MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Notes on the Agenda

CM/Notes/1288/H46-12

7 June 2017

1288th meeting, 6-7 June 2017 (DH) Human rights   H46-12 D.H. and Others v. Czech Republic (Application No. 57325/00) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments Reference documents DH-DD(2017)217, CM/Del/Dec(2016)1259/H46-11

 

Application	Case	Judgment of	Final on	Indicator for the classification
57325/00	D.H. AND OTHERS	13/11/2007	Grand Chamber	Complex problem

Case description

The case concerns discrimination in the enjoyment of the applicants' right to education due to their assessment as pupils with “mild mental disabilities” and resulting assignment to special schools between 1996 and 1999 because of their Roma^[1] origin (violation of Article 14 in conjunction with Article 2 of Protocol No. 1).

The Court accepted that the government’s decision to retain the special school system was motivated by the desire to find a solution for children with special educational needs. However, it expressed concern about the more basic curricula followed in these schools and, in particular, the segregation caused by the system.

Status of execution

Individual measures:

Education in the Czech Republic is compulsory for all children from six to 15. The applicants are all older than 15 and are therefore no longer in the compulsory schooling system. No further individual measure appears necessary.

General measures:

- Measures adopted up to 2015: Since 2007, when the judgment became final, the Czech authorities have transmitted several action plans and information documents which have been assessed by the Committee, notably in memorandum CM/Inf/DH(2010)47, as well as in a number of decisions encouraging an rapid implementation of this judgment.

However, since there was no visible progress and continued uncertainty about the implementation of the proposed measures, in June 2012 the Committee of Ministers invited the Czech authorities to produce a new strategy.[2] In response, in 2015 the authorities announced, in a new action plan, a set of tools and measures to provide equal access to quality education for Romani children and, ultimately, to introduce integrated education (for a detailed analysis of that action plan see H/Exec(2015)8). A whole reform package has accordingly been presented. The most important short and medium term measures include the removal of the possibility to place "socially disadvantaged" pupils or children without disabilities in groups/classes for children with a "mild mental disability", the revision of the diagnostic tools used to identify pupils with “mild mental disabilities”, the establishment of non-discriminatory checks on the accuracy of diagnoses and the carrying out of annual surveys to establish the number of Roma pupils educated in programmes designed for children with a “mild mental disability”.

- Inclusive education reform: In 2015 and 2016 the authorities adopted two significant amendments to the Education Act, aimed at ensuring inclusive education. The first guarantees free support measures (for example, a teaching assistant) to all children with special educational needs, to help them to follow the mainstream education programme. The second makes it compulsory for all children aged five and over to attend a year of pre-school to ensure the successful commencement of basic education. Another important change concerns the abolition of the educational programme for children with “mild mental disability” as of 1 September 2016 and its gradual replacement by a unified curriculum which provides for a single educational programme for all primary school pupils. Individualised education of children with special educational needs will be achieved with the use of support measures, including the possibility to adjust the content of education. More generally, the amendment to the Education Act introduced a rule that pupils with special educational needs should principally be educated through integration into mainstream education.

The amended Education Act also foresees the establishment of a special unit in the National Institute of Education, which will monitor the use of the new diagnostic tools.

- Last examination by the Committee: At its 1259^th meeting (DH) in June 2016, the Committee noted with interest the on-going reform, as well as the measures adopted or envisaged by the authorities with a view to putting in place a policy of inclusive education and ensuring that it was fully operational in practice. Given the absence of a substantial change in the education of Roma pupils to date, the Committee urged the authorities to implement the reform rapidly, so that it would have an effect on the 2016/2017 school year. It encouraged them to ensure that sufficient financial and human resources were allocated to all actors involved and that a monitoring body was duly equipped with all necessary powers and to provide the Committee with detailed information in this respect. The Committee invited the authorities to confirm the entry into force of the reform and to provide information showing its impact in practice.

- Information provided in response to the latest decision of the Committee: On 15 February 2017 the authorities submitted the requested information, comprehensively explaining the principles of the new educational framework and providing details on the adopted or envisaged legislative and practical measures to implement the reform, including the necessary financial means, awareness-raising measures, as well as the supervisory mechanisms (see DH-DD(2017)217). As regards the latter issue, the 2016 amendment to the Education Act extended the powers of the Czech School Inspectorate, which will assess the quality of the work of the school counselling centres (which test pupils’ learning capacity and recommend support measures). The authorities indicated also that the compulsory final year of pre-school education will come into effect in September 2017.The rest of the measures foreseen by the reform entered into force in September 2016. The whole system is currently in the two-year transitional period, during which the measures will gradually be put in place (in particular the replacement of the educational programme for children with “mild mental disability” by a unified curriculum combined, if needed, with support measures). Furthermore, training on the use of the diagnostic tools is on-going and experts are being provided with the necessary methodological support. The authorities also regularly organise round-tables with representatives of NGOs, professional associations, relevant institutions and national human rights institutions.

Finally, the authorities submitted the most recent statistical data for the school year 2016/2017, which do not differ substantially from the statistics for 2015/2016. It shows that Roma pupils are still disproportionately educated as children with mild mental disabilities (30.6% for the 2015/2016 school year and 30. 9% for the 2016/2017 school year,[3] although the total number decreased by 221).  

Analysis by the Secretariat

It should again be underlined that the 2015-2016 reform of the Education Act represents an important step in the right direction, as it laid the groundwork for inclusive education for all children by guaranteeing the right of pupils with special needs to free individual support measures in mainstream education. Accordingly, the Committee may wish again to send a strong message to the authorities supporting the reform and encouraging them to ensure its full implementation.

As to the reform’s impact on the ground, it is true that the statistical data for the current school year does not show a visible improvement in the situation of Roma pupils. However, it is understandable that the impact of the reform may not be apparent at this stage, as the main measures entered into force in September 2016 and will be implemented gradually over a period of two years. In particular, during this period, schools or classes using the curriculum for pupils with mild mental disabilities will have to adapt to the unified curriculum, with individual educational plans if needed.

Furthermore, the compulsory final year of preschool education will be effective as of 1 of September 2017 and its impact will be visible only for the 2018/2019 school year onwards. However, it can be expected that the first results of the inclusive reform will be seen at the end of the current school year as children with special educational needs started to receive support measures from 1 September 2016, with increasing numbers receiving such support, allowing them to follow mainstream education. The statistical data at the end of 2017 should therefore show tangible results, evidenced by an unequivocal increase in the number of Roma children educated in mainstream schools.

In this respect, the Committee may wish to underline that it is crucial rapidly to achieve concrete results as regards the inclusion of Roma pupils in mainstream education, bearing in mind that the judgment in this case became final almost ten years ago.

The Committed may also wish to invite the authorities rigorously to collect all necessary data showing the practical impact of the reform, in particular reflecting the situation of Roma pupils, and to provide, no later than 15 February 2018, extensive information in this respect, including comprehensive statistics.

Finally, the Committee may wish to resume the examination of the case no later than June 2018.

Financing assured: YES