How a Buddhist-inspired high school is boosting Hungary鈥檚 Roma
| Miskolc, Hungary
Classes begin with a gong, not a bell, at the Dr. Ambedkar School.
Each morning, 125 students in grades nine through 12, all from the local Romani community, enter the school grounds beneath a brass plaque embossed in both Hungarian and Hindi. The text marks the life of the school鈥檚 namesake, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, India鈥檚 first post-independence minister for law and justice.
The inscription finishes by invoking the school鈥檚 religious mission: 鈥淸Dr. Ambedkar] is a Buddhist saint,鈥� it reads.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onIn a Hungarian high school, members of the long-oppressed Roma community are taking inspiration from the way another such group, the Dalits in India, set its sights on reform and took control of finding a better future.
Dr. Ambedkar never set foot in Hungary, much less in the provincial northwestern city of Miskolc where the school was established in 2006.聽But members of Hungary鈥檚 Roma community learned about Dr. Ambedkar鈥檚 transformative work, in which he helped outlaw India鈥檚 caste system last century and improved the lives of his fellow Dalits in India. And they recognized a kindred spirit.
The Dr. Ambedkar School is working to empower intellectual and political leaders from within Hungary鈥檚 Roma community, based on the Indian social reformer鈥檚 example. And while his neo-Buddhist worldview may seem like an odd bedfellow for Roma activism, the two are finding remarkable synchronicity among the school鈥檚 students.
鈥淭he role of the school is more than that of an educational institution, but rather a community institution that treats students with respect and dignity, providing a sense of hope and respect to Roma who are otherwise treated as outcasts by the mainstream society,鈥� says Jekatyerina Dunajeva, a political scientist with Central European University鈥檚 Romani Studies Program. 鈥淲hat permeates the culture of the school is a keen awareness of justice, fairness, and opposition to oppression.鈥�
Lessons from the Dalits
Dr. Ambedkar was a leader in India鈥檚 independence movement in the 1930s as well as a member of the country鈥檚 oppressed Dalit group. In 1956, he founded the neo-Buddhist movement, also known as Ambedkarite Buddhism, which looked at Buddhism as a vehicle for social reform. In particular, neo-Buddhism turned into a means for Dalits 鈥� who face rampant discrimination at the bottom of Hinduism鈥檚 caste ladder 鈥� to leave the system that was oppressing them.
Romani activist J谩nos Ors贸s learned about neo-Buddhism in the late 1990s by reading a biography of Dr. Ambedkar. Then in 2005, he traveled to India, from which the Roma ethnic minority originally emigrated nearly 1,000 years ago.
There he saw that both members of the Roma community and Indian Dalits struggle with problems like racism, discrimination, and segregation. In his memoir about finding Buddhism, Mr. Ors贸s noted he was most impressed by his visits to Dalit Buddhists鈥� schools.
鈥淭he Dalit people run these institutions themselves, not white people,鈥� he wrote, 鈥淚 saw people like me take their destiny into their own hands through Buddhism and that is what I wanted to do.鈥�
Hungary鈥檚 educational system is highly segregated. Many Romani children attend Roma-only schools that are often underfunded and staffed by poorly trained teachers who do not understand Roma鈥檚 distinctive culture and history. Today, 60% of Romani children drop out of school, compared with 8.9% of the general population.
Mr. Ors贸s believed that his Roma community could be empowered and emboldened by Ambedkarite Buddhism鈥檚 basic principles: educate, agitate, organize. So he founded the Dr. Ambedkar School in 2006.
鈥淲e are a caste鈥�
The school draws its 125 students from Miskolc, which has a population of around 161,000, and its surrounding villages, of which around 58,000 are Romani, according to Hungary鈥檚 2012 census. Teachers prepare students for Hungary鈥檚 national graduation exams in areas like mathematics, literature, and history. But students also learn lessons drawn from Dr. Ambedkar鈥檚 life of activism.
鈥淚 would call myself an activist, too,鈥� student J谩nos Kun says. Like Dr. Ambedkar, Mr. Kun has grown up in extreme poverty and struggles against racism.
