On February 20, 2024, we met with mothers of Roma children to talk together about the planned construction of a church school in close proximity to the marginalized Roma community in Hermanovce. These women do not want another school to be built in their village that will be attended only by Roma children. They do not want their children to be educated in a segregated school close to their community.

They want their children to receive a quality education and to attend school together with non-Roma children. They want the municipality to build rented flats or houses rather than building a new school. They also want more decent housing, sewerage and water supply as the non-Roma families in the village have it. They want their children to have a better life, to have clean housing, to have a place to study at home and to do their homework. They want their children to live like non-Roma children.

At the meeting we discussed possible steps we could take together to prevent the construction of a new church school. In our opinion, it is obvious that the planned construction does not take into account the verdict of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic that we achieved by our strategic litigation – which in its decision regarding the segregation of Roma children in Stara Ľubovňa has already stated that a Roma school near a Roma community is illegal.

The women have our great thanks for their courage and determination.