Hungary's poor Roma struggle with remote education

Karmen Bastyur is one of thousands of people from Roma families in Hungary that have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Many already marginalized Roma adults lost their jobs as Hungary's economy buckled under lockdowns, pushing their families into deeper impoverishment and food insecurity.

Some have reported selling their belongings, like mobile phones, to make ends meet. The local municipality provides one hot lunch per school-aged child each weekday in place of the free meals students normally receive at school. But Bastyur's family still struggles to put enough food on the table. "If we sit around the table, I rather feed the kids, letting them eat something. Food is short, but we are happy with any little we get," she said.

Bastyur lives with nine other family members: her children, grandchildren and cousins. As a devastating surge in the COVID-19 pandemic swept Hungary in the spring, classes were suspended and students were ordered to study online. Many Roma children living in segregated villages are unable to attend these online classes with some homes having no internet, and sometimes no electricity.

Mihaly Horvath, Bastyur's grandnephew, doesn't have a computer or internet access at home. Instead Horvath, part of Hungary's large Roma minority, studies in the yard of a dilapidated house where he lives. He admitted he's falling behind in his lessons as a result. "It's more difficult for Gypsy kids like us, because we could only study well in school. Some kids didn't even have writing utensils or anything, and I think they still don't have them," the 12-year-old said.

According to an August 2020 survey by the National Democratic Institute, a US-based nonprofit organization, only 41% of Roma households in Hungary have access to both cable and mobile internet, and 13% report no access to the internet at all. A November 2020 report from Hungary's deputy ombudsperson for national minorities acknowledged that for Roma children from poor families, "the transition to digital education multiplied their already existing disadvantages."

Horvath's relatives, like many Roma, rely on seasonal work or informal day labour for income. But business closures and other pandemic restrictions have caused many of those opportunities to dry up. David Vig, director of human rights organization Amnesty International Hungary, said the state has done little to help such workers, who were ineligible for unemployment benefits or wage support when their jobs disappeared.

Roma make up nearly 10% of Hungary's population, according to some estimates, and many live in the 1,300 segregated slums across the country. Bodvaszilas is located in northern Hungary, one of the least developed regions in the European Union. GDP per capita was only 40% of the EU average in 2013, according to Eurostat.

Two weeks ago, Bastyur's family was informed that the small, decaying house they rent had been sold to another owner, and that if they were not out within a month, the police would be called to evict them. The family was told to clean up the yard, clean the house, remove all their furniture and leave. But they don't know where to go.

"Every night I wonder how I could go forward. And the kids. I feel sorry for them the most. What future they will have?" Bastyur said through tears. Hungary reopened kindergartens and the first four grades of elementary schools on Monday, and Horvath is looking forward to May 10, when his grade can return to class. But by then, his family isn't sure he'll have a house to come home to.