In Hungary, the Dr Ambedkar School offers a second chance to Roma teenagers pushed out of mainstream education, drawing courage and language from Ambedkar’s anti-caste struggle in India. Founded by sociologist Derdák Tibor and Roma activist János Orsós, the Jai Bhim Network reimagines schooling as a political and spiritual project of dignity and self-respect. Classrooms named after Nagpur and other global cities ,and exchanges with Dalit communities show how his slogan “Educate, Agitate, Organize” travels across continents.
In Miskolc (pronounced Mish-kolts), Hungary, roughly two hours northeast of the capital Budapest, stands a distinctive light-blue school building. On its front hangs a poster, "You too should get a high school diploma, learn a trade, or finish eighth grade”. At its bottom, "Dzsaj Bhím Buddhista Közösség", Hungarian for "Jai Bhim Buddhist Community”. Across the street lies a bust of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, after whom the school is named. Dr Ambedkar never visited Hungary. So how did a school here come to bear his name? And who studies here?
The story begins in the early 2000s with Derdák Tibor, a sociologist and former member of the Hungarian parliament. While in Paris, Tibor encountered a French book about Ambedkar and India's Dalits by scholar Christophe Jaffrelot. The parallels between the Dalit experience and Hungary's Roma ethnic minority struck him. He took this discovery to János Orsós, a Roma activist who had spent years trying to keep Roma teenagers from dropping out of school.
Today, Hungary's Romani or Roma people, roughly 7–10% of the population, face exclusion reminiscent of Dalits’ struggles in India. In villages across the country, Roma families are pushed to the outskirts, often into settlements without basic services like running water. Studies trace Roma roots to communities from northwestern India, possibly linked to Doms, Banjaras, and Lambanis.
János first encountered Ambedkar at 25. His story resonated due to the similarities in their conditions across two continents. Segregation against Roma kids and teenagers remains widespread. Roma youth are segregated in elementary schools. Non-Roma parents send their kids elsewhere, leaving local schools to become Roma-only institutions with poor infrastructure and unmotivated teachers. Around 80% of non-Roma children in Hungary finish secondary school while among Roma children, that number drops to barely 5%.
Earlier in the 90s, Derdák Tibor had already begun an educational experiment for Roma youth in Hungary by launching a high school in Pécs city for Roma teenagers who were excluded from secondary education. They later expanded this effort by building a small network of schools dedicated to Roma education.
In 2005, Derdák and Orsós traveled to Maharashtra to study Ambedkarite movements. They attended a mass Buddhist conversion in Nagpur the following year and formally embraced Buddhism, founding the Jai Bhim Network upon their return. Derdák's first Roma high school in Europe had been named after Gandhi, Europe’s most famous Indian icon. But János felt Ambedkar’s fight against caste and exclusion better captured Roma realities in Hungary.
In 2007, the Dr Ámbédkar School opened in Sajókaza, one of Hungary's poorest regions, as a second chance institution for teenagers the state had abandoned. Before its founding, only two Roma students from the area had ever completed high school. By 2009, the Jai Bhim Network was running schools in five locations with around 200 students. In 2016, with funding support, the school acquired a building in Miskolc and moved its operations to provide better access.
The Dr Ámbédkar School looks radically different from a standard Hungarian school. Its classrooms are named after global cities arranged west to east: London, Bangkok, Taipei, and Nagpur, the city where Ambedkar converted to Buddhism. Maps and a flag of India hang alongside those of the European Union. You see posters of Martin Luther King Jr. alongside other human rights heroes. Each room labels the cardinal directions in Hungarian, English, French, and Hindi.
Ambedkar's portrait hangs in every classroom and the teachers' lounge. His image appears as the desktop background on the school's computers. The slogan "Educate, Agitate, Organise" is painted on walls. Students learn Ambedkar's biography and are expected to discuss his ideas. His life and philosophy appear on the school-leaving exam. The curriculum follows official state standards but employs alternative pedagogies to re-engage students alienated by traditional schooling.
Over the years, the school has forged deep ties with the Ambedkarite movement in India. Dalit scholars and activists often visit. Through the Jai Bhim Network, Roma students travel to Maharashtra and Nagpur, visit Dalit Buddhist sites, and witness firsthand that their education belongs to a broader political and spiritual movement.
The effort is not without its challenges. Funding is usually a struggle. As told on The News Minute's 'What’s Your Ism?' podcast by journalist Sudipto Mondal, the political climate in Hungary can be hostile. Despite, the challenges, the school has made many advances. The experiment shows that the non-negotiable dignity of the oppressed travels easily across borders. Wherever people are pushed to the edges of a country and told they don’t quite belong, his words find new readers.
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