Segregation of Roma Children into Special Schools

Segregation framed as “diagnosis” 

After 1989, Roma families often faced biased assessments and school‑entry testing that failed to account for bilingualism, social deprivation, or cultural bias. In many municipalities, special education became an institutional mechanism that separated Roma children from mainstream classrooms while presenting the process as neutral pedagogy.

The result was long‑term exclusion: once placed in special schools or special classes, children followed reduced curricula and faced limited pathways to further education. Evidence from the period shows that placement was frequently unrelated to disability and instead functioned as a practical tool of segregation.