Czech Republic

Analysis: Czech Police are confusing lawful behavior with "left-wing extremism"

4.3.2016 18:55 In September 1998, 17 years ago, the Antifa initiative held a march in the Czech city of Brno under the slogan "Blacks, whites, let's unite!" and "Why see difference when nothing divides us?!" The organizer of that march, Dušan Rosenbaum, said at the close of the demonstration that racism and fascism were more than just a problem for Jews, Roma and other persons of color here, but had also become a problem for LGBT people, those living with disabilities, ethnic minorities, humanists and human rights defenders: "Let's prevent conflict arising from natural human diversity, whether it be ethnic, cultural, national, racial or sexual," he warned.  full story

Czech Republic: Activists remain at Klinika even after 14:00 deadline today

3.3.2016 21:42 Activists are still refusing to vacate the building of a former health care center in the Žižkov quarter of Prague 3. Their contract with the Office for Government Representation in Property Affairs (Úřad pro zastupování státu ve věcech majetkových - ÚZSVM), which has lent them the building, ended at midnight yesterday and they were supposed to have vacated the premises by 14:00.  full story

Drahomír Radek Horváth: Romani children in the Czech Republic end up in "special schools" but thrive abroad. Why?

3.3.2016 18:45 I would like to permit myself the luxury here of describing something bluntly and straightforwardly, without beating around the bush. More than 30 % of the children being educated according to the program for the "mildly mentally disabled" (lehce mentálně postižené - LMP) in the Czech Republic are Romani.  full story

Czech Finance Minister: Activists must leave Klinika building

2.3.2016 23:10 Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babiš has tweeted this evening that the Prague building in which activists are running the Autonomous Social Center Klinika is in poor condition and that by law they must vacate the premises. Babiš also met with the Mayor of Prague 3, Vladislava Hujová (TOP 09), who showed him complaints she had received from citizens about Klinika.  full story

Czech activists say Finance Minister supports their staying at Autonomous Social Center Klinika until the building sells

2.3.2016 19:53 Activists are refusing to vacate the building of a former health center in the Žižkov quarter of Prague where the Autonomous Social Center Klinika is now running. At midnight tonight the group's contract to borrow the building is scheduled to end.  full story

Patrik Banga: Inclusion? Definitely yes!

1.3.2016 19:43 Beginning with the new school year this fall, a decree on inclusive education will take effect in the Czech Republic. The nation, as is traditional, is screaming that "this is a law for Gypsies", while teachers are screaming that the schools will be degraded.  full story

Jan Kudry: Let's not punish Romani children for their parents' errors

29.2.2016 23:18 Jan Kudry is from Postoloprty, Czech Republic. Last year he defended his dissertation at Charles University's Faculty of Pedagogy. He works as an investigator for the Criminal Police and Detective Services in the town of Beroun and is an external instructor at Svatojanská College in the town of Svatý Jan pod Skalou. He is also a member of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs.  full story

Czech experts say teachers do not believe state will support inclusion

28.2.2016 22:19 Speaking at a press conference, Jana Straková of the Institute for Research and Development in Education at Charles University's Faculty of Pedagogy said that Czech teachers' concerns about inclusion flow from insufficient explanations as to what precisely will happen this fall and what kind of aid they will receive. Straková said she believes educators do not trust that the state will provide them with support when they request it.  full story

Editorial: Czech media claim inspection found "no discrimination" at Krásná Lípa school - lack of professionalism or intentional manipulation?

26.2.2016 17:04 The Czech School Inspection (Česká školní inspekce - ČSI) has published a report of its investigation into a primary school in the town of Krásná Lípa where Romani parents complained last September that their children had been concentrated into a single classroom. The conclusions of the report are unambiguous and very unfavorable to the school.  full story

Czech expert says Krásná Lípa school committed segregation and probably discrimination as well

26.2.2016 15:42 Klára Laurenčíková, an expert on inclusive education, has commented on the results of an investigation by the Czech School Inspection into complaints of segregation at a primary school in Krásná Lípa on which news server Romea.cz has been reporting. She believes that by creating a "Romani class", the school has committed segregation at the very least and may have also committed discrimination.  full story

Czech School Inspection finds school's "Romani class" offers substandard instruction, fee charged for regular instruction

