Photos: Hungary's poor Roma children struggle with digital education

Mihaly Horvath, a 12-year-old in a village in northeastern Hungary, can't wait for his school to reopen. As a devastating COVID-19 surge swept Hungary in the spring, classes were suspended and students were ordered to study online. But Mihaly's family, part of Hungary's large Roma minority, doesn't have a computer or internet access at their home in Bodvaszilas, and he says he's falling behind in his lessons as a result.

"Some students have telephones; some have computers. But others like me don't have either,'' he said from the yard of a dilapidated house where he lives with nine other family members. "It's more difficult for Gypsy kids like us. Some don't even have writing utensils or anything else.'' Above, members of the Hungarian Roma Bastyur family sit in their home in Bodvaszilas, Hungary.

His is one of the thousands of Roma families in Hungary that the pandemic has particularly hard hit. Many already marginalized Roma adults lost work as Hungary's economy buckled under coronavirus lockdowns, pushing their families deeper into poverty. Some have reported selling their belongings, like mobile phones, to make ends meet. Above, Karmen Bastyur, a 22-year-old Hungarian Roma woman, lifts her daughter Fruzsina after giving her a bath in the family home, which lacks running water in Bodvaszilas, Hungary,

Mihaly plays with a ball outside his home in Bodvaszilas. Karmen Bastyur, Mihaly's great aunt, said most of the Roma children in Bodvaszilas don't have access to digital devices and aren't completing printed homework assignments given out by the school.

There's no help for them. (Mihaly) can't take advantage of online education since we don't have a computer,'' she said. "It would be easier because he could talk with his teacher who could help him with homework that he doesn't understand.'' Above, Milan Bastyur, a" 4-year-old Hungarian Roma child, eats lunch outside his family's home in Bodvaszilas.

According to an August 2020 survey by the National Democratic Institute, a U.S.-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.

Members of the Hungarian Roma Bastyur family eat lunch outside their home in Bodvaszilas. 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."

Karmen Bastyur, a 22-year-old Hungarian Roma woman, is reflected in a traffic mirror carrying a bucket of drinking water from a public water pump in Bodvaszilas.

Mihaly's relatives, like many Roma, rely on seasonal work or informal day labor for income. But business closures and other pandemic restrictions have caused them to lose work, leading to deeper impoverishment and food insecurity.

David Vig, director of the rights group 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.

"There is zero labour protection for those who work in (day labour)," he said. "Any COVID-related state support, if you don't have an official (work) contract, is not there.'' According to some estimates, Roma makes up nearly 10% of Hungary's population, and many live in one of the 1,300 segregated slums across the country. Above, Fruzsina, a Hungarian Roma girl, exits her family's home in Bodvaszilas.

Bodvaszilas is located in one of the least-developed regions in the 27-nation European Union. It's GDP per capita was only 40% of the EU average in 2013, according to Eurostat. The local municipality provides one hot lunch to school-age children each weekday, in place of the free meals students normally receive at school. But Mihaly's family still struggles to put enough food on the table.