In Kosice, however, Roma make up about 70 percent of the 350-member student body at a secondary school specializing in the arts. The school emphasizes two strong points of the Roma people, music and dance.
The principal, Gejza Adam, described the place as a "school of tolerance where the majority cohabits with minorities." All the students, including those who are not gypsies, must learn the Roma language and study the culture and history of the community.
Adam said the ethnic tensions so much in evidence in Slovakia are absent at the school. The misty-eyed couples from different ethnic backgrounds who drift along the corridors in the breaks between classes seem to make the point for him.
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