鈥淭here are eight of us in my family,鈥� the 20-year-old says. 鈥淪ix of us children live in one room.鈥� His parents have only a sixth grade education, and he will be the first of his family to graduate from high school. He is the eldest child and helps care for his younger siblings in a house without running water.
Romanis and the Dalits are the same, Mr. Kun says, down to their social status. 鈥淲e are a caste,鈥� he declares. 鈥淲e are at the very bottom level of society. But I鈥檓 not embarrassed to be poor.鈥�
Mr. Kun is honing his activism by organizing summer camps for younger Romani children where he helps show them paths out of poverty. But he also organizes on behalf of his school. He personally recruited nearly half of his graduating class to attend the school, including Petra B茅k茅si, Mr. Kun鈥檚 21-year-old classmate, who says that he first told her about the school when they ran into each other on a Miskolc city bus.
鈥淢y friends and I who go to this school strive to show people that it doesn鈥檛 have to be this way,鈥� Mr. Kun says. 鈥淎nyone can learn. Anyone can develop themselves.鈥�
Plenty of obstacles
Dr. Ambedkar鈥檚 story and the activism-oriented school of Buddhism that he founded help students develop a positive self-image, says Tibor Derd谩k, the school鈥檚 director. 鈥淲e are all equal in our spiritual development,鈥� he says.
Few students actually convert to Buddhism, he adds, although he says the message of equality and self-esteem touches everyone: students, teachers, and parents alike. But while several staff members, including Mr. Ors贸s, are Buddhist, the school does not offer courses on Buddhism and does not condone proselytizing. Publicity about Buddhism in the school and community has incurred聽 from the authorities in the past.
Even without the suspicion that authorities show toward Buddhism, the school and its community still have to deal with the government鈥檚 prejudice against Roma and desire to control the country鈥檚 education system.
Hungary鈥檚 current government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n, has drawn broad criticism for using racist rhetoric to promote xenophobic, anti-migrant policies. On campus, Mr. Orb谩n鈥檚 hostility to minorities is nothing new.
Governments have come and gone in Hungary, says Mr. Derd谩k, but none have improved living conditions for Roma. 鈥淭hirty-four years have passed since the fall of communism, and nothing has changed,鈥� he says.
Mr. Orb谩n鈥檚 allies in his Fidesz party donated the school鈥檚 Miskolc building as well as 100 million forints ($280,000) for renovations. However, as a private, independent school, the Dr. Ambedkar School does not receive regular government funding and opted against receiving any additional state aid.
Other private schools serving Roma communities decided to accept state funding 鈥� and saw the government immediately step in to replace teachers and staff. Mr. Derd谩k calls it a cautionary tale. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 like the way the state is influencing the school鈥檚 day-to-day functioning,鈥� he says.
The school鈥檚 independence has limits, though. The same economic policies that affect Roma throughout Hungary are also negatively impacting the Dr. Ambedkar School.
The biggest threat to the school鈥檚 future, Mr. Derd谩k says, is the Fidesz government鈥檚 鈥渨ork-based society鈥� program. Under this scheme, the government lowered the mandated school attendance age from 18 to 16, and expanded government work programs to provide employment to young people. Mr. Orb谩n has promoted the idea that those who aren鈥檛 succeeding in school should be diverted into the workplace where they can practice practical trades.
But the work-based society program creates problematic incentives for Romani students, who are already struggling against discrimination in hostile school environments, to leave and seek out an easy and immediate paycheck, according to Mr. Derd谩k. Instead, they end up in dead-end, menial employment for village and town governments, which have little incentive to provide additional professional training. 鈥淭he vast majority end up in the same subordinated, oppressed situation,鈥� he says.
But the Dr. Ambedkar School鈥檚 empowerment-centered educational model could change that, says Dr. Dunajeva, the political scientist. Dr. Ambedkar鈥檚 philosophy is the key. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the inspiration for Roma youth to not only acquire basic skills,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut also develop a strong identity that will equip them in their future quest for social justice.鈥�
