Erika Kurucz:

 
Equity for Romani students and

multicultural diversity in education

Project proposal

 
My research aims to analyse education policies on national and local levels for ensuring equity for Romani students and multicultural diversity in education: I also analyse the impact of these policies on the effectiveness of schools.

The public education system in Hungary underwent complete transformation following the Communist era. It became decentralized and local self-governments consequently became maintainers of schools with more responsibilities in local decision making. Although considerable efforts have been made since the fall of communism in education policies concerning Romani students aiming to improve their success at school, the positive effects of these efforts have not been widely seen yet.

According to Radó (1997) and Kaltenbach (2000) the legal conditions and guidelines for securing equal rights already exist in the Hungarian legal system. After the political transition in 1989 human rights concerning minorities were regulated in the Constitution. In the following years the modified Public Education Act also added important provisions in order to secure equal rights and to prohibit discrimination. Act LXXVII of 1993 on National and Ethnic Minorities set out a comprehensive system of minority rights, prescribing the rights of minorities in education and summarising rules and regulations regarding Romani education. In the same year Hungary joined the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as a member of the European Council. The Convention bans discrimination against minorities and promotes entire legal equality for minorities in every aspects of economic, social, political, and cultural life.

In 1995 the Ministry of Education and Culture made a proposal for the Roma Education Development Program to increase the effectiveness of schools. The institution of ombudsman appeared on the political scene in that year, as a guarantee and legal control for the validation of these rights in practice.

In 1997 the Government enacted State Resolution No. 1093/1997 (29/07) on the Establishment of a Middle-term Package on the Development of Living Standards of Roma. The package recommended preparation of a special educational program for Romani children.

Democratic tendencies had a positive influence on the self-recognition and political awareness of Roma in the 1990s. In 2002 a Romani representative, László Teleki was appointed to the position of the “Political State Secretary for Roma affairs” gaining the opportunity to influence Hungarian politics for the Roma. In 2002 a Romani woman, Viktóri Mohácsi, appointed by Bálint Magyar, became the Commissioner for the Integration of Roma and Disadvantaged Children to help eliminate inequalities in education opportunities.

 

Accordingly, these Acts declare the principle of equal opportunities and anti-discrimination but still there are no effective legal guarantees to force their validation. Examining solutions adopted at local level show that they frequently do not meet the requirements of legal intentions concerning teaching Romani students. My research aims to explore the reasons behind this phenomenon. I also examine whether the legal system includes guarantees that are supposed to ensure standards for the educational programs, teaching practices in Hungary to compensate disadvantages of Romani students.

Despite recent positive changes in the Hungarian education policy equal opportunities are still not guaranteed for Romani students.  They face numerous disadvantages in the Hungarian education system that could be summarised by unequal access to quality education. Numerous sociologic research (Kertesi, Kézdi /1996/; Radó /1997/; Babusik /1999/; Havas, Kemény, Liskó /2001/) claims that Romani students suffer from substandard education; undemanding requirements in school; worse conditions in school facilities, equipment and buildings; less qualified teachers teaching them and diminished self-esteem. Legislation should provide options to enforce legal actions against inequalities in education, and against both explicit and implicit forms of discrimination. In my paper I try to analyse Hungarian legislation to what extent it meets these requirements. .

In Hungary no representative country research has taken place since 1993, when Hungary had ratified the Act LXIII of 1992 on the Protection of Personal Data and the Publicity of Data of Public Interest that prohibits schools from registering pupils as Roma, which hinders the gathering of relevant statistical information on the real educational situation, of Romani students. In fact, this makes it is much more difficult to reveal injustice by hindering the collection of reliable statistics.

At present, the public education system is unable to provide appropriate programs, to effectively prevent Romani students from dropping-out at a high rate. Considering the wide variety of interweaving factors including rigidity of the school system, disadvantageous social situation of Romani students, especially in the countryside, financial problems of their families, lack of schooling motivations, different family socialization and language problems, hidden curricula in schools, the negative expectations of teachers make such a program difficult to develop. The factors are not only intertwining with each other, but reinforce each other` s impact, resulting in a vicious cycle. I will examine the policies concerning drop-out prevention, as well as articles that should be modified in the Hungarian legislation to eliminate the opportunity of discriminative practice.

I will analyse the content of the education programs, the national and local curricula, textbooks, institutional facilities and teaching aids in schools that educate Romani children in large proportions. I also examine whether the ethnic curriculum is integrated into the general curriculum of schools and in what ways. I investigate to what extent the integrative programs are part of the curricula, and whether they are based on respecting the Romani culture and values. Subsequently, I examine the impact of placing and educating high number of Romani students in special, practically "segregated" classes with "ethnic curriculum". My research aims to explore the effectiveness of Romani education programs, distribution of financial funds for these special programs and also the hidden costs of insuring transparency in education. I also examine and analyse selective mechanisms of public education, particular educational programs and institutional solutions in practice, pre-school, school-preparatory and catch-up programs for Romani children, the scholarship system, funds and talent-care net that would serve to eliminate disadvantages.

Included in the study would be the analysis of teacher training, the flexibility of the school system, and the techniques applied of addressing otherness. The primary and secondary schools are usually not able to cope with the complex set of problems they are faced with when teaching Roma students. Different social and cultural background, language difficulties, ethnic origin with all its consequences, and different socialisation, hidden curricula in schools, discrimination and negative expectations and critiques made by teachers are other factors that make the relationship of Romani students with the school problematic. According to a study initiated by the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for National and Ethnic Minority Rights on prejudices against minorities among fresh graduates, only 7,4 percent of them proved tolerant with ethnic minorities. As the teachers are unprepared to face the challenges, they turn the problems back onto the families, who often see no solution other than placing the child in a different school or sending her/him to educational or child care service.

The Council of Europe has put forth a recommendation to ensure the training for teachers of Romani pupils, to make their communication more successful. Yet today we find Romani teachers in very few schools. According to a study done in 898 elementary schools with a high ratio of Roma pupils, among the 27730 teachers working in kindergartens and schools, only 45 declared themselves Roma.

In my research I will examine to what degree special policies and funds promote realization of anti-discrimination teacher training, which would be crucial considering that incomprehensive or discriminative attitude often stems from the lack of proper information on minority socialisation, culture, living conditions and economic difficulties. Extensive training could largely contribute to eliminating prejudices and negative attitudes of teachers, since many teacher are likely to educate increasing numbers of Romani children.

The method employed includes a deep, profound analytical overview of education policies, expert studies and research, completed with the interviewing of and collecting data from education experts, teachers, school officers working in special Roma educational programs and Romani families and children to include their own personal experiences. After analyzing their direct and indirect impact of Romani education on the present situation and the distribution of funds, I can conclude to what extent the Hungarian education policies promote multicultural diversity and transparency in education. I will produce recommendations to eliminate existing disadvantages and the short-comings of the public education system, as well as the barriers of the public education system that inhibit policies for equity and diversity.

Considering that education is the basis of integration, a prime way for upwards social mobilisation and has a predominant impact on the acquiring and retaining of rewarding positions in the work-force for the Roma, this is the fundamental step of ensuring a healthy multicultural society. By examining programs, good teaching practices in the region and special educational models in other countries to compensate disadvantages, I will produce practical policy recommendations to promote transparency and multicultural diversity in education, and also recommendations to create a non-selective and non-discriminatory education system based on acknowledging the diversity of ethnic values and culture.