On March 26-27, the 14th Romology Conference was held, organized by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Pécs, under the title “Roma, Gypsies, Researchers in a Changing Socio-Economic-Political-Historical Space.”

This year marked the first time the E-mentoring Program joined the conference: in the online section, Lukács Lilla and Lőkös Laura presented the program in a joint session. The team was represented in person at the conference by Gulics Amina and Lőkös Laura.

Their presentation, titled “Digital Mentoring and Competence Development: Impact Assessment of the E-mentoring Mentoring Program and Introduction of the Romoji Educational Application” focused on the positive impacts of peer mentoring and the Romoji app developed by our team.

During the conference, we received constructive suggestions and positive feedback, and we were encouraged to continue our work. Within the field of Romology, increasing attention is being given to practice-oriented research and development that operate at the intersection of digital education, mentoring, and social inclusion. The 14th Romology Conference provided an excellent opportunity to present our results to both national and international professional audiences.

Visit to the Gandhi High School

Alongside the conference, we also had the opportunity to visit the Gandhi Gimnázium, which operates as Europe’s first Roma nationality secondary school and dormitory. Guided by students, we were introduced to the everyday life of the school, toured the institution, and had direct conversations with students about the opportunities they receive through the school’s support, as well as their experiences of living in the dormitory since the age of 14.

The visit was particularly inspiring: we experienced firsthand how Gandhi builds a bridge between preserving Roma culture and identity and providing high-quality secondary education-values that closely resonate with the mission of the E-mentoring Program.