According to NGOs dealing with Roma rights who met in Bratislava on July 1 to protest against government’s policy on Roma issues, the results of three years of work by Deputy Prime Minister Dušan Čaplovič are inadequate, the TASR newswire wrote.
“I'm very sorry; the results are not as they should be. This isn't even fit for a re-examination,” said Stano Daniel from the Roma Public Policy Institute, 'grading' Čaplovič's performance by handing him a 'school report card' prepared by the activists. Daniel joked that the only help would be transferring Čaplovič to a special school, referring to a measure often touted by the deputy PM for resolving problems faced by Roma in the education system.
“School reports should motivate, not frustrate. This is how I view this school report from you. I see it as an appreciation of the work done for the Roma communities for ten, fifteen years,” replied Čaplovič after taking the report.
He stated that he would give himself an average grade and that he isn't afraid of the problems that await him in regard to Roma issues. He added he will put the school report in his archive and promised to work for the Roma population more actively than he has until now.
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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