The Roma are one of the largest and most discriminated minorities in many European countries, including the Czech Republic (European Commission, 2020; Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs, 2022). According to recent data from the Czech Ministry of Education, Roma students face a relatively high level of segregation in elementary education in the Czech Republic. Although Roma students make up only about 3.6 % of the entire student population in elementary education, there are at least seventy-eight elementary schools in the Czech Republic where Roma students constitute the majority of the school's student population (MEYS, 2024). This study is based on the premise that to solve a problem, we need to understand its causes. The qualitative research presented here, therefore, examined the causes of segregation in the fifty elementary schools with the largest representation of Roma students (on average, each of these schools is attended by 210 Roma students). The objectives of the research were: 1) To analyse the role that the setting of school catchment areas plays in the establishment of segregated Roma schools; 2) To describe the impact of varying conditions of education in individual schools on the establishment of segregated schools; and 3) To determine the role that public attitudes and decision-making processes of students’ parents play in relation to the emergence of segregated schools. Data was collected through interviews with independent experts who possess a good understanding of local education systems, specifically local consultants from the National Pedagogical Institute and representatives of non-profit organsations working in education. The results of the research show that the specific causes of segregation are distributed among all three areas under study. The phenomenon of segregated Roma schools in the Czech Republic is thus caused by pro-segregation settings of the schools’ catchment areas, as well as by unequal conditions of education in individual schools and the prejudices in the decision-making of students’ parents. Research thus confirms that the existence of segregated Roma schools is a multifactorial phenomenon (Messing, 2017; Ryder, Rostas, & Taba, 2014), the solution to which requires both dismantling existing institutional racism and reducing inequalities in the educational system.

European Commission. 2020. A Union of Equality: EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation (Communication from the Commision to the European Parliament and the Council). https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu_en Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs. 2022. Zpráva o stavu romské menšiny v České republice za rok 2021 (Report on the State of the Roma Minority in the Czech Republic 2021). https://vlada.gov.cz/cz/ppov/zalezitosti-romske-komunity/aktuality/zprava-o-stavu-romske-mensiny-v-ceske-republice-za-rok-2021-204244/ Messing, V. 2017. Differentiation in the Making: Consequences of School Segregation of Roma in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. European education, 49(1), 89-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/10564934.2017.1280336 MEYS: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. 2024. Zpráva ze zjišťování kvalifikovaných odhadů počtu romských žáků v základních školách ve školním roce 2023/2024 (Report on the Survey of Qualified Estimates of the Number of Roma Students in Elementary Schools in the School Year 2023/2024). https://msmt.gov.cz/vzdelavani/zprava-ke-zjistovani-kvalifikovanych-odhadu-poctu-romskych Ryder, A. R., I. Rostas, and M. Taba. 2014. “‘Nothing about Us without Us’: The Role of Inclusive Community Development in School Desegregation for Roma Communities.” Race Ethnicity and Education 17 (4): 518–539. doi:10.1080/13613324.2014.885426.