A court in Cologne, Germany, ruled in favor of 21-year-old Nenad. M, originating from Serbia of Roma nationality.
For 11 years he has been misbehaving "special school" in Bavaria - Germany for children with developmental disabilities. He spoke only Romany and Serbian.
Immediately after the relocation of his family from Bavaria to North Rhine Westphalia, Nenad was transferred to a school with mental disabilities, without questioning his intellectual abilities. Now the district of Rhine Westphalia will have to pay damages for their procedural mistake.
Nenad, after 11 years of education at the "special school", got the opportunity to transfer to a regular school which he completed in 2016 with an average of "1.6" (where "1" in the German system is the highest grade.)
The association Mittendrin welcomed the verdict. "The Nenad case has been isolated and there are still such examples," said the Eva Maria Toms association's director.
The loss in revenue as a result of the under-completion of education was estimated at around 40,000 euros, and as a psychological post-traumatic moment the damage was calculated for an additional 20,000 euros.
The court still does not determine the amount of funds and it will be a separate hearing of the court.
