Transportation of students to school and home Child’s interests in practice A complainant has been making an effort since 2014 to see the file of his children (the children were adopted, which severed the legal tie between them and the complainant) at a social work centre (Centre). The Centre rejected this, but the complainant was successful twice with appeals to the competent ministry. After the second final and executable decision of the ministry, the Centre stated that it would not allow the file to be viewed because this would conflict with the best interests of the child, as provided by Article 5.a of the Marriage and Family Relations Act and Article 3 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. The Centre assessed that there was a high probability that the complainant might abuse the information in the file by publishing it on the Internet, as he had done in the past. In three complaints, parents of primary school children turned to the Ombudsman concerning the transportation of students to and from school. They hoped that the Ombudsman would help them in efforts to have transportation continue to the same extent as in previous years. Municipalities made certain changes due to the high costs of transportation in previous years, which parents understood as violations of children’s rights. Mayors explained to us the reasons for the changes. Unfortunately, municipalities receive increasingly less funds for their activities, while the scope of their obligations determined by law has not been reduced, but even increased. In no case did the Ombudsman establish that transportation was organised in violation of Article 56 of the Elementary School Act, which regulates such transportation. The Ombudsman has no power to decide whether an individual should be allowed to see a file or not. This is why we cannot assess whether there are certain reasons for denying access to a file. However, we believe that referring to the best interests of the child, while the decision is in violation of the valid regulations, cannot justify the decisions of state authorities or bodies exercising public authority. The principle of the best interests of the child demands only that the best interests of the child be examined and that the best solution for the child is actually chosen from the possible solutions, and that the interests of the child take precedence over the interests of other parties. These interests should be pursued by legitimate means and in a lawful way and within the legal framework for resolving individual cases. If one accepts the position of the Centre that the best interests of the child are of intrinsic value, which allows a departure from the valid regulations, then, for example, there is a question of how a family with a child can in any case be denied a right to public funds, even if such a denial is in accordance with the regulations. Such an understanding of the interests of the child would therefore demand that a family be provided funds for which it is otherwise not eligible, because it would be in the best interests of all children that no family has any material limitations. Children of immigrants in primary schools The Ombudsman was contacted by the head of a primary school, who warned that the integration of children of immigrants was not adequately regulated. She stated that before they learn the Slovenian language well enough, certain rights of these children are violated. She provided some proposals to improve their situation. She had also written a letter to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, which replied to the letter. The headmistress was invited to a meeting with the state secretary, at which it was agreed that the relevant departments at the ministry would carefully examine the proposals and gradually include them in the national education system. The Ombudsman commends the ministry for its responsiveness to the proposals. Temporary suspension of financing of homework and study help The interests of the child must be a guideline in decision-making, but can by no means replace all other valid legal norms which place a boundary between the lawful work of an authority or a body exercising public powers and arbitrariness of decision-making which is not in accordance with the requirement of legal certainty. We received several complaints in which parents expressed their indignation at the decision of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport to temporarily suspend the financing of homework and study help in inclusive schools for children with deficits in individual fields of learning. They thought that the decision would significantly hinder the inclusion of children with special needs in such schools and thus violate their right to be educated together with their peers. We also warned the Centre that the danger for children was referred to only after the decision had become final, which had not been found in the proceedings, which is why we assessed that the Centre is merely trying to implement its decision, which had already been overruled twice by the competent body. Homework and study help for these children is recognised with a decision on placement in an educational programme with an equivalent educational standard. Children are being educated in schools together with their peers and this right is provided by the law. We also warned the Centre about the legal means available that it did not use to protect children, and we also forwarded the case to be examined by the Inspection for Social Affairs and the Administrative Inspection. 11.0-94/2015 With regard to the problem, we addressed our objection to and disagreement with the Ministry’s decision. We said that the Ombudsman was appalled and very concerned with the decision, because no guarantees were given that these and other austerity measures in education would only be short term. In accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the state is obliged to act in the best interests of children, and is obliged to provide children with education, health care and welfare in accordance with the highest standards, and not only in accordance with its capabilities. It is known that the situation in the country is serious and that it demands a denial of current rights in all fields, which is why the proposed austerity measures should be assessed from all sides and their consequences or effects be comprehensively evaluated. However, we must not consent to reducing the rights of the most vulnerable groups of the population with such an ease. Our opinion was that the state could identify a number of other fields where funds were still being spent without much concern, and above all without adequate supervision. 2.15.5 Rights of children in kindergartens and schools The Ombudsman examined 41 new complaints in this field, which is fewer than the year before (75). The complainants complained about allegedly inadequate protection of pre-school children, transportation of primary school children to school, inspection procedures that did not end in accordance with their wishes, decisions of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport on the suspension of financing of additional professional assistance, allegedly disputable mandatory reading material for the first grades of secondary schools, and controversial screening of films during elective courses, consideration of the result in the national examination as the final mark for a course, complaint about a final mark from an individual course, and other problems occasionally faced by individuals in kindergartens and schools. In the field of sport, we again received several complaints related to compensation for transferring children between clubs. In most cases the complainants were referred to the competent authorities and were acquainted with the available means of appeal. 154 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 We thus called on the ministry to carefully rethink the decision to abolish the financing of homework and study help as one of the forms of additional professional assistance to children with special needs and to exclude this from the programme of austerity measures. The Ombudsman is particularly opposed to the idea that schools should be responsible for examining students’ eligibility for such help (thereby circumventing the provisions of decisions on placement) and combine homework and study help for multiple students. This would undoubtedly be merely a formal fulfilment of the provisions of decisions on the placement of individuals. Our opinion was that the existing regulations should nevertheless be consistently respected, including decisions on placing children with special needs. The response from the ministry, which we received within the deadline, stated that funds would be provided for homework and study help, which were transferred to schools in March. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 155 2.15 CHILDREN’S RIGHTS 2.15 CHILDREN’S RIGHTS Example