Workshops that promote social inclusion should be properly acknowledged, Minister of State for Social Affairs and Inclusion Károly Czibere said at the school year launching ceremony of the Gandhi School in Pécs, southwest Hungary, on Monday.

He said society should welcome every initiative that gives people a chance to break out of the vicious circle of a disadvantaged situation through hard work and dedication. The Gandhi School is the country’s only secondary school for Roma children.

Mr Czibere said the Gandhi School originally began as an experiment, but its continued existence over twenty years proves that such initiatives can be viable and this should certainty reassure both the Roma community and society as a whole. He said the successes of this institution should be incorporated into the public education system countrywide.

Ildikó Déri, Principal of the Gandhi School, said that it is not sufficient for an institution to be unique, it also has to measure up to its peers in order for students to choose it. The school currently has 190 full-time students and another 60 attending evening classes and correspondence courses.

(Ministry of Human Capacities)