President Pavel receives Roma students at Prague Castle

The Czech President Petr Pavel and his wife Eva received a group of Roma high school and university students at Prague Castle on Thursday. The government representative for Roma minority affairs, Lucie Fuková, accompanied the group of students.

At the start of the meeting, the president warned of the perils of prejudice, calling it one of the great dangers of our time and said the students are a shining example for both the Roma community and the rest of Czech society.

Roma make up the largest minority group in the Czech Republic, with an estimated 250,000 of them living in the country. Around half of them live in de facto ghettos and Roma children often end up in schools where they make up the majority of pupils, decreasing their chances of educational success and future employment.