A schoolgirl from the Roma community based in the Alentejo has been told by a court that she doesn’t have to go to school anymore.
The fifteen-year-old had pretty much stopped going to school, claiming she was helping her sick mother with domestic tasks. A case was brought under the Protection of Minors legislation concerning the seventh year pupil at a school in Avis, in the Upper Alentejo.
The local court accepted that the girl was failing to attend school and justified this on "cultural grounds," the excuse cited by the Roma community to which the student belongs.
The school had alerted the Commission for the Protection of Children and Young People which, eventually, referred the case up the judicial chain, had failed to reach an understanding with the girl's parents who did not want her to continue at school, based on cultural grounds.
The case then went to the Tribunal in Portalegre which concluded that, "The child does not show motivation to attend school, preferring to help her mother in domestic tasks, insofar as the mother can not carry them out due to illness," in a decision dated January 5, 2017.
"Of gypsy ethnicity, and fulfilling their traditions", the court decided “she does not need to attend school."
The judge argued that the girl was not remotely interested in continuing at school, "The development of the personality and abilities of young people, nowadays, for the pursuit of a dignified life, adequate to social and juridical rules, is sometimes shaped by diverse and equally rewarding paths, not simply the frequency of schooling until the age of majority, as is precisely the case in this case," the judge concluded, to the delight of fifteen-year-olds across the nation.
The Gypsy Community School Profile (Perfil Escolar da Comunidade Cigana) looked at the number of Roma children enrolled in a sample of Portugal's public schools in the 2016/2017 school year.
Based on the responses of 563 schools, the report concluded in April this year that the number of Roma children attending compulsory schooling has doubled in 20 years, although it decreases as the age increases.
The ECRI Report on Portugal's fifth monitoring cycle, adopted on 19 June 2018, stated that ,"The situation of Roma children is deeply concerning: 90% of them leave school early, often at the age of 10 to 12 years. Only 52% of Roma men and 18% of Roma women work, and 17% of Roma live without running water and 25% without a toilet or a bathroom in their dwelling.
"The key authorities should publicly assume the responsibility for achieving the main objectives of the National strategy for the integration of Roma and the education authorities should ensure that all Roma children rigorously attend compulsory schooling up to the age of 18 years."
