Segregation of Roma in Hungary

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Segregation of Roma in Hungary

• Chance For Children Foundation (CFCF)
• e-mailcfcf_at_cfcf.hu www.cfcf.hu
• 18. 12. 2007.

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Segregation of Roma in Hungary

• Lack of kindergarten services (11 of
  disadvantaged/Romani children aged over 5
  excluded from compulsory kindergarten services)
• Segregated schools, classes
• There are 700 schools with segregated classes,
  there are 178 homogeneous Roma classes and 30 of
  Romani children educated in these segregated
  institutions according to a 2004. survey.
  Quarter of all Hungarian primary schools are
  functioning illegally.
• Over-representation of Romani children in special
  schools and classes (for mentally disabled)
  Proportion of mentally disabled children in the
  EU is around 1-3. The same proportion is 7 in
  Hungary. Estimated 20 of Romani children are
  taught in special schools/classes.
• High dropout rates Less than 10 of Romani
  children graduate secondary school.
• ? ? ?
• Chances of a Romani child to obtain a higher
  education degree are 50 times less than that of a
  non-Roma

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Programmes by Ministry of Education for
desegregation

• Introducing Commissioner for Integration of
  Disadvantaged and Romani Children
• Setting up the National Educational Integration
  Network
• Building a network based on horizontal
  cooperation between pedagogues and primary
  education institutions
• Propagation of integrated, inclusive education
• based on 45 primary schools in four regions of
  Hungary in 2003
• Consultants, coordinators
• From the last desk programme to tackle
  segregation in special schools
• Re-examination and re-integration of children
• Implementing culture independent testing methods
  
• Standardisation of testing procedures
• Tanoda extracurricular education centres for
  disadvantaged (around 50 centres nationwide)
• Framework of Pedagogical Integration
• Skills development per capita funding
• Integrated education per capita funding

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• Financial resources for desegregation
• Measures of National Development Plan, Human
  Resources Development Programme 2005.
• 2.1.4.B Tanoda extracurricular activities
  (500 M Ft)
• 2.1.5 Integrated education of disadvantaged
  children (890 M Ft)
• 2.1.6 Integration of mentally disabled children
  (700 M)
• 2.1.7 reducing school segregation (500 M Ft)
• 2.1.8 - developing schools educating mostly
  disadvantaged pupils in those settlements which
  sustain only one school (541 M Ft)

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CFCF

• Causes pending
• 1) Kesznyéten
• a local school enrolled Romani children into its
  special class by forgering their school reports
• Complaint filed for Endangering minors and
  forgering public documents
• Despite the police authority acknowledges the
  complaint as a reasonable suspicion, County
  Prosecutor rejected the accusation because the
  bearing of the case is not serious enough
• Bálint Magyar, Minister of Education pressed
  charges as supplementary private prosecutor at
  BAZ County Court. Motion rejected.
• Claim has admitted by European Court of Human
  Rights in Strasbourg

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• 2) Hajdúhadház
• In the same school majority children are educated
  in well-equipped, modern buildings, Romani
  children are educated in devastated buildings
  which do not comply with minimum requirements.
• Hajdú-Bihar County Court requested appointment of
  educational expert on the first hearing
• 3) Budapest, VII. district OKÉV (authority
  monitoring education) investigates segregation in
  kindergartens

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• 4) Miskolc - actio popularis
• Local Government united 7 primary schools into 3
  institutions, in which Romani students taught
  segregated in separate buildings, with lower
  quality education services.
• In our complaint we requested declaration of
  educational segregation, annulment of the illegal
  practice of segregation and public apologies of
  the Local Government.
• Court of first instance declared the fact of
  segregation, but rejected the complaint
• Debrecen based Court of Appeal concluded the
  responsibility of Local Government for the
  segregated allocation of educational resources.
  It has violated Romani children's right for equal
  treatment.
• Despite the dismissal Romani children started
  this school year under the same circumstances.

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• 5) Miskolc
• Investigation of Equal Treatment Authority -
  Other primary schools in Miskolc are practicing
  educational segregation by maintaining paralel
  homogeneous Romani classes
• 6) Miskolc
• Enrollment of Romani children into mainstream
  schools
• Enrollments failed
• OKÉV (authority examining education) started
  offence procedure against Local Government
  Educational Deputy Head and against the director
  of school based on hidden camera recording and
  parent's complaints.

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• Planned legal procedures
• Expert Committees examining mental health
  over-representation of Romani children,
  discriminative testing methods and procedures
• Special schools over-representation of Romani
  children
• Settlements with two primary schools major
  differences between the level of educational
  services provided by schools in the same
  settlement
• A City - Children living in ghettos are educated
  in homogeneous Roma schools. Promised elimination
  of the segregated school has not been fulfilled
  by Local Government
• Little villages in Pest county Violation of
  school enrollment rights, by declining enrollment
  of Romani children from other villages.
• Teacher punished by school because standing for
  Romani pupils rights.

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Selyemrét Primary School and its part-school
József Attila
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Physical education in Selyemrét and József Attila
school
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