1. The schooling problems and the future of the Serbian minority in Hungary based on an empirical study Mónika Barcsy and Á gnes Vámos 1

2. Outline CharacteristicsPopulation of Hungary Serbian minority Rate of children15%11% Rate of people over 6516%17% Characteristics of the age pyramid Decreasing po p ulation 2

3. The Serbian Minority in Hungary (1) Settlers from the Middle Ages Due to the peace treaties made in Versailles (1920), those who lived in compact areas, got beyond the border. The assimilation of those who stayed in Hungary is slower then that of other minorities mainly because their religion differs from the majority religion. 3

4. Location: diaspora, minority (2%) Number (2001): Serbian nationals: 3 816 Serbian as their mother tongue: 3 388 With Serbian cultural identity: 5 279 80 60 40 20 20 40 60 80 4 The Serbian Minority in Hungary (2)

5. Education of the Serbian minority (1) Historical co-existence, common history with the majority, cultural background Formal education on all levels Primary school, Lórév, 1916. Primary school, Lórév, 1996. 5

6. Education of the Serbian minority (2) Elective programmes: (a)Serbian as the language of instruction in each subject; (b)Hungarian-Serbian bilingual education; (c)Hungarian as the language of instruction, Serb taught as a second language. Mother tongue background weekens Fewer children go to Serbian schools Closing of schools Risk of assimilation 6 Most of the primary schools use Hungarian as the language of instruction. Serbian can be learnt as a second language. Serbian is used in two primary schools. One of them is a 12-classes school where students can opt for a Serbian final exam.

7. The problems and questions of the research What kind of particular pedagogical features exist in the case of minorities targeted by assimilation? Why and what kind of new problem arises when the school, which has to struggle for students, has more students from migrant families coming from the mother state? 7

8. Theoretical background Bilingual schools (Lewis E. G. 1981; Trézeux 1995; Baker 1996; Skuntnabb-Kangas, 1997; Vámos, 2008.) Minority identity, migration (Cummins 1981; Coste 2006; Vámos 2008.) Baker’s model: the ”strong” forms of bilingual education 8

9. Language of instruction of the minority-majority in the education 9 CharacteristicsLanguage of instructionGoals and results Separatist Language of the minoritySegregation, bilingualism but the minority language is the dominant one Interim Starts with the mother tongue, continues with the language of the majority Assimilation, bilingualism but the language of the majority is the dominant one Language user Focus on the mother tongue, less focus on the language of the majority Language retention, cultural support, bilingualism Two way Both languages are used as the language of instruction Bilingualism, bi-culturalism

10. Description of the research Period: 2009 Sample: Serbian education in primary and secondary schools Instruments: interview, questionnaire, source analysis Hypothesis: a) the inner containment of the Serbian minority is cultural and historical – the consequence in the schools is the fact that the problems are not worked-up; b) the pedagogical effectiveness depends on the approach of the target group; c) migration from Serbia weaken the minoritarian identity of the growing generation. 10

11. 80 60 40 20 20 40 60 80 12 Result (1) Education has basic problems in the case of the Serbian minority due to their diaspora. There is not enough people and there are few children. On the settlements having Serbian schools: In Budapest and in Pest county the rate of the population: 0,05-0,10%. In Békés county rate is 0,10%. In Csongrád county the rate of the Serbian minority is higher: 0,12-0,18%. CharacteristicsPopulation of Hungary Serbian minority Rate of children15%11% Rate of people over 65 16%17% Characteristics of the age pyramid Decreasing population

12. Results (2) 12 29% declared Serbian as their mother tongue (Hungarian 76%). English on basic and intermediate level: 90%. Hungarian-speaking Serbs and Hungarian-Serbian dominant bilingual children study in most of the Serbian primary schools. 48,1% attended Serbian nursery school, 12,3% Serbian-Hungarian nursery school. Do not know the language at all Basic level of language knowledge Intermediate level of language knowledge Upper level of language knowledge

13. Results (3) The primary school uses Serbian as the language of instruction. 81% of the secondary school students speak Serbian as their mother tongue. 60% of them can speak Hungarian as if their mother tongue. 10% is the English or other language speakers. 13 62,8% of the respondents attended Serbian primary schools, 18,6 % learnt Serbian as a second languge 81,4% of the respondents were born outside Hungary

14. Results (4) 7% plans to study Serbian Language and Literature, all of them in Serbia. 26% wishes to continue their studies in the higher education – but not language and literature. They can do it in the Hungarian higher education. 14

15. Results (5) The typical Hungarian-language schools and the Hungarian teachers working there, can effectively enforce the interests of the Serbian minority Some of these institutions are not „strong” enough in minority identity building, culture preservation, and transmission, including the minority language as well The presence of Serbian students and visiting teachers in schools made possible the development of the common language, but could not find common features with the tradinional minority culture 15

16. Conclusion/hypothesis-analysis The school network of the Serbian minority does not function as a coherent sub-system. Reasons: – The number of the Serbs is decreasing and they are slowly being assimilated – The conservative force of the minority institutions is weak and learning in Hungarian is being dominant – The problem of the minority education is the assimilation process in the case of the target group in diaspora The existence of the migrant students and the application of visiting teachers is useful, however, they do not share common features with the minority in Hungary. They have majoritarian identity. Serb minority students in Hungary can choose to migrate to Serbia or to get assimilated in Hungary. It has a strong impact on the minority culture and identity. 16

17. Outlook When regulating the minority education, it is not sufficient to start from the language of instruction. Within a country: the institutional support given for minorities can have different outcomes – what is enough for one minority to preserve its culture and language, for an other one can accelerate the assimilation process. When the education of ethnic minorities and migrant students is connected due to the common language, the adapted educational programs should consider the cultural and identity differences of the target groups. Otherwise, there is a high risk that the majoritarian identity suppresses the minority identity-commitment Since the education of minorities is not possible only with teachers belonging to a given minority, the teacher-training should familiarize the teachers coming from the majority with minority-teaching practices 17

18. Literature and references A 2001. évi népszámlálás adatai: http://www. nepszamlalas.hu Cummins, Jim: (1981): Bilingualism and Minority-Language Children. Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Baker, C. (1996): Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Multilingual Matters, Clevedon- Philadelphia-Adelaide. Demográfiai évkönyv, 2007 KSH. Lewis, E. G. (1981): Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. Pergamon Institute of English, Oxford. Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove (1997). Nyelv, oktatás és a kisebbségek. Kisebbségi adattár VIII. Budapest: Teleki László Alapítvány. (revision and translation into Hungarian of Language, Literacy and Minorities. 93 pp Trézeux, G. (1995): Einsegnement bilingue et politique linguistique. Revue internationale d’éducation. No. 7. 103-116. Coste, 2006): De la classe bilingue à l’éducation plurilingue? Le français dans le monde. No. 345. 18-31. Vámos Ágnes (2008): A kétnyelvű oktatás tannyelvpolitikai problématörténete és jelenkora. Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, Budapest. Területi Statisztikai évkönyv, 2007, KSH. 18

19. Thank you for your attention vamos.agnes@ppk.elte.hu barcsy.monika@ppk.elte.hu vamos.agnes@ppk.elte.hu barcsy.monika@ppk.elte.hu 19