The Rom condition in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, just as in other European countries, represents a social problem of enormous gravity. That makes all the more precious those signals of hope that this situation may improve.
At the end of November, the Rom culture Museum at Brno, awarded a Slovak teacher for his untiring work, conducted in the last twenty years, in favor of the education and social redemption of his Romany pupils. His name is Jan Sajko and he is a professor of art education in a primary school in Jarovnice, a very poor Romany village, twenty kilometers from Presov. His students come from a state of complete misery and social alienation. At first glance, a lost cause, in an environment on the fringe of civilization. However, during his lessons in class, Jan is able to involve the children along an educational path, which for many, has proved to be providential. The images that we present in the following pages are all testimony to the work and atmosphere that Sajko is able to create with his classes of students.
Let’s not forget that the majority of the 500 thousand Romany in Slovakia, live in a condition of misery, almost always in a condition of contrast with the rest of the population and, in any case, in a situation of deep social alienation. The economic crisis has made this state of affairs, even more serious.
In the Czech Republic, where, according to statistics, there are 300 thousand Gypsies out of a total population of ten million inhabitants, the situation is not much more comforting. Even quite recently, research by Stem has revealed that 83% of Czech citizens consider the Romany as misfits, to be avoided and, are intolerant towards them.
Gypsy Spirit
Even this year, we followed the Gypsy Spirit project, an initiative already at its second edition, which is supported by the Prague government, with the aim of highlighting examples of Rom community integration and, award those who are working towards this goal. The idea was imported into Prague from Slovakia, where the Gypsy Spirit takes place with the fundamental support of Slovenske elektrarne (energy company of the Enel group), as a testimony of how important this theme is to corporate social responsibility.
This year, in the Czech Republic, one of the most significant Gypsy Spirit awards was given to the Masaryk primary school of Valašské Meziříčí, a city from the far east of the Country. Just about a year ago, this school had drawn public attention for the intention of placing the Rom children in separate classes. Eventually, the Director of the Institute gave up this unhappy school apartheid project, arranging for the pupils to be placed into classes with no ethnic distinction, but with special support teachers to follow students who are not able to keep up with their program or, who have particular behavioral problems. The results have been very satisfactory and the Gypsy Spirit jury praised the courage of going against common opinion, by demonstrating that integration is possible.