At birth, there are abilities and talents hidden in virtually all of us – albeit different ones. It depends on the environment, however, how and to what extent this talent can develop and unfold and enrich the individual, and therethrough the whole of society. The welfare of a country depends to a large extent on the abilities of its citizens and on how much they can exploit these abilities.

Extreme poverty and high unemployment rate in certain social strata in our country, and in particular among the Roma population constitutes a very acute social problem. The only possible solution lies in education and promotion of social integration. The most important propellant thereof is ensuring a suitable integrated public education already at the primary school level. Solving the problem of disadvantaged children falling behind in learning and compensating for this deficit can only be achieved through a radical change in and reform of education.

The H2O programme is dedicated to widely disseminating an educational method which is suitable for children from all social groups and which fosters the cooperation skills of children from different socialization and cultural backgrounds. Our programme is a teaching method based on special cooperative group work and differentiated instruction, which makes high level pedagogical work possible for teachers in classes in which the differences between students in knowledge and self-expression skills vary widely. We employ methods that through the diversity of tasks ensure that students lagging behind are brought up to the level of others, that each learner experiences a sense of success and that students are prompted to think creatively. Our programmes also create an opportunity for optimal learning and development in the cognitive, meta-cognitive and socio- emotional areas. The goal of school work is to reduce the differences between learners and to ensure that all students reach the highest level attainable given their abilities, motivation and goals. In this framework, school will assume a differentiated achievement development assessed against the individual, taking differences in learning style and speed into consideration, the development of complex social contact and the bolstering of tolerance. An important element of the method is a close cooperation between the school and the parents, which is realized in class time dialogues.

We regard it as a social issue to help discover, develop and exploit abilities that lie dormant in children. It is a social issue whether we can rouse in them the joy of creation, the diligence of assiduous work and the today indispensable cooperative abilities. Members of the programme would wish to see as many children find and grasp their opportunities and reach achievements that offer them joy and harmony. Therefore, the programme undertakes to participate in the alignment of two disadvantaged schools and the training of its teachers each year to turn disadvantage into advantage.

Rácz Tünde Fatima

leader of the programme

INTRODUCTION OF THE H2O PROGRAMME

Run-ups to the H2O:

• Development of the Complex Instruction Programme (CIP) at Stanford University (USA) under the leadership of Prof. Rachel Lotan and Prof. Elizabeth G. Cohen (1985)
• The creation of KÜRT foundation at Veszprém University „For the Education of Disadvantaged, and Primarily Roma children” (1996)
• With the aid of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the non-governmental organisation EJBO brought CIP to Hungary (2001)
• Introduction of CIP at the IV Béla Primary School at Hejőkeresztúr (2001)

The foundation of the H2O programme

The H2O programme to promote the educational integration of disadvantaged chidlren was set off on 31st August 2009 at the initiative of the Gábor Dénes Award Winners Club and with the support of Kürt Ltd. The programme is dedicated to widely disseminating an educational method which is suitable for children from all social groups and which fosters the cooperation skills and the communication of children from different socio-cultural backgrounds, which can thereby also result in a substantial change in their academic performance, as well.

Organisations behind H2O:

• „Hátrányos Helyzetű Gyermekek Oktatásáért” Alapítvány (Foundation for the Education of Disadvantaged Children), which provided the legal background of H2O in 2009-2010.
• From 2010, the Digitális Esélyegyenlőség Kiemelten KözhasznúAlapítvány (DEA; Prominently Public Benefit Foundation for Digital Equal Opportunities) took on managing the financial system of H2O.
• KÜRT Akadémia Ltd., the accredited adult education institution of H2O, which accredits H2O programmes (CIP, Inter-Generations Programme, Board Games Programme, TABELLO language instruction programme).
• TABELLO System Ltd, which ensures the language instruction background.