Lithuania, CERD/C/LTU/CO/4-5

16. The Committee notes the State party’s efforts to ensure that the education of Roma children is improved. However, it regrets the absence of statistics on the number of Roma children completing secondary education and the placement of Roma children in special needs schools. (art. 5)

Further to its previous concluding observations (CERD/C/LTU/CO/3, para. 19) the Committee recommends the State party to increase its efforts in ensuring that Roma children integrate in the mainstream schools, to resolutely address the problem of Roma children dropping out of school and to promote Roma language in the school system. The Committee recommends further that the State party establish a mechanism to accurately assess the number of Roma children pursuing education at the secondary level and above. The Committee requests the State party to provide in its next periodic report additional information on the decision-making procedure relating to the placement of Roma children in special-needs schools and on measures undertaken by the State party to provide incentives to Roma parents to send their children to school.