Early School leaving versus resilience - marginal notes of the research on the Arany János Support Programs

Abstract

Since decades in Hungary the Arany János Support Program has been functioning with the participation of 70 institutions. The goal of the Program is to provide support for disadvantaged students in their high school education preventing their early school leaving and helping their social mobility. As a part of a comprehensive research at the Universiy of Pécs, the Hungarian Institute for Educational Research and Development and the Ministry of Human Capacities have been collaborating to examine the success of Arany János Support Program. Furthermore, the research intends to explore the connection between inclusive environment
and the development of students’ resilience. The study presents the aims of three Arany János subprograms, including the introduction of the research history, the participant institutions’ location and its institutional network. Statistical analysis shows that the Subprograms have uneven regional coverage. The results of the examination highlight that the subprogram (Kollégiumi-Szakközépiskolai Program) which effectively reaches the multiple disadvantaged youth – mainly Roma/Gipsy students - operates with a highly unequal regional coverage, concerning only a few states on the East side of the Danube. In addition of the regional
diagnosis, the study summarizes the professional-content framework of each Subprogram’s implementation, and the changes in the students’ number in the last fi ve years. At last, the paper outlines the following steps and the expected results of the comprehensive research.