Slovak President says education is the way to address Romani issues

President of the Slovak Republic Andrej Kiska visited the Podskalka Primary School near the town of Humenné two weeks ago. “We’re all aware that the Romani issue, how to best include Romani people in everyday life, is a question of education,” news server aktualne.sk quoted him as saying.

Kiska believes it is important for Romani children to mainly learn Slovak in primary school and to also not forget about acquiring skills that will make them employable as adults. He mentioned that he has spoken with Slovak Education Minister Petr Plavčan about how to create a future in which children from the Romani settlements will be achieving similar academic results to other children within 10 years.

“It is exactly their preschool preparation that will be key,” Kiska said. He and Plavčan agree that Slovakia badly needs to show some results in education.

Kiska and the director of the Podskalka Primary School, Norbert Koscelník, also reportedly share a common vision for a nursery school to be built in the settlement at Humenné for local preschoolers to attend. The town has already submitted a request for financing for a project called “Nursery School in the Podskalka Settlement”.

The preschool will be constructed as an outbuilding of the primary school. It will have capacity for approximately 42 children.