25.2.2016 19:32 The Czech School Inspection (Česká školní inspekce - ČSI) has found many deficiencies during its inspection of a public primary school in the town of Krásná Lípa, the most essential of which involves the poor level of education provided in its Class 1A, to which primarily Romani children were assigned at the beginning of the school year. On the basis of a complaint filed by Romani parents, the Inspection began working at the primary school last autumn.  full story

Czech Television considers ending controversial "debate" program

24.2.2016 18:07 The "You Have the Floor" ("Máte slovo") program, in comparison to Czech Television's other current events programs, is the very worst in terms of quality. Czech daily Lidové noviny's online edition, Lidovky.cz, reports that is the conclusion of a rapid analysis requested by a new member of the public broadcaster's board, Zdeněk Šarapatka, who is a big critic of the program moderated by Michaela Jílková.  full story

Czech foundation says tabloid is bolstering media hysteria about school reforms

23.2.2016 18:15 According to a survey performed for the tabloid daily Blesk in the Czech Republic by the SANEP agency, a large proportion of people are concerned about and disagree with upcoming changes that mean children with special educational needs will be educated together with other children in the same schools. According to Blesk, more than 90 % of a representative sample of more than 2 000 people believe the change will worsen the level of education in the country, while less than 10 % believe it will improve education.  full story

Czech Republic: Discussion of adoption and foster care for Romani children tomorrow at Klinika

22.2.2016 17:22 On Tuesday, 23 February, at 18:30 there will be a lecture and debate on the topic of foster family care for Romani children at the Klinika Autonomous Social Center (Jeseniova 60, Prague 3). This is the third such evening lecture in a series called "Getting a Good Start" (Mít dobrý start) and will be led by Martina Vančáková, a family counselor, foster parent, and psychologist who founded the "Our Romani Child" project at the Foster Care Center in Prague.  full story

Czech Interior Minister: Police committed "minor excesses" during recent demonstrations

21.2.2016 19:54 The Czech Police, who are facing criticism over the approach they took to recent demonstrations against Islam and in support of refugee reception, are officially said to have managed the situation well, save for a few "minor excesses". Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) gave that assessment to journalists yesterday in Prague.  full story

Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry's amendment counts on reducing benefits for residential hotel tenants

20.2.2016 20:28 The Czech Labor Ministry is preparing to reduce the amount of housing benefits disbursed to people living in residential hotels. The amount of the benefit should be calculated based on lower base rates than have been used to date.  full story

Czech principal: Children have the least problem with inclusion because they have yet to absorb adult prejudice

19.2.2016 20:41 "Inclusion is not some sort of rash project, it's about a process of change that many schools have already absolutely naturally put into practice," says Vladimír Foist, the principal of a primary school in the Czech town of Poběžovice, in an interview for the Czech daily Deník.cz. News server Romea.cz publishes a brief excerpt of that interview in full translation here:  full story

Czech Deputy Public Defender of Rights inserts himself into scandal over refugee interview

19.2.2016 19:01 According to Stanislav Křeček, the Deputy Public Defender of Rights, the Iraqi Christian refugee George Batto, who was offered an apartment in the Czech town of Jihlava and was then interviewed by TV Prima, did not compare that apartment to a "cowshed" or "barn for animals". In its first report about the refugees, Prima broadcast a misinterpretation of Batto's words that included a reference to a "cowshed" and juxtaposed the audio with an image of the apartments at issue.  full story

17 Czech senators say tv report on refugees constitutes illegal incitement to hatred

18.2.2016 23:13 News server Marketing&Media reports that on Wednesday, 18 February, 17 members of the Senate of the Czech Republic filed a complaint with the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting over reporting by the Prima television station about Iraqi refugees from Erbil. According to the senators, the reporting may have violated Act No. 231/2001 on the operation of radio and television broadcasting, especially the obligation to not engage in incitement to hatred.  full story

Czech Government approves social exclusion strategy for 2016-2020

18.2.2016 17:33 The Czech Government has adopted a document focused on addressing the existence of socially excluded localities and preventing the creation of new ones, including introducing a system for regularly monitoring the phenomenon of social exclusion in collaboration with all of the relevant ministries. According to the most recent research published by the Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry in 2015, there are between 95 000 and 115 000 socially excluded persons living in the Czech Republic concentrated in 606 socially excluded localities.  full story