A/HRC/20/26/Add.1 Hungarian being mostly taught by national minority organizations. Slovene education in Styria remains limited. Some bilingual primary schools opened in other areas, such as Graz, are doing well. 58. The availability of textbooks for and in all minority languages is inadequate, with a particular shortage of material in Romani and related to Roma culture. As pointed out by some of those interviewed, despite the efforts of some universities and pedagogical institutions to offer training in national minority languages, teachers and principals proficient in minority languages are scarce.47 The Independent Expert, however, commends the efforts made by the Government to codify into a single script the six Romani languages most frequently spoken in Austria and the introduction of instruction of and in Romani thanks to this codification. 59. Roma people face numerous challenges with regards to education, including academic underachievement, high drop-out rates, overrepresentation of Roma children in special remedial classes, and underrepresentation in higher level education. Opportunities for studying Romani are very limited, particularly outside of Burgenland. 48 Official use of minority languages 60. In 1996, the Constitutional Court ruled that the members of Austrian minorities throughout the country are entitled to have their personal documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates) also issued in their mother tongues. 49 In 2000, the Constitutional Court ruled that in conformity with article 7 of the State Treaty of Vienna of 1955, Slovene as an official language had to be allowed in municipalities having a 10 per cent Slovene population over a longer period of time. 50 This last ruling remains unimplemented. 61. The right to use minority languages in official and administrative procedures in the historical settlement areas is facing a number of obstacles that impede effective implementation. Representatives of minority groups reported an insufficient will on the part of civil servants to facilitate the use of minority languages in official proceedings, and the overall lack of proficiency among officials in minority languages. They also complained of a lack of bilingual forms for administrative procedures. When forms are translated and made available in a minority language, these can only be used as an aid for filling out the official German language form. Moreover, proceedings launched in national minority languages are said to be treated with less diligence and take comparatively longer to process.51 This, interlocutors pointed out, strongly discourages people from pursuing matters in their own language. Funding 62. The Advisory Councils for the National Minorities advise federal and local authorities on matters concerning their particular community and make recommendations on how to allocate the earmarked funds. Funding for cultural activities of national minorities is disbursed by Federal Ministries and the Länders in areas of historical settlement and in the city of Vienna. Minority representatives expressed frustration at the limited funding received (for example, the funding from the Federal Chancellery has 47 48 49 50 51 14 See also ACFC/OP/III(2011)005, pp. 25-27 and ACFC/OP/II(2007)005, pp. 25-31. Ibid. Decision VfSlg 14.425, 5 March 1996. Decision number V91/99, 4 October 2000. See also: ACFC/OP/III(2011)005, p. 21.