A UN expert on Friday expressed concern over increased inequalities in Hungary’s education system for underserved communities and backsliding on academic freedom.

In a statement released after she visited Hungary, Farida Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, noted that while Roma individuals are given equal rights to education under the law, “segregation remains a persistent issue.” According to Shaheed, Roma children often face being placed in classes divided by criteria such as “weaker” and “stronger,” leading to educational isolation.

According to Hungary’s Chapter III of the 2011 Act on the Rights of Nationalities, a person belonging to a nationality that is different from ethnic and cultural groups in the country has the right to “equal opportunities in education and cultural services which the State shall promote with effective measures.”

In the landmark Szolcsán v. Hungary (2023) European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case, the court held that due to persistent segregation in state-run primary schools against Roma children and failure of the Hungarian state to take adequate desegregation measures, Hungary had violated Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 14 states that rights and freedoms established by the convention must be secured without discrimination based on sex, race, color, language, religion, political, or other opinion.

Shaheed added that the growing number of children with special education needs (SEN) has not been matched by “adequate teacher training or specialist support” in Hungary. The expert cited that bigger classes in public schools pose significant challenges to accommodate SEN students and that the shortage of specialists, such as doctors and sign language interpreters further adds to the difficulties.

The expert also stated that the transformation of 21 out of 61 public universities into interest asset management foundations creates serious concerns about academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and transparency as the decision-making power is transferred to the board that can override the university senate and appoint rectors. According to Shaheed, this caused university employees to lose their civil servant status, subsequently reducing their job security.

Since 2021, Hungary has undertaken national education reforms aiming to increase access to higher education among other things, including increasing the number of students coming from regionally disadvantaged areas, the Roma communities, and the number of female students in STEM courses. According to Euractiv, the reform has not had its desirable effects, where Roma students, for example, have difficulties completing secondary education by the age of 18.