Jobbik: School violence linked to regions with higher Roma populations

Budapest, June 9 (MTI) – The Jobbik party on Thursday urged the government to draft a strategy to reduce school violence and suggested the problem was worse in areas where there are large numbers of Roma.

Jobbik’s call followed an incident in a primary school in Budapest on Monday.

The parents are reported to have physically assaulted a teacher, accusing her of having failed to protect their child from violent bullying in school.

The case shows that school violence is still a burning issue affecting both students and teachers, Dóra Dúró, Jobbik’s deputy group leader, told a press conference.

School violence is an underlying cause of “spontaneous segregation”, too. This happens when parents take out their kids of schools where violence occurs regularly, she said.

Dúró urged the ombudsman’s office to repeat its survey conducted in 2000. This concluded that school violence occurs more often in regions where a higher proportion of Roma live, notably in Hungary’s north-eastern regions, she insisted.

Jobbik wants the human resources ministry to draft a strategy with the involvement of teachers, the prosecution, the courts and civil guards, said Dúró.

The party further proposes expanding the powers of teachers, ensuring a stronger police presence in schools and enacting regulations that allow violent pupils to be expelled, she said.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters