ECtHR: education of Roma children in segregated schools in Hungary breaches prohibition of discrimination
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has delivered its judgment in Szolcsán v. Hungary (application no. 24408/16), ruling that the education of Roma children in segregated schools breaches the prohibition of discrimination and that Hungary must develop a policy to end segregation in education.
The case concerned the applicant’s education in a primary school almost exclusively attended by Roma children. He requested to be transferred to another school in a neighbouring town. His request was rejected on the grounds that he did not live in the school’s catchment area, despite him claiming that about one quarter of that school’s pupils lived in the same town as him. He further alleged that the curriculum taught at the school he attended was poor and that he was deprived of a proper education.
In its judgment, the ECtHR found that the fact that his school was almost exclusively attended by Roma children amounted to segregation. It held that the education of Roma children in segregated schools without taking adequate measures to correct inequalities was incompatible with the State’s duty not to discriminate based on race or ethnicity. Moreover, the Court held under Article 46 (binding force and implementation) that the Hungarian State had to adopt measures not only to end the segregation of Roma pupils at that particular school but to ensure the development of a policy to put a stop to segregation in education, as recommended by the Fifth Report on Hungary of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). In conclusion, the ECtHR found that there had been a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the ECHR, taken in conjunction with Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (right to education).
