You must not be discriminated against in educational institutions such as schools or universities, regardless of whether they are owned by the state, a municipality or are private institutions.
You must not be denied access to education or be treated worse or graded lower than other students on discriminatory grounds. The prohibition of discrimination protects all current and prospective pupils or students in all state, municipal and private educational institutions. These include kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities. Slovakian law explicitly prohibits discrimination in education on all protected grounds listed in the Anti-discrimination Act. The law stipulates that education in all types of schools disregarding the founding subject bears equal value.
Discrimination in education may include cases where someone is given priority over you only because you possess certain characteristics. It may also occur when you are treated worse in the education process because you belong to a certain race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or possess other characteristics that are prohibited grounds for discrimination.
example A college or university must not reject an application to a childcare course only because the applicant is male and they do not think it is appropriate for a male to be working with children. Similarly, a school may not refuse to enrol a child or grade the child lower only because of his/her Roma ethnicity.
important Educational institutions may accept students who pass a specific test or other competition. Even if you belong to a certain race, nationality or other group of people, but your application is rejected because other applicants were more successful on their merits, it will not be considered discrimination.
However, in certain countries and in certain situations, educational institutions established by private entities or churches are allowed to choose specific types of students by applying the exception of ethos. In Slovakia, nevertheless, the exception of ethos applies only in case of institutions established by church, and only in context of employment or other employment-related tasks. Preferential treatment based on the exception of ethos is not allowed in context of enrolment of pupils and students to these institutions.
In Slovakia, the law allows the establishment of schools or classes for children with special needs – either children with a special talent or children with physical or mental disability.
What human rights violations may there be?
The prohibition of discrimination will be violated if you or your child are not accepted by a school or other educational institution or are treated worse in the educational process only because you are of a certain age, race, or ethnicity or possess other characteristics that are prohibited grounds.
For example, the existence of special needs schools should not lead to segregation of pupils who attend them and the general principle of equal treatment and equal access to education should apply for them, too. In spite of this, in Slovakia the percentage of children placed in facilities of special needs education is three to four times higher than the EU average, which is a fact that may point to some structural as well as policy-based deficiencies.
If you or your child do not have access to a particular type of education, it may also violate the right to education.
How to complain
If you believe that you may have been discriminated against by a private educational institution, you may file a complaint to the founder of the school or to the State School Inspection or to the court of general jurisdiction.
If you believe that you have been discriminated against by a public educational institution, you may also submit a complaint to a higher institution, which in case of various types of schools may be a different body, to the State School Inspection, to the Ministry of Education and afterwards, to the administrative court.
Read more about how to complain.