A/CONF.189/PC.2/22 page 27 3. Marginalization or non-consideration 89. Marginalization is the direct consequence of the first two forms of discrimination, as it reflects the will of the dominant group to keep children, especially the children of minorities, from enjoying the benefits of education. An extreme case would be the denial of access to education for such children, particularly at the primary and secondary level. Such a denial, which is without doubt the most serious form of discrimination against the children of minorities and migrant workers, has been formally identified by the United Nations human rights treaty bodies as the denial of a fundamental right.100 This sometimes takes the form of an intake capacity being described as insufficient in the schools attended by such communities. Of course, discrimination exists only when the education authorities are actually able, given the “availability” of financial, human and material resources, to increase school intake capacity, including for the benefit of the groups of pupils in question. 90. Another attitude consists in deliberately relegating to a subordinate status anything relating to the cultural features of minority groups. This may take the form of an ostensibly pedagogical approach that in fact promotes profoundly racist stereotypes. An example is the use, in one textbook, of a heavily discriminatory image including the phrase “The Gypsy has stolen the goose”.101 Because of the general context this tendentious phrase is likely to be taken as the truth or the norm, particularly in view of the eminently pedagogical value of the medium used. 91. A portrayal prejudicial to girls in society or advocating polygamy in textbooks is also apt to perpetuate discrimination between the sexes rather than fostering a spirit of tolerance among young pupils.102 Likewise, imposing a strict code of conduct confining women to their homes and banning girls from going to school is a discriminatory and intolerant attitude contrary to the applicable principles of international law.103 This can also be said of stereotypes encouraging a very negative portrayal of women belonging to a different ethnic and/or religious minority group. According to one author, this form of discrimination, which may be described as aggravated (gender-based, and racial and/or religious) discrimination, became a noticeable feature of the 1990s.104 92. Non-consideration may take the form of attitudes affecting the conditions of education of the pupil who, for ethnic reasons, may be forced to go to a school for the mentally disabled or systematically placed in the back row of the classroom. Thus, for example, “disproportionate numbers of Roma children are relegated to second-class educational facilities - ‘special schools’ - designed for pupils said to be suffering from intellectual or behavioural deficiencies”.105 Others are assigned to separate classes or discriminated against within the same school (separate graduation ceremonies, different meal times in the cafeteria).106 These are examples of relatively clear-cut discrimination based on a failure to respect the most elementary basic rights. Where it affects children, this is likely to have very adverse consequences for the individuals concerned, their own self image and how other children see them, for their balanced integration into the society where they live, for social cohesion and, ultimately for the very unity of the State.