republic regarding continuing education discrimination. They are in the process of registering Awen Amenca, which will become the first Roma parents association in Europe, and plan to expand their activities by supporting Roma parents in other parts of the Czech Republic to promote inclusive education for all children.
