Hungary. Baranya County. Pécs. Gandhi High School. German class. A girl and a boy with arms and hands raised signal that they know the answer. The purpose of the middle school / high school is to provide a school-leaving exam (A-level), also to improve the prospects of Romani children in Hungary and to help preserving the Romani culture. The Romani people, also known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan people group, traditionally nomadic itinerants living mostly in Europe. The Romani people are widely known in English by the exonym Gypsies (or Gipsies), which is considered by many Romani people to be pejorative due to its connotations of illegality and irregularity as well as its historical use as a racial slur. In many other languages, they are called Roms (Rroms), Tziganes,Tsiganes, Gitans, Bohémiens, Manouches, Romanichels, gitano, zingaro and cigano. The Gandhi High School in Pécs, was founded with donations given by several individuals from the private sector mostly those of Romani origin Romani and with further donations from other organizations. In 1992, the Gandhi High School became the first Romani high school, that has been actively operating since 1994. It was named after the Indian Mahatma Gandhi, to emphasize the Indian origin of all Romani groups. The school consists of 6 classrooms where about 250 male and female pupils study, mostly between the ages of 14 to 18. The first group of students beginning in 1994 took their school-leaving exam (A-level) in 2000 and out of 18 pupils, 16 have applied to universities, while 7 out of the 18 students gained entry to their desired universities. Pécs is the fifth largest city of Hungary. It is the administrative and economic centre of Baranya County.11.05.95 © 1995 Didier Ruef