Opposition turns to top court over amendments of education law

The parliamentary groups of five opposition parties are turning to the Constitutional Court to have annulled amendments of the public education law the parliament accepted in July, the parties said on Friday.

At a joint press conference of the Socialist Party, the Democratic Coalition (DK), nationalist Jobbik, green LMP and Párbeszéd, Socialist Ágnes Kunhalmi said the amendments “do not comply with the requirements of the rule of law” and are “unconstitutional”, harming the basic right to freedom of information, the freedom of opinion and children’s right to education.

The new regulation would make it mandatory for children to start school at the age of six, Kunhalmi noted. Up to now, experts decided whether a child was ready for school.

Kunhalmi also called on parliament to comply with an earlier ruling of the top court and create a system considering individual cases of children struggling with learning or behavioral difficulties.

DK deputy group leader Gergely Arató said that the new legislation would strip parents from determining how their children should be taught and teachers from exercising their professions freely.

It also curbs private schools’ possibilities in outlining their education programmes, he said

Source: MTI