Czech Republic

Czech parent group in favor of inclusion says the state's approach is the biggest obstacle

29.1.2016 20:26 In the Czech Republic, the Alliance of Parents for Inclusion (Aliance Rodiče za inkluzi) has been striving for more than a year to bolster the role played by parents in the process of including children with disabilities into mainstream schools so they can be accepted by schools as their partners. These parents are requiring that the state do all it can to fulfill their children's lawful right to a quality education and are drawing attention to the current systemic deficiencies preventing the development of inclusive education.  full story

As politicians mark International Holocaust Remembrance day, Czech extremists deny it

28.1.2016 18:02 Yesterday, 27 January, was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In 2005 the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed it as such, a motion supported by a total of 91 of its member states.  full story

New Czech website focuses on the Romani Holocaust

26.1.2016 19:28 On Wednesday, 27 January, the world will honor the memory of the millions of victims of the Holocaust. On this occasion the In IUSTITIA public benefit corporation, the only group in the Czech Republic comprehensively dedicated to the issue of hate violence, is launching an educational website focused on the topic of the Romani Holocaust, sometimes referred to as the Porajmos.  full story

Czech town of Kladno: 40 private residential hotels and no other alternative for the poor

23.1.2016 20:08 The shabby building has been wrapped in tape ever since it was condemned. Formerly an infamous residential hotel called the "Meat Factory" (Masokombinát), it is still standing in the Czech town of Kladno despite four-year-old plans by the town to either demolish or sell it.  full story

Czech Public Defender of Rights says 11 % of the population encounters discrimination

22.1.2016 22:48 The Office of the Public Defender of Rights issued a press release today reporting that discrimination is directly experienced by 11 % of the population of the Czech Republic, usually when seeking work or directly in the workplace. The most frequent problem is discrimination due to advanced age.  full story

Almost 60 % of Czechs believe Romani children should be educated in mainstream classes

21.1.2016 19:38 More than half of all Czechs consider educating all children together to be the right way forward, according to a survey performed last year by the IPSOS agency for the Czech Professional Society for Inclusive Education (ČOSIV). A total of 57 % of respondents supported that opinion.  full story

Czech Education Minister rejects mayors' calls to delay inclusion

18.1.2016 17:16 Czech Education Minister Kateřina Valachová (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) is opposed to a proposal by the mayors of statutory cities to delay new inclusion measures in the schools which, according to the ministry's plan, are to take place on 1 September. Speaking at a meeting with the Association of Regional Authorities of the Czech Republic in Brno on Friday, she said the change has been discussed for 10 years and is no longer possible to postpone.  full story

Czech Public Defender of Rights issues recommendations for primary school enrollments

15.1.2016 20:23 Today first-grade enrollments began in the Czech Republic. Children who will turn six during 2016 are those affected.  full story

As Czech home for children improves facility, its Romani graduates can't get a lease

12.1.2016 21:50 Children living at the Prostějov children's home (Dětský domov) have a new outdoor playground. "We are doing our best to lead these children toward movement and sport, so the training playground became instantly popular. However, shortly after we installed the machinery, the real winter began. Now these young athletes have to wait for warmer weather," director Vladimír Brablec told the daily Prostějovský deník.  full story

Commentary by Karel Holomek: Special educators' lobby has tried to convince us for years that inclusion can't happen yet

12.1.2016 8:00 Among some of our educators the conviction predominates that inclusive education would be equivalent to the Czech schools planning to commit suicide. This has already become a kind of obsession, and some members of the special educators' lobby have been doing their best to convince us for at least 15 years that the time has not yet come for children with varying degrees of mental backwardness (mainly social backwardness) - or even for some children without any such backwardness - to be included in mainstream education.  full story

Czech Interior Minister Chovanec would like to restrict anonymity on the Internet

9.1.2016 20:21 According to Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec, the time has come to begin discussing various options on how to approach the Internet. "If I were to say now that I would like every Internet user to be identified, everyone would start throwing things at me. However, in my view, the time has come to debate how to move in that direction," yesterday's edition of the Czech daily Lidové noviny quoted him as saying.  full story

Some Czech schools institute online reservations for first-grade enrollment

8.1.2016 16:38 In mid-January the enrollment of children into first grade who will reach the age of six during 2016 will begin in the Czech Republic. The main criterion for a child's acceptance into first grade is, according to the Schools Act, whether the child lives in the school's so-called catchment area.  full story

Commentary by Petr Uhl: "The Jew Hilsner from Polná was unjustly convicted of the murder of the Christian, Hrůzová"

7.1.2016 23:03 I have borrowed the headline for this commentary from yesterday's news reports published by several Czech media outlets. The full headline was: "Leopold Hilsner, a resident of the Jewish ghetto in Polná, was unjustly convicted of the murder of the Christian, Hrůzová."  full story

Czech children give a record 3 873 Christmas gifts to their impoverished peers

6.1.2016 14:55 Diaconia of the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren reports that through one of its projects a record 3 873 boxes of Christmas presents were distributed to children from socially vulnerable families or excluded localities in the Czech Republic this holiday season. The Christmas surprises, wrapped in shoe boxes, were prepared by other children from various locations around the country with the aid of their parents or teachers.  full story

Czech residential hotel with 200 tenants goes second day without power

5.1.2016 23:28 A residential hotel on Zelená Street in the Czech town of Děčín, which became a target of anti-Romani marches in the summer of 2014, has been without electricity since yesterday after several fuses blew. Around 200 occupants live in the building, a large portion of whom are children.  full story

Children from five Czech children's homes spend Christmas in the mountains

4.1.2016 17:28 Children from five children's homes in the Czech Republic found presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning this year thanks to the Duha Zámeček (Rainbow Manor) association's annual Rainbow Christmas in the mountains event. This year the children took an imaginary journey across the ocean and experienced an American Christmas with Santa Claus and turkey.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister congratulates 30+ recipients of Roma Education Fund scholarships

15.12.2015 21:28 On Friday, 11 December, the annual gala to celebrate the awarding of scholarships to Romani college students took place in Prague. For the 2015/2016 academic year, 34 students received scholarships from the Budapest-based Roma Education Fund (REF).  full story

Czech Republic: Roma Spirit award goes to director of primary school that includes Roma and to Romea.cz co-founder

14.12.2015 22:28 The fifth annual Roma Spirit awards in the Czech Republic have been given in five regular categories and two special ones. The gala awards ceremony evening at the Prague Crossroads on Thursday, 10 December, International Human Rights Day, included performances by Antonín Gondolán, the band Terne Čhave and Natálie Bagárová.  full story

US Ambassador to Czech Republic gives Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award to director of primary school that includes Roma

13.12.2015 16:59 The Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award for work in the field of human rights was given on 9 December to Marie Gottfriedová, director of the Trmice Primary School in the Ústí Region of the Czech Republic. The award has been given by the US Embassy since 2004 and was given to Ms Gottfriedová by US Ambassador Andrew Schapiro.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani author and journalist Gejza Demeter has passed away

9.12.2015 17:28 The eminent Romani author and journalist Gejza Demeter has passed away; his funeral will be this Friday, 11 December, at 13:00 in the ceremonial hall of the cemetery in Neratovice. Jan Červenka, head of the Romani Studies Seminar at Charles University in Prague contacted news server Romea.cz on behalf of Mr Demeter's family last week with the news.  full story