OPINION

The opinion was issued in the procedure following the complaint of association A. A. against elementary school B. B. due to the segregation of Roma children. In the complaint, it was stated that within the elementary school B. B., a preparatory preschool program organized that is attended by 105 children of Roma nationality, who are divided into five groups of 21 children each, from which it can be determined that children of Roma nationality are separated from other children, that is, that the groups are composed of children of Roma nationality only. In the school’s statement, it was specified, among other things, that there are no groups of non-Roma children attending the preparatory preschool program in the school; that there is also a preschool institution in Bujanovac where a preparatory preschool program is organized; that every month the school sends to the local self-government a Report on the implementation of the preparatory preschool program organized by the elementary school and that the school forwards the reports certified by the authorities in the local self-government to the school administration; that there is no segregation in the school, and they are trying to mitigate the fact that the preparatory preschool program is attended only by children of the Roma nationality, by organizing a series of activities. During the proceeding, it was determined that only children of the Roma national minority attend the preparatory preschool program at the school, as well as that the school did not provide evidence of the implementation of the activities it specified in the statement and the activities it is obliged to implement following the Rulebook on the action of the institution in case of suspected or determined discriminatory behavior and insult to the reputation, honor or dignity of a person. After the proceedings were carried out, bearing in mind that in 2019 in an earlier procedure the Commissioner also determined that Elementary School B. B. carried out the segregation of students of Roma nationality, the Commissioner issued the opinion that, by organizing the preparatory preschool program into five groups consisting only of children of Roma nationality and failing to undertake the measures and activities prescribed by the Rulebook on the action of the institution in case of suspected or determined discriminatory behavior and insult to the reputation, the elementary school B. B. committed a severe form of discrimination – discrimination that occurs over a long period against the same group of persons. Thus, the elementary school B. B. was recommended to initiate the preparation of a detailed and comprehensive desegregation plan and undertake intervention measures and activities from the Rulebook on the action of the institution in case of suspected or determined discriminatory behavior and insult to the reputation; to notify in writing the competent school administration, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the Bujanovac Municipal Administration of the existence of segregation and, following the Rulebook, request in writing their inclusion in the desegregation process, as well as to take care in the future that within the framework of its regular jobs and activities, does not violate legal regulations on the prohibition of discrimination.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković