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Guiding at-risk youth through learning to work
Lessons from across Europe

Scholarship and mentoring projects, Hungary

One of the successful approaches to tackling education disadvantage faced by Roma children in
Hungary has been the introduction of combined mentoring and scholarship projects. This
approach has a relatively long history in Hungary, having been run in the past by several different
agencies before it became a mainstream activity funded by the State in 2005.

The first Roma mentoring/scholarship project was introduced by the Soros Foundation, a non-
governmental organisation (NGO), in the mid 1990s. It targeted disadvantaged Roma students,
for whom it:

• offered scholarships for secondary level students;
• funded, recruited and trained mentors whose main task was to help young people with their
homework, build up their aspirations, help them to understand the benefits of education and
training and support their progress to the next education stage;
• organised summer camps for students and mentors;
• arranged networking events for participants.

The project ended when the foundation closed in 2005. It was a very successful project that
managed to reach Roma students in most need of support. Students were able to ‘select’ their
own mentor (one of the school teachers) and then submit a scholarship/mentoring application
together with their chosen mentor. The group activities organised as part of the programme
allowed young people to socialise together and created a sense of team spirit among all
participants, mentors and mentees alike. Such activities also allowed Roma children to
strengthen their Roma identity. The project also acted as a positive catalyst to improve the
relationship between schools and Roma children.

In 2002, building on the success of the Soros Foundation project, the Budapest City Council
decided to fund a similar project in the greater Budapest region, targeting children from
disadvantaged backgrounds. The project is still running and benefits some 250 students and 80
teachers each year.

In 2005, the Hungarian government decided to mainstream this practice of combining
scholarship and mentoring activity, based on the broad principles of the Soros Foundation
project. The programme is known as Ultravaló (For the journey) and the goal is to support young
people from poor socioeconomic backgrounds. It has three eligible student groups:

• students at grades seven and eight receive help with their homework. During one-to-one or
small group sessions mentors provide step-by-step explanations so students can easily
understand how to solve problems and homework questions they might find difficult. In
addition, the mentors are expected to help with the selection process for secondary level
studies;
• students in grade nine continue to receive help with their homework. Another important area
of work for mentors is career advice. They help students become more self-aware and to
identify the options available to them in terms of education, training and employment;
• mentors of students of vocational education and training establishments help them with their
homework, offer career advice and support young people in their efforts to find a work
placement, which is usually an important part of their IVET studies. The mentors help young
people to identify companies and organisations where they could complete their placement.
All mentees receive scholarships ranging from EUR 13 to EUR 17 a month (HUF 3 500 to HUF 4
500). Mentors also receive payments for their participation of similar amounts. In 2005, 20 045
students in 1 675 schools participated in the programme. They were supported by nearly 8 000
mentors.

Based on information from the Roma education fund (http://www.romaeducationfund.hu/).

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