Hungary: Gypsy school segregation persists

Posted : Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:21:11 GMT
Author : World News Editor

BUDAPEST, Hungary, Jan. 4 Despite government efforts to eradicate it, separation of Gypsies in school classrooms in Hungary appears as a deep-rooted problem difficult to resolve.

The Hungarian government has invested heavily in education but some sociologists argue that extra money for schools in disadvantaged regions could be blamed for the enduring problem of the Romany, or Gypsy, segregation, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported Friday.

State-run schools receiving extra funding through the government's integration program are not popular with middle-class parents, who often withdraw their children to send them to better schools, the Hungarian national daily Nepszabadsag said.

The parents' choice leaves those schools with a majority of Gypsies and the program, aimed at integrating disadvantaged children with their "mainstream peers" actually collapses, the newspaper said.

Attila Z. Papp, a researcher of the Educational Survey Council, said a local town mayor told him that segregation perhaps was the only solution.

Gabor Daroczi, a former government commissioner for Romany integration, said integration would stand a chance if people supported the program. But, it is the sad truth that a majority of the society supports segregation, Nepszabadsag reported.

Copyright 2008 by UPI

Assembly government 'failing gypsy children'

Jan 24 2007
icWales

Parts of a three-year-old action plan on the education of gypsy children have still not been implemented, Save the Children said today.

The charity accused the Assembly Government of failing some of the most vulnerable children in Wales.

It said the guidance on education for gypsy traveller children has not been updated since 1990 – nine years before devolution.

Gypsy children are still experiencing unacceptable levels of bullying and victimisation at school.
The money available for the education of gypsy children has not increased in the last three years despite increased demand, it said.

The Assembly’s Equal Opportunities committee will discuss services for gypsies and travellers today.

Save the Children said it spoke to gypsy children and professionals working with them about a review of services for gypsies and travellers carried out by the committee.

It found few of the recommendations on education were fully implemented by July 2006, despite an Assembly Government action plan to get most of them in place by the end of 2004.
Local education authorities, schools and teachers were often unaware when there had been progress in national policy.

Anne Crowley, senior policy advisor for Save the Children in Wales, said: “This situation is completely unacceptable.

“The review by the Assembly of services for gypsy travellers in Wales was a really excellent example of good practice.

“But, once again, the Assembly Government’s plans are falling down on implementation.
“Children can’t wait – these plans should have been in place long ago.”

An Assembly Government spokesman said: “We welcome the publication of this report into the education of gypsy and traveller children and we are making progress on our action plan.

“Assembly grants totalling nearly £1 million have been made available and local authorities have had the opportunity through the Equals Fund to increase this allocation by a further 85%.

“That equates to nearly £1.92 million in funding allocated specifically to exactly the kind of issues raised in this report.”

He said the Assembly Government issued guidance on racist bullying.

A new gypsy traveller unit will co-ordinate policy to make sure gypsies have a say in issues affecting them.

He added: “We are in the process of revising our guidance circular.

“A consultant has been appointed and they will work with Government, gypsy travellers and partners to take this forwards over coming months.”

Ostracised Roma still struggle across Balkans

By Zoran Radosavljevic

POSTOJNA, Slovenia (Reuters) - Elka Strojan and her 30-strong Roma Gypsy family, forced to swap a house for three rooms in a former army barracks, highlight the precarious existence in the Balkans of Europe's largest minority.

"It's really bad here. This is not ours, this is for refugees and we are not refugees. We are Slovenian citizens with all the documents," the 55-year-old told Reuters in broken Slovenian, sitting on an old bed with two small dogs surrounded by a dozen of her grandchildren.

The Strojans, including Elka's four sons and their families, were asked by the government in late October to leave their house near Ambrus in central Slovenia after angry villagers threatened to expel them by force.

The Council of Europe criticised European Union member Slovenia for the move, but villagers said they had had enough of the Roma's misdemeanours, ranging from petty theft to serious fights.

"Some 600 of us gathered near their house. We wanted to burn and destroy everything but we came too late, the police were already deployed," said Joze Lindic, a pensioner.

"We've had nothing but trouble with them in the past 20 years and we just cannot put up with it any more. Let the state or the European Union take care of them. We don't want them here, ever again," he said, sipping a beer at a cafe.

The government has vowed to provide alternative permanent housing for the Strojans, but that announcement immediately roused protest from residents in potential new resettlements.

AMNESTY REPORT

A recent report by human rights group Amnesty International on the Roma in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia said they still live in extreme poverty and their children regularly face discrimination in schools.

"The barriers Romani children face in accessing education deprive them of the chance of fulfilling the true potential and perpetuate the marginalisation of Romani communities," it said.
Only two of the Strojans' dozen children went to school while they lived in Ambrus.

Access to education is even worse for Roma in Serbia, home to an estimated 500,000 Romas.
According to the 1991 census, 34.8 percent of Roma in Serbia are illiterate and just 20 percent have completed obligatory elementary education. Those who enrol children in primary schools often do so to qualify for state welfare.

"The society as a whole expresses no interest for their problems and needs," said a report by the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF.

"This could be caused by general indifference, intolerance and dominant stereotypes on the Roma caused by poor knowledge of Roma history, culture and tradition," it said.

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