no. 07-00-494 / 2021-02 date: 3.2. 2022

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the procedure regarding the complaint of A. A., which she submitted on behalf of her minor daughter B. B., through an attorney, against the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, due to discrimination based on the disability of B. B. The complaint states that B. B. has Down syndrome and is enrolled in an educational profile for which she has the opinion of the Health Commission that she does not meet the conditions for enrollment due to her health condition, as well as that she is enrolled in a class with more students attending IEP 2 than the number prescribed. The statement of the School Administration of Požarevac states, among other things, that the Opinion of the Health Commission, in the form of a special document for each student individually, is prepared after the session of the Commission, and that technical preparation means that from the list in electronic form (Excel document) containing all educational profiles in the area of ​​Braničevo district some are omitted, that is, the educational profiles for which the student meets the health conditions are deleted so that the opinion of the Commission contains only a list of profiles for which the health conditions are not met. It is further stated that during the preparation of the Opinion of the Health Commission for student B. B. a technical error was made and the profile Florist – gardener was mistakenly not removed from the list of all educational. profiles for which the student does not meet the health requirements for enrollment During the procedure, it was determined that, based on the Decision of the District Commission for the final exam and enrollment of students in secondary school for Braničevo administrative district, student B. B was assigned to the Agricultural School in Požarevac, educational profile Florist – gardener, which was stated as the only wish on the Request for assignment of the student to secondary school submitted by the parents of student B. B. Also, it was determined that the School Administration of Požarevac submitted evidence (statements of the members of the Health Commission) that student B. B. meets the health requirements for enrollment in the educational profile Florist – gardener. It was further determined that the Professional Instruction on the Formation of Classes and the Manner of Financing in Primary and Secondary Schools for the School Year 2021/2022 prescribed that in one class, as a rule, there can be a maximum of two students with developmental difficulties. The Commissioner especially took into consideration the fact that this prescription does not have the character of an imperative norm and indicates the possibility of an exception to the rule, as well as that the Commission, in this case, had in mind several factors (expressed students’ wishes, combined class of two educational profiles, students’ abilities, the distance of residence from school, etc.), which made it decide that it is in the best interest of students to assign them to the same class, that is to enroll three students with developmental difficulties in the same class. The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality gave the opinion that in the procedure conducted on the complaint of A. A. on behalf of her minor daughter B. B, through an attorney, it was determined that the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, School Administration of Požarevac did not violate the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković