AS MANY as 74 percent of Roma children say they have encountered discrimination at least once in their life, the recently published results of a survey among Roma pupils show, as reported by the Roma Press Agency (RPA).
While 67 percent said they have been verbally insulted for being Roma, 6 percent admitted they also faced racially motivated physical assault.
As many as 16 percent of the polled children said they face discrimination on a daily basis, while 54 percent encounter it sporadically, about once a month on average.
On the other hand, 26 percent of the polled children said they have never faced discrimination.
The Roma Media Centre (MECEM) organised the survey in the second half of 2013 on a sample of 200 school children, 43 percent of them boys. While 36 percent of the children in the survey went to segregated Roma schools, 22 percent said they were enrolled in a class in which they were the only Roma pupil.
Of the polled children, 36 percent said they had only Roma friends and 26 percent said that more than half of their friends were non-Roma.
Half of the respondents believe that the reason why Roma face discrimination is due to their low level of education. Almost half of them said they are concerned about the growing racism in Slovakia.
As many as 82 percent of the children believe that cohabitation of the Roma minority with the majority population is good for both sides, because it allows them to learn about and support each other. Only 17 percent said they were convinced that Roma and non-Roma must live together, while 15 percent were opposed to cohabitation because they believe all non-Roma are racist.
Source: RPA
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports.
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information
presented in its Flash News postings.
