Redesigning Public Education: Targeting Children in Need and Reframing Institution Operation Agnes Kende Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Social Research, Child Programme Office

The structure of the Hungarian education system KindergartenAge 2,5-3/6-7 Pre-primary – one preparatory year, compulsory Age 5-6/7 Primary – single structure Age 6/7-14 (1st cycle: age 6-10; 2nd: age ) Seconday school - general lower and upper secondary Age 10/12/ /19 Vocational secondary schoolAge 14-18/19/20 (generally: 4 years) Vocational training schoolAge years (2+2 years) Remedial + vocational training schoolAge 15/16-18/19 ( years) Post-secondary vocational courseAge 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 The large majority of children aged 3 to 6 attend kindergarten 1993: 40% of 3-year-old; 54% of 4-year old ; 72 % of 5-year old Roma children attend pre-school 2000: Only one out of two Roma child attended pre-school from the age of : 58,5 per cent of the Roma children aged between 3 and 5 did not attend pre-school 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 8,16,263,815,95,9 Non Roma students 1,21,333,13925,7

Social situation of Roma children nearly 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 childrenNon Roma children disadvantaged80%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. 1/3 of Roma students study in entirely segregated schools

Various manifestations of segregation of Roma children „ between school” segregation Settlement with multiple schools parents’ right to freely choose a school leads to Roma schools and majority population schools One school settlements school turn into a Roma school because of the demographics of the village majority parents take their children to a better school in a town nearby

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” The enclaves of socio- ethnic homogeneity do not provide lively experiences about the “Other” give rise to fearsome fantasies about the “imaginary Other” the soil is prepared for: - mutual distrust - shapeless condemnation - self-sustaining hostility 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 “Making Things Better for our Children” The goal of the programme 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 complex approach that follows children from birth up until their eighteenth birthday to inform policy makers of the on- the-ground experience acquired during the pilot set up quality services in each area where intervention is necessary (range from infant care, through kindergarten and school, to housing, health and employment of the children’s families) The pilot project and its future extensions focus on disadvantaged areas of the country, typically hamlets and villages that are difficult to reach and are characterized by substandard infrastructure

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, no way 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 Two types of services Institutions the internal organization of the institutions, their pedagogical programs, and training of their teachers, and basically aims to effect an attitude shift to make kindergartens and schools more accepting and integrative in nature Children service is aimed directly at the children: to make learning more effective and time spent outside of school more fun - set up learning workshops to help the children with their school tasks - in the afternoons organizing activities such as drama, dance and hand craft - in the summer, take children to summer camp, and organize daytime activities to fill up the long summer holiday 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