The illegality of educational segregation for Roma children has been demonstrated in the European Court of Human Rights Court's groundbreaking judgments in D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic (2007) Sampanis v. Greece (2008) and Orsus and Others v. Croatia (2010, which rejected the segregation of Romani students into special schools for children with mental disabilities or within mainstream schools on the basis of ethnicity and or language.

The symposia will outline how school segregation of Roma children evolved as an issue in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia with reference to spatial, social and economic as well as institutional and governmental exclusion. The papers offer a comparative review of the school desegregation process and include empirical data on the current state of affairs in the desegregation process and the results of desegregation policies with particular reference to good practice models at governmental, institutional and community level.

The symposia will provide insights into how good practice and change can be promoted by european countries working in partnerships and collaboration - reference will be made to the Decade of Roma Inclusion and the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies, both of which have identified educational inclusion as a priority area.