Desegregation in Czech education: Wasted chances and a political game of blind man's bluff

As the case of former vice-mayor Alena Pataky has revealed, the discussions of this problem still run into misunderstandings and an unwillingness to take responsibility. Pataky, who made unfortunate remarks about the question of the education of the Roma, faced strong criticism from experts and the public for her words.

Her resignation would be an example of taking political responsibility if we lived in an ideal world. However, in reality it is more an exceptional episode in Czech politics, where such deeds and words frequently have no such repercussions.

For more than 15 years, the Czech Republic has been struggling with the problem of the segregation of Romani children away from other children in education. The 2007 judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of D. H. and Others versus Czech Republic unambiguously called the practice described there discriminatory.

Instead of accepting this challenge as an occasion to effect change, we have taken refuge in the writing of plans, reports and strategies which have just remained on paper. Despite the dozens of millions of Czech crowns invested into these various action plans, the reality of segregation remains the same.

Children from Romani families frequently end up in segregated schools offering them lower-quality education. The consequences are devastating – such children remain imprisoned in the cycle of poverty and social exclusion while their potential is lost to society.

Moreover, segregation is not just a problem of the primary schools. This phenomenon continues in the secondary schools, where the main discriminatory role is played by such families’ places of residence and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Although we could look for inspiration abroad, it seems the political will to change is lacking here. The situation is complicated by deeply-rooted prejudices and fears of public criticism.

Many politicians prefer to choose the path of least resistance and ignore the urgency of the problem. The public forgets, in the interim, that segregation does just affect Romani children, but influences the quality of education for everybody.

If we want to move forward, we must stop viewing desegregation as a problem of just one community. This is a question of justice, of the quality of our education system.

Allowing segregation in the schools is expensive, not just from the perspective of lost human potential, but also economically. Every year that we ignore this problem costs us millions of crowns and reduces our ability to compete in the modern world.

It is high time we stopped running in place and started taking action on this issue.

Inspiration from abroad: What we can learn from other countries

Examples from abroad demonstrate that educational segregation is not unavoidable. Many countries have grappled with similar problems and managed to overcome them thanks to undertaking brave, long-term reforms.

In the 1990s, Norway undertook a fundamental change when it abolished most of its special needs schools. They were transformed into advice centers providing mainstream schools with support for working with children with special educational needs.

That step made it possible for such children to join mainstream education, significantly reducing their social isolation in Norway. Another crucial step was the focus on preschool education.

The children of immigrants have an opportunity in Norway to receive cultural and linguistic preparation that facilitates their entry into primary school. Thanks to such measures, Norway has not just reduced the degree of ethnic segregation, but has also improved the overall results of its education system.

Finland is another example of successful integration. Their community schools connect local communities and the parents of schoolchildren with teachers, creating a supportive environment for children from diverse cultural and social milieux.

Part of this approach is an emphasis on preventing problems during early childhood. Nursery schools and primary schools identify the needs of children in time, which minimizes the risk of school failure.

Poland has focused on supporting its teachers. Educators receive special training on working in inclusive classrooms, and they also receive financial incentives to work in areas where there are high proportions of marginalized communities.

The Polish approach has yielded concrete results over the course of 10 years – segregation in the schools fell by 30 % there. What about the Czech Republic, though?

Following the model of the Scandinavian countries, we in the Czech Republic once dreamed of inclusive education being the foundation of our school system. Our discourse about education was full of admiration for models from abroad.

At expert platforms, opportunities were spoken of to transfer the Scandinavian experience to the Czech Republic and delegations of experts visited Finland, Norway and Sweden to draw inspiration. We invested millions into conferences, seminars and trips abroad.

After all the years of the Scandinavian model being presented as an example here in the Czech Republic, silence followed. Instead of being inspired by the best that other countries have to offer, we gradually abandoned the brave idea of inclusion.

What remains here after those years? Dusty minutes of expert conferences, unheard conclusions from trips abroad, and the segregation that continues to disrupt not just education, but also societal cohesion.

The models from Scandinavia and other countries demonstrate that inclusion is possible, but only if we have the courage to genuinely institute it. The Czech Republic has to stop seeking excuses and invest into education in a way that yields real results.

As long as we refuse to do this, we will remain a country where segregation is not just a problem in the schools, but an example of our lack of political will and undeveloped potential.

The economic cost of segregation: Prize for inaction

Educational segregation is not just a moral problem, but also an enormous economic burden. Studies repeatedly show that children educated in segregated schools achieve worse results which negatively influence their future application on the labor market.

According to the PAQ Research organization, Romani pupils comprise at least one-third of the students attending the approximately 130 ethnically segregated schools in the Czech Republic. Another 77 schools are categorized as highly segregated, where most pupils are Romani.

The academic results of the mostly-Romani schools frequently do not meet the fundamental standards set for education. Annually this segregation causes the Czech Republic longterm economic losses in the billions of crowns or more.

These losses are related to the lower incomes earned by the graduates of segregated schools, their lower level of employability, and their greater dependence on welfare. Moreover, analyses demonstrate that segregation has an impact not just on individuals, but also on regional economies where competitiveness is reduced as a result.

It is alarming that the state annually invests millions of crowns into strategies which are meant to transform this situation but yield minimal results. Action plans, analyses and teacher trainings repeat themselves in a loop that yields no real progress.

