Hungary: Gypsy school segregation persists

BUDAPEST, Hungary, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- 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.