31/05/2022
FSG
The text passed by Congress does not include or define segregation as a form of discrimination, thus failing to comply with the recommendations of the European Commission and the Council of Europe and preventing it from being reported.The proposal for the Integrated Law on Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination initiates its procedure in the Senate. The Alliance for Inclusive Education and against School Segregation #AlColeJuntos2030 (#ToSchoolTogether2030), made up of the Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities CERMI, Fundación Secretariado Gitano and Save the Children Spain, warns that the text passed by Congress does not explicitly prohibit school segregation: "The text does not define the concept of segregation. The term is mentioned five times in the text without defining it. It is not possible to identify, denounce and tackle something that is not clearly defined. Not defining the concept of school segregation generates legal uncertainty and prevents it from having concrete effects", says Isidro Rodríguez, Director of Fundación Secretariado Gitano.
The Alliance for Inclusive Education believes that "the current wording is not in line with the European Anti-Discrimination Directive, with the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, nor does it comply with the recommendations of international institutions such as the European Commission's Equality Expert Group, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) or the Council of Europe. All of them establish the need to explicitly prohibit segregation, including school segregation, providing clear definitions that enable its application" declared Catalina Perazzo, Director of Social and Political Advocacy at Save the Children Spain.
Segregation is a violation of the right to education and a form of discrimination. School segregation, understood as the over-representation or concentration in certain schools or classrooms of students with disabilities, Roma students, migrants and students from low socio-economic backgrounds, reduces their educational success and their opportunities for social inclusion. Spain ranks third among OECD countries in terms of school segregation in primary schools.
The three organisations that constitute the Alliance, regret this missed opportunity and hope that the Senate will correct the lack of definition and ban segregation. To this end, they have submitted several proposed amendments to the parliamentary groups seeking to rectify the situation. "We are still in time to bring this law up to the European Human Rights standards", concluded Luis Cayo, President of CERMI.
The Alliance for Inclusive Education and Against School Segregation #AlColeJuntos2030 (#ToSchoolTogether2030) is formed by the Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities (CERMI), Fundación Secretariado Gitano and Save the Children Spain. They joined forces in 2020 to call on public authorities and education administrations to implement policies in order to end school segregation and advance towards a fully inclusive education system by 2030, in line with human rights treaties and SDG 4.
