With reference to the complaint for discrimination, i.e. segregation of Roma children in the Primary School “Petar Tasic” in Leskovac that Praxis filed against the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, the Department for Social Affairs of the Leskovac City Administration and the stated school, the Commissioner for Protection of Equality gave its opinion including a recommendation on 11 March 2013. The Commissioner did not determine discrimination. However, in the recommendation the Commissioner ordered the responsible parties to jointly and in cooperation with representatives of civil society undertake all the measures and activities within their competences without delay, with the aim to solve the problem of segregation, i.e. high number of Roma pupils in comparison to pupils of other nationalities in the Primary School “Petar Tasic” in Leskovac. The Commissioner also ordered the responsible parties to inform this institution within 30 days about the undertaken and planned measures for proceeding upon the recommendation.

The discrimination act at which Praxis pointed in the complaint is a consequence of the fact that since 2011 exclusively Roma children have been enrolled in the Primary School “Petar Tasic.” During the implementation of so-called “territorial principle,” i.e. the obligation of parents to enrol children in the nearest school to their place of residence, the school was attended by pupils of different nationalities. However, the abolition of this principle lead to creation of a purely Roma educational institution.