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The Kedvesház Kollégium in Nyírtelek, eastern
Hungary, forms part of an innovative educational program
which directly challenges the widespread prejudice
that Roma children are educationally inferior and
need to be segregated from non-Roma children in the
school system.
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Trust
The essential prerequisite between Roma and educational
institutions
by Mareile Krause
from the RPP Reporter, Vol. 1, No. 1, May 1998
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The program was established in 1994 by Péter
Lázár. Born in a small village near the Romanian border,
Lázár, at the age of six, was sent to one of Hungary’s state
homes that had a reputation as dumping grounds for Roma children.
In spite of the many obstacles he faced, he progressed through
the educational system and became the only Roma student to
graduate from the Zsámbék teacher training college.
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Conscious of his own “unhappy experiences”
in the state home, when he qualified he was determined to
return to the state home to give something back to “these
emotionally and educationally disadvantaged children.” After
two years he realized that there was little that he could
do for them as long as they remained there and he decided
to set up his own private kollégium, or boarding school. The
Kedvesház (“House of Kindness”) Kollégium now
provides weekday accommodation for children from the local
Romani settlement and creates an environment that enables
these children to succeed at the local school. At the weekends,
the children return to the Belegrosol settlement to be with
their parents.
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This program is designed to give children a basic education
that will enable them to progress within Nyírtelek’s schools.
Most of these children never attended kindergarten; initially
few could read or write. The children receive a year’s intensive
instruction in reading and writing that brings them up to speed
with the pupils at the local school. Upon successful completion
of the program, the children begin attending the school. As
well as formal study and instruction, Lázár recognizes the importance
of more informal approaches to learning. Music and games designed
to establish trust form a significant component of the program,
and he maintains that “the overriding goal for the first year
is to convince the children that learning can be fun.” |
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