Móricz Zsigmond Secondary School, Ibrány, Hungary
Changing the future for young people in deprived communities

Background

Founded in 1963 as the only grammar school in the region, the Móricz Zsigmond Secondary School has expanded dramatically in recent years. In 2003, the school had 185 students, while today that number has risen to 520. Education is delivered in 22 classes on three sites, and two hostels provide residential accommodation for students who could not otherwise attend the school.

There is a great deal of poverty and a high level of unemployment and under-education in Ibrány, and the school’s students often come from very socially disadvantaged families, many from the Roma community. The fulfilment of these children’s potential can only be achieved through appropriate education and training.

The school staff take advantage of every opportunity to provide their students with as much educational, pastoral and financial help as they can. This is why the school joined a national programme called the János Arany Student Hostel Programme for Multiply Disadvantaged Students, which covers the educational, accommodation and maintenance costs of the most disadvantaged students in the region.

Partnership

Budapest Youth Enterprise Centre (BYEC), EDW’s first, ‘flagship’ Central European partner, introduced staff from the school to our youngbusiness.net project. At BYEC’s invitation, staff attended the closing conference of youngbusiness.net 2, held at the British Embassy in Budapest. This led to EDW and BYEC inviting the school to participate in the youngbusiness.net 3 programme, funded by the Leonardo Da Vinci Lifelong Learning Programme, and they became active partners in the project in early 2008.

Goals

Since then, the school has been implementing the youngbusiness.net 3 programme, with support from EDW and BYEC, by undertaking outreach visits to potential target groups and running awareness training sessions and competitions at the school. The Mayor of Ibrány has put an incubator office at the school’s disposal in Ibrány’s Culture Centre, to facilitate the implementation of the project.

Through the support of the programme, the school aims to develop a business awareness and business incubation programme, tailored to support students and young people in the local community, in the development of their enterprise initiatives. Staff at the school are determined to involve as many target groups as they can in the project.

By promoting business studies, through participation in EDW’s youngbusiness.net 3 programme, the school aims to see more of its disadvantaged students in employment, as well as helping other young people in the region with business initiatives, especially the Roma community, which is particularly vulnerable. The school aims to disseminate the business knowledge it gains to other localities in neighbouring countries, including Romania and the Ukraine, as well as to other parts of Hungary.

More about the project >>