An English school trip ended in controversy for eight students from a Hungarian-language secondary school in Šahy, southern Slovakia, after they were left in France with a teacher while the rest of the group travelled home.
The six girls and two boys, aged between 15 and 17, were left behind in the town of Forbach, near the French-German border, after organisers accused some students of inappropriate behaviour and disturbing the peace at their accommodation. The incident was reported by Slovak media outlets Új Szó and tnlive.sk.
Students left behind in France after disturbance
The group had travelled to England on a school trip organised by the Hungarian-language secondary school in Šahy. On the final night of the trip, while the group was staying in Forbach, some students allegedly repeatedly disturbed other guests.
According to the trip organiser, the students were repeatedly banging on doors along the hotel corridor and disturbing other guests. Several guests reportedly opened their doors and threatened to call the police.
The organiser said the students had also laughed off a warning that their behaviour grade could be downgraded. As a result, the organiser decided that the eight students would not continue travelling with the rest of the group. A teacher stayed behind in France with them.
According to the organiser, parents had previously signed an agreement stating that a student could be excluded from the trip in the event of a serious breach of discipline, with the parents responsible for the cost of getting the student home.
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Parents say the teenagers were shocked
The parents dispute the decision and say the students were effectively abandoned in France. Klaudia Uhor, the mother of one of the students, told tnlive.sk that the teenagers initially believed the bus was simply joking when it left without them.
After about half an hour, however, they realised that the group was not coming back for them, she said.
The parents were then forced to arrange and pay for their children’s journey home. The students first travelled to Frankfurt and then to Vienna, where a separate bus hired by their parents picked them up and took them back to Slovakia.
Uhor said the situation was particularly concerning because the students’ travel insurance was due to expire at midnight.
“We had to act quickly because anything could have happened to them,” she said, according to tnlive.sk.
The parents have filed a criminal complaint and are also working with lawyers over the incident.
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Organiser says the rules were agreed in advance
The trip organiser maintains that the decision was made in accordance with the rules agreed with the parents before the trip. She also claimed that two of the eight students had not personally broken the rules but remained in France in solidarity with the other six.
“There was no alcohol, no drugs, nothing like that,” Richard Segeč, the father of one of the students, told tnlive.sk.
The organiser said she also had video recordings of the incidents.
Meanwhile, lawyer Miroslav Chromý, representing the parents, said it was too early to determine whether the incident constituted a criminal offence or another breach of duty. “The clarification of the facts and their legal assessment are fully in the hands of the relevant authorities dealing with the case,” he said.
The school’s management is also dealing with the incident. The exact circumstances and legal consequences of the decision have yet to be established.
