Segregation and protest: the struggle for equal education
Several legal proceedings took place regarding the Jászladány school segregation case. The local Roma community strongly protested the school arrangement, even staging a hunger strike. Despite these actions, the local government’s initiative maintained segregated education until 2011, when the local government was orders to end the physical segregation and to develop further measures to eliminate the unlawful situation. The Supreme Court ruled that the local government had unlawfully segregated children based on ethnicity and socioeconomic status, violating the principle of equal treatment.
The case, a symbol of social tension and the disadvantaged situation of Roma children in Hungary, also highlighted broader concerns about discrimination and the social exclusion of Roma communities, particularly in the field of education. The situation led to political calls for a resolution that respected minority rights.
“We will not allow the classes to remain openly segregated.”
László Kállai
then head of the Gypsy municipality