Hungary: Services or facilities available in Hungary for Roma children who have behavioural problems or learning disabilities, in particular those in the Budapest school system (1999-September 2000)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 8 September 2000 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | HUN34766.E |
| Reference | 5 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Hungary: Services or facilities available in Hungary for Roma children who have behavioural problems or learning disabilities, in particular those in the Budapest school system (1999-September 2000), 8 September 2000, HUN34766.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be3b2c.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
No information on services or facilities available in Hungary for Roma children who have behavioural problems or learning disabilities nor those available in the Budapest school system, could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
However, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights claimed in its 1999 report on Hungary that the majority of Roma children sent to "special schools" designed for slightly mentally-impaired children had not been associated with
an impaired mental capacity, but with "the discriminative traditions and the pedagogical failure of the educational institutions" (1999). According to The San Francisco Chronicle, the tests administered in Hungary to assess the mental capacities of children ignore the distinctiveness of Roma culture (26 June 2000). Two sources also mention that Roma account for approximately half of the 30,000 children sent to schools established for physically-handicapped children and for children with learning disabilities (ibid.; Los Angeles Times 24 Sept. 1999), while their proportion in the primary school system is only 7 per cent (ibid.).
For further information on the education of Roma children in Hungary, please consult the 1997 Report on the Education of Roma Students in Hungary available on the Website of the Hungarian government and the section on education of the February 1999 issue paper Roma in Hungary: Views of Several Specialists available on the IRB Website.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF-HR). 1999. Annual Report 1999. Hungary.
Los Angeles Times. 24 September 1999. David Holley. "Europe's Gypsy Bias is Back; As Region Shifts to a Market Economy, Ethnic Group Has Been Reduced to Poverty and Despair, Restoring it to an Underclass. EU Makes Better Treatment a Condition of Joining." (NEXIS)
Rado, Peter. 1997. Report on the Education of Roma Students in Hungary. Expert Study for the Office of National and Ethnic Minorities.
The San Francisco Chronicle. 26 June 2000. Theresa Agovino. "Hungary's Little Outcasts; Roma Children Routinely Sent to Remedial Schools." (NEXIS)
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
LEXIS/NEXIS
Unsuccessful attempts to contact an oral source.
One oral source did not have information on the topic.
One oral source did not provide information within the time constraints.
Internet sites including:
Amnesty International (AI)
Central Europe Review
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999
European Roma Rights Center (ERRC)
Freedom in the World 1999-2000
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
RomNews
Roma Page
Roma Press Centre
Transitions
World News Connection (WNC)