Prague, Jan 21 (CTK) – Czech Education Minister Katerina Valachova (Social Democrats, CSSD) distanced herself yesterday from the materials linked to an awareness campaign for primary and secondary schools that puts children in the role of refugees.
The project has been prepared by the META NGO and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
During the lower house’s question time, Valachova said her ministry did not assist in the preparation of the materials, has nothing to do with them and would not distribute them to schools.
“I realise that the situation concerning the refugee crisis is very sensitive, that it is a very complex and serious issue for adults, and by no means will I allow children to be scared this way or involved in the serious nationwide debate,” Valachova said.
The awareness campaign for schools that focuses on refugees, migration, integrity, stereotypes and a safe school environment was presented on Wednesday by the META association that supports young migrants in the country.
The campaign Hello Czech Republic is based on a Swedish model. The UNHCR owns the copyright to this model.
It includes a comic book and a film telling the story of Hamid, a boy who makes the journey from Afghanistan to Sweden. The story of a Kurdish girl whom her mother sent to Sweden is told in a 13-minute film.
Another film offers a fictitious story of a nuclear disaster in the Czech Republic, as a result of which the Czech population, or ten million people, are forced to leave their homeland for a fictitious country in Asia, where, however, their arrival arouses public protests.
The campaign makes schoolchildren reflect on what Czech culture means, how they would like to follow their religion in a host land, whether they would seek the right to vote and welfare advantages in the new country and whether they would observe the local holidays and habits.
Opposition deputy Miroslava Nemcova (Civic Democrats, ODS) challenged the campaign materials’ trustworthiness and asked whether the campaign amounts to a propaganda aimed to “pour the wonder of multiculturalism in children’s heads.”
In reaction to her, Valachova said her ministry has nothing in common with the campaign materials.
