Hátrányos helyzet – a cigányság az iskolában
Disadvantage - The Gypsies in the School

Summary/Abstract: The Roma population and political transition – Policy alternatives in Hungary. The fall of the one-party system in 1989/90 gave way to policy alternatives as well as heated debates influenced by party politics and politicians. From these debates, two alternative visions emerged in relation to the ’Gypsy/Roma problem’. Alternative A followed the new Hungarian law dealing with national and ethnic minorities, according to which the Gypsy/Roma population is to be seen as just one minority existing among others (German, Romanian, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian etc). Language education and schooling as well as support being given to cultural activities became the core of such a policy, here with a stress on Gypsy/Roma folklore, traditions and movements. Alternative B – the ’Gypsy/Roma question’ – saw the situation as a socio-economic problem, referring to the fact that large groups of this population live in deep poverty and socio-economic (sometimes even political) backwardness. The positive outcome of policy Alternative A was an emerging Gypsy/Roma middle class, i.e. as this policy alternative concentrates on emergent socio-cultural groupings in Gypsy/Roma society. The result of policy Alternative B proved to be positive discrimination in favour of the most disadvantaged groups. However, an analysis of recent policy developments has shown that mixing the two alternatives might be dangerous since it may lead to ethnic discrimination in the name of ’human rights’

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