The Chronicle Online was the first to report that the Bucharest jury had ordered the Romanian Ministry of Education and the Education Inspectorate of Cluj Province to pay 60,000 lei for refusing to start the fine arts department at Apáczai Csere Secondary School in Cluj-Napoca.
In a final ruling, the Bucharest Commission ruled that Hungarian children who wanted to start fifth grade in the 2016-2017 school year were discriminated against, but the district education inspectorate and the ministry did not contribute, citing the small number of children.
For the first time, a Romanian court awarded monetary damages for language discrimination.
The court ordered the ministry and the school inspectorate to pay 6,000 lei – about 430,000 forints – to each person. The 10 students represented by AGFI will receive this amount.
16 children applied to the class, and Minister of State for Minority Education Andras Kiraly failed to correct his refusal to start.
Following a complaint from stakeholders, Romania’s National Anti-Discrimination Council (CNCD) condemned the inspection body in April 2017 and requested that the matter be resolved as soon as possible by referring the decision to the Education Inspectorate and the Ministry of Education.
Referring to the council’s decision, 12 children insisted that they wanted to study in a fine arts class. Their parents applied to the superintendent of education to start sixth grade in September 2017. This was rejected by the superintendent. At the time, the parents of the 10 children involved sued for damages. This lawsuit was won in both first and second degrees. (Chronicle Online / MTI)
