Fico Abandons Boarding School Plan for Roma Children, Shifts Approach

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has dropped a proposal to establish boarding schools for Roma children, opting instead for a different strategy to address educational challenges within the country's large Roma minority. Fico had previously floated the idea of residential schools as a means of improving educational outcomes for Roma children, who consistently face significant disadvantages in Slovakia's school system due to poverty, segregation, and social exclusion. The Roma population, estimated at several hundred thousand people, is one of the largest in Central Europe and has long been the subject of contentious government policy debates in Slovakia. Critics of the boarding school proposal had raised concerns about forced separation of children from their families and potential human rights implications. The change in approach reflects ongoing difficulties Slovak governments have faced in crafting effective and rights-compliant integration policies, with results described as poor when political will or resources are lacking.