No. 07-00-00028/2018-02 Dated: 25 May 2018

OPINION

This Opinion was issued in a procedure following a complaint filed by G.N. from P. agianst School for Primary and Secondary Education “М.“ from P, on behalf of and with the consent of Z.D, legal representative of student M.D. The complaint stated that, on 10 June 2016, teacher B.Đ. punished Roma student М.D. because she took a snack out of another student’s bag during the class, and ordered her to stand in the hallway during the recess and “hold on“ to a concrete column in the school hallway. It was further stated that teacher D.R, when passng down the hallway, stopped next to stundet М.D. and referred to her “brutally and with a lot of hatred and anger“, which made the girl cry. The complainant pointed out that he attended these events because he was in the hallway that day. School for Primary and Secondary Education “М.“ from P., inter alia, stated that teacher B.Đ. on 10 June 2016, “found“ student М.D. taking a snack out of her friend’s bag, and that she separated the children for safety reasons by leaving student М.D. to eat her lunch alone in the school hallway, while sending other children outside. School for Primary and Secondary Education “М.“ from P. characterized such teacher’s action as necessary in order to ensure safety of children, having in mind the “specificity of the school, children and their disabilities“. The School further negated in its statement the allegations of the complainant that teacher D.R. yelled at the girl and said the words stated in the complaint. In the statement was pointed out that 50% of Roma children attend classes in this school and that the school in known for its excellent attitude towards children and parents. It was also stated that there was no violence in the school, which was confirmed by competent authorities. During the procedure was determined that ensuring safety of children is a legitimate objective, however, that measures taken by the teachers in order to reach this objective constitute a violation of the dignity of student M.D, and that they create a sense of humiliation, anxiety and rejection, that is, a humiliating and offensive environment. Considering this, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality is of an opinion that School for Primary and Secondary Education “М.“ from P. violated Article 7 and 12, concerning Article 24 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination with its actions towards student М.D, on 10 June 2016. For this reason, School for Primary and Secondary Education “М.“ from P. received a recommendation to organise training for its employees in recognizing and preventing discrimination in education, to take actions in encouraging tolerance, increasing knowledge, understanding discrimination and protecting against discrimination students and employees in the institution in order to prevent discrimination and peer violence, and to ensure in the future not to violate anti-discrimination legal regulations in conducting its regular actions and activities.