A/HRC/4/9/Add.2 page 23 (c) The Government must also initiate a system of compulsory independent monitoring of schools to ensure that national policies with respect to desegregation are fully implemented at the municipal level. 96. The current practice of labelling young Roma children as mentally disabled without justification based on the child’s intellectual capabilities is an unfortunate ruse to create segregated schools and classrooms. The practice is a serious violation of the rights of the child, discriminatory against Roma and has massive negative impact on the lives and future life chances of the targeted children. (a) This system should be abolished and legal sanction brought against those authorities continuing this practice; (b) Culturally and linguistically appropriate assessments of learning abilities should be developed by nationally recognized professionals in consultation with professionals from minority communities to replace the current testing process that has resulted in the disproportionate targeting of Roma students for schools and classrooms for the mentally disabled. Students who have already been tested should be reassessed immediately. A national plan, implemented at the local level with full involvement of parents, should be established and independently monitored to ensure that the legitimate special needs of identified students, including Roma, are met in the most appropriate manner; (c) The Independent Expert greatly welcomes government initiatives such as the “Sure Start” programme, to support Roma and other disadvantaged students from the earliest age. However, urgent attention is required to address the current shortfall in kindergarten places for Roma children particularly in isolated rural settlements; (d) Initiatives aimed at assisting disadvantaged students, including afternoon schooling and extra-curricula activities are welcome. Such measures should be extended and adequately funded to take into account the serious extent of discrimination faced by the Roma at all levels of the education system, and to assist Roma children to complete secondary education; (e) An affirmative action policy in regard to access to higher education, including via the Roma scholarship scheme, should be maintained and expanded to encourage Roma to complete higher education courses. Revisions to the financing and administration of the scholarship programmes, including the introduction of “post-financing” have created financial and administrative barriers for some students and should be reviewed; (f) Roma communities should be encouraged, including through a targeted public awareness campaign and through the social worker system, to realize their full obligations to the education of both boys and girls and to encourage school attendance; (g) All currently certified teachers and all currently in institutions of teacher training should receive training on pedagogical approaches for ethnically diverse student bodies. Included should be specific training: