Redesigning Public Education: Targeting Children in Need and

ReframingInstitution Operation

Agnes Kende Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Social Research, Child Programme Office

The structure of the Hungarian education system

Kindergarten Age 2,5-3/6-7

Pre-primary – one preparatory year, compulsory

Age 5-6/7

Primary – single structureAge 6/7-14 (1st cycle: age 6-10; 2nd: age

10-14)

Seconday school - general lower and upper secondary

Age 10/12/14 - 18/19

Vocational secondary school Age 14-18/19/20 (generally: 4 years)

Vocational training school Age 14-18 years (2+2 years)

Remedial + vocational training school

Age 15/16-18/19 (1-2 + 2 years)

Post-secondary vocational course Age 18-19/20 (1-2 years)

Failure in education of Roma children

Children in Hungary who

• do not go to kindergarten, and

• go to secondary schools that do not award a graduation diploma

are more likely to be Roma

Roma children in kindergarten

Today the rate is higher - free meal

from the age of 3 – no data

Roma children after the primary school

Education of Roma and non-Roma pupils after the primary school, 2002/2003

Failed to continue

Special vocational training school

Vocational training school

Vocational secondary

General secondary

Roma students

8,1 6,2 63,8 15,9 5,9

Non Roma students

1,2 1,3 33,1 39 25,7

Social situation of Roma childrennearly half of the Roma population is considered to live in extreme poverty

their schooling is related to the problem of the education of the „disadvantaged” and „multiply disadvantaged” children.

• * According to the Public Education Act disadvantaged children are those who, due to the bad social situation of their families, are entitled to regular child-protection allowance (in case the per capita income in the family does not exceed 135% of the prevailing lowest amount of old-age pension that in 2008 was about 113 EUR). A disadvantaged child is considered to be multiply disadvantaged if at least one of his/her parents highest education is the 8 year of general education.

Roma children Non Roma children

disadvantaged 80% 38%

multiply disadvantaged

65-70% 17-19%

But at the same time…

the issue of the education of the Roma does not equal to the issue of education of poor

children

Roma pupils are exposed to prejudices and suffer from the consequences of the school teachers' stereotypical way of thinking

PISA Report

Hungary’s system of education is the least successful in compensating for social

background among all OECD countries

Segregation of Roma children - Data

The number of segregated schools has increased constantly in the past three

decades

The proportion of Roma students among entire school age children are doubled but the homogenous Roma classes are 8 times more than in 1980’s.

The proportion of Roma students among entire school age children are doubled but the homogenous Roma classes are 8 times more than in 1980’s.

1/3 of Roma students study in

entirely segregated schools

1/3 of Roma students study in

entirely segregated schools

Various manifestations of segregation of Roma children

„between school” segregation

Various manifestations of segregation of Roma children

„within school" segregation

Separate Roma and non-Roma classes, groups and other hidden ways of separation within

the same grade

Imaginary „Other”

In the context of ever more experienced ethnic hatred and xenophobia in contemporary Hungary, structurally conditioned reciprocal suspicion and deep disaffection in schools carries distressful signals for the future, and calls for urgent actions if not for other reasons but for the maintenance of an essential minimum of social cohesion.

In the context of ever more experienced ethnic hatred and xenophobia in contemporary Hungary, structurally conditioned reciprocal suspicion and deep disaffection in schools carries distressful signals for the future, and calls for urgent actions if not for other reasons but for the maintenance of an essential minimum of social cohesion.

Integration policy affirmative action policy

• Introduced in 2003• Goal: reducing segregation of Roma and majority children between schools and within

schools• Financial support for schools introduce integration in their schools• Guaranteed kindergarten slots for multiply disadvantaged children aged three or over• Provided kindergarten meals for free (which increased the number of young Roma children

attending kindergarten) and extended the free meals up to the seventh grade of primary school• Multiply disadvantaged children receive financial support to cover the cost of enrolling in

kindergarten (addition clothing, shoes etc. needed)• Mentoring program with financial grant for disadvantaged and multiply disadvantaged

children in school• Each year 600 multiply disadvantaged children that enroll in secondary school get a dorm

room and receive a scholarship. • The EU only subsidizes local infrastructural investments that are beneficial to desegregation

and promote equal opportunities

National Programme To Combat Child Poverty

The National Strategy 2007-2032 “Making Things Better for our Children”

The goal of the program over one generation is to

1. significantly reduce the poverty rate of children and their families to but a fraction of the current one;

2. put an end to the exclusion of children and the extreme forms of intense poverty;

3. transform the mechanisms and institutions which currently reproduce poverty and exclusion

„Give kids a chance”The Child Opportunity Program of Szécsény

The Experience of The Child Opportunity Program of Szécsény

• Without structural changes at national level, it is hard to influence institutions at local level

• Without the commitment of local decision-makers, it is hard to build child opportunity programs – that is not the priority and often against the local social will (fear of positive discrimination in favor of Roma children and their families)

The Experience of The Child Opportunity Program of Szécsény

Instead of influencing mainstream services and elaborate integrated approach to a complex, inter-

sectorial cooperation in favor of children

The Program built alternative services to replace the missing and disfunctioning services

Educational Project in The Child Opportunity Program of Szécsény

Try to emulate the ‘all-year and all-day school’ model, even if the regulatory environment does not make this entirely possible

Try to emulate the ‘all-year and all-day school’ model, even if the regulatory environment does not make this entirely possible

Adapting HCZ in Hungary

The experience we gained while implementing the educational services of the Szécsény Child Opportunity Program is applicable to the

Hungarian HCZ project

Thank you for your attention