Every wasted year means more losses not just for Romani children, but also for society as a whole. International experiences show that investment into inclusive education pays off in the long run, though.

As long as Czech political representatives fail to take the necessary steps to transform education, the economic costs of this ethnic segregation will continue to grow. They will not just increase in financial terms, but also from the perspective of social capital.

Every citizen of this country has to know that ignoring the problem of ethnic segregation means not just wasting the talents of thousands of Romani children, but also slowing down the overall development of the Czech Republic.

Proposals for solutions: The carousel of strategies and empty promises

The Czech Republic has produced dozens of action plans, analyses and strategies, the aim of which has been to address educational segregation. All these documents are presented as crucial to the future of the schools, but what have their results been?

The situation remains the same. The only certainty remains the fact that the preparation of these materials has cost an enormous amount of time, energy, and above all, money.

Every analysis, plan and strategy offers similar conclusions which have repeated themselves in various versions for more than two decades. Despite this, segregation persists.

The schools where Romani children are a minority of pupils remain unattractive to other Romani children, while the segregated schools continue to grapple with a lack of financing, a lack of qualified teachers, and a lack of parental trust. However, the problem is not a lack of proposals for how to transform this.

The drawers are full of documents with recommendations for how to improve this situation. However, unfortunately, most proposals presume the transformations could be partial and that it is enough to intervene just in particular parts of the system.

That approach frequently leaves the schools without the necessary resources and support to cope with the challenges of such change. It is startling how little attention is paid to connecting all the parts of the system to one another.

Addressing segregation should not be limited just to the schools where Romani children are segregated away from others. We also need to work with those schools which are not segregated in that way, but where the increased number of pupils from socially disadvantaged families might lead to their decline.

The key is to improve the quality of education in all schools, to boost their attractiveness and guarantee that every child, irrespective of their home situation, has access to an education that gives them a chance at success. These recurring strategies clearly demonstrate that what is lacking is the actual bravery needed to undertake reform.

It is easier to create further plans than it is to take the essential steps. The Czech Republic needs specific measures which will be supported by political will, sustainable in the long term, and systematic.

If such measures are never instituted, we will continue to go round and round in a circle where the documents come and go, but the problems remain.

Addressing segregation: A comprehensive approach to the education system

Addressing ethnic segregation in the schools cannot be a one-sided matter. It is not enough just to focus on the schools where Romani children are segregated away from others.

It is essential to approach the problem in a systemic way and to focus on all schools, i.e., also those not considered segregated, which play a crucial role in shaping social equilibrium and educational quality. The schools where Romani children are segregated away from others frequently grapple with bad reputations for providing education that is low-quality.

As a consequence, majority-society families do not want to enrol their children in such schools. This problem has to be addressed by improving the attractiveness of such schools.

Their equipment has to be modernized, the quality of instruction improved, qualified teachers have to be hired, and innovative educational programs have to be offered which can bring these schools closer to the standards which attract parents from various communities. In addition, it is important to create an environment where both children and parents will feel respected and safe.

Apart from that, it is necessary to pay attention to the schools not considered segregated. Such schools frequently refuse to enrol children from Romani communities, thereby unknowingly contributing to the intensification of their segregation.

The biases and fears of majority-society parents who do not want to send their children to school with Romani children need to be actively overcome. This involves working with the public and supporting schools with creating diverse classes which will be beneficial to all and functional.

One important measure is the creation of positive motivation for schools joining the inclusive education process. This can be done by offering financial incentives, support for teachers’ professional education, or investments into infrastructure.

Mechanisms must be instituted in all schools such that working effectively with ethnically diverse classes will be possible, as will providing support to children from different social backgrounds. Improving the situation in the schools where Romani children are segregated away from others also means increasing their prestige.

If such schools become attractive institutions offering high-quality education, they can start attracting children from the majority society. That will naturally lead to more integration and to a balanced environment that will benefit everybody.

Education cannot function in isolation from the rest of society. Collaborations between communities, parents and schools are key to achieving actual change.

A high-quality education system reflecting the needs of all children not only contributes to their improved education, but also to cohesion in society as a whole. Segregation is not just a problem of the schools, but a problem of society as a whole, and for that reason it is necessary to approach addressing it consistently and responsibly, with the determination to transform the structures now in place.

Lack of political will and shortcomings: Where there’s a will, there’s a way

Why is the Czech Republic unable to deal with ethnic segregation in the schools? The answer is easy: lack of political will.

While the issue of segregation has become the subject of several action plans, their implementation is all but non-existent. Politicians fear public criticism and prefer to ignore this problem.

The public frequently perceives inclusion as a threat to the quality of education, which creates an ideal excuse for inaction. Revising the diagnostic methods used to assess children, which was one of the crucial commitments flowing from the D. H. judgment, has not yet happened in practice.

The political scene is silently tolerating this situation while thousands of children lose their chance at a quality education. There is also a lack of a unified approach to educational policy.

Every Government invents its own priorities on this issue, which results in long-term plans remaining uncompleted. Investments into inclusive education are minimal and often depend on short-term projects financed from EU funds.

Once those projects end, the problems recur. As long as politicians do not start to view addressing ethnic segregation as a priority, the problem will continue to grow.

The Czech Republic needs a clear plan to respect the rights of all children to equal access to education. That means being brave enough, politically, to counter prejudices and push through transformations which might not be popular, but are essential.