Can you imagine that when you go to the open day of a school they doubt whether your child "fits" in the center or they suggest that you look for another "more according to your needs"? Well this happens. Nowadays. And that's why the Fundación Secretariado Gitano has launched the campaign I don't want a segregated school to make visible a situation that affects thousands of Roma children throughout Spain and violates their right to education and perpetuates discrimination.
A shocking campaign
The main element of the campaign, which came to light on April 8 on the occasion of Gypsy People's Day, is a video of just over two minutes in which you see how a gypsy family is not well received in a center who goes to meet him in an open day. After the "invitation" to find another center, it is seen how parents arrive at a segregated center in which the person who receives them shells pearls such as: "This fits best for your profile," "it best suits your needs," "here you are in your environment," “Total, if in the end they will leave their studies”… In the end they include messages from gypsy children asking for a school with equal opportunities for all.
What is school segregation?
School segregation is a discriminatory practice which consists of grouping students of similar characteristics (in this case, ethnicity) in certain centers, classrooms or educational lines.
The Fundación Secretariado Gitano warns of the negative consequences of this practice for the whole society:
"It is necessary to raise awareness among society and the public authorities about the negative impact it has on school performance, equal opportunities and social cohesion. School segregation violates the right to education of Roma students and perpetuates discrimination and inequality ".
Spain gets bad grades
According to the European survey EU-Midis II (Agency for Fundamental Rights of the European Union), in Spain, 31% of Roma children study in centers with a high concentration of students of this ethnic group.
In addition, ours is one of the countries indicated by international organizations for breaching the recommendations to correct an "unfair and permanently invisible" situation, as the Foundation claims:
"The ECRI (European Commission against Racism and Intolerance of the Council of Europe), the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, or the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in recent reports point out their concern for school segregation and urge Spain to take measures to ensure an equitable distribution of gypsy and immigrant students. "
The FRA (Agency of the European Union of Fundamental Rights), in a report published this week, points out the segregation in schools and in gypsy student classrooms as one of the main barriers that limit their social inclusion.
Join the campaign
The representatives of the gypsy group request measures to reverse this situation and that the Educational Pact includes the eradication of school segregation as one of its objectives.
The website www.noquierounaescuelasegregada.org includes testimonies and the possibility of signing against racial segregation. Over the next few weeks a participatory action will be launched on social networks to build an Ebook against segregation with drawings, photos, testimonials, illustrations ... to be published at the end of April.
By becoming aware and denouncing we can put our grain of sand to end the discrimination that begins soon and lasts a lifetime. That the Roma children soon do not have to say: "I do not want a segregated school."
