Minority Rights and the Right to Education
In 2005, the Crowley Mission traveled to Romania to investigate access to education and de facto educational segregation of the Roma ("Gypsy") minority. Although Romania's new constitution guarantees equal rights for all citizens, Roma children are often taught in "ghetto schools" which lack basic resources. In other cases, Roma children are sent to "special schools" even though they have no physical or mental disability. Even when Roma children are able to study in mixed schools, they are frequently placed in separate classes from non-Roma children.
The Crowley mission participants traveled throughout Romania, meeting with government and school officials, teachers, Roma activists and community leaders, representatives of the European Union and UNICEF, and Roma children.
Read Romania Mission Report (PDF)
For more information on the current human rights situation in Romania, please consult:
