Government-opposition talks start about the future of education

Interior Minister Sándor Pintér has invited all parliamentary parties to a consultation on the new legislation on teachers’ career path, to be held on Wednesday.

The consultation will come after three months of “comprehensive consultation with professional organisations and society” on the matter, a foundation of teachers’ “significant wage increases”, the interior ministry said in a statement on Friday. Pinter invited representatives of Fidesz-Christian Democrats (KDNP), the Democratic Coalition (DK), the Socialists, Momentum, Jobbik and Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland), it said.

The ministry hopes that “leftist parties are willing to engage in calm, constructive dialogue rather than fueling demonstrations often ending in violence, and working openly to obstruct the payment of the EU monies that would fund wage hikes,” the statement added. The ministry has adopted the proposals of trade unions, the National Teachers’ Council and other professional and civil organisation on dozens of points in the past months. Until Hungary receives the European Union funding “the country is entitled to”, the government will raise teachers’ wages by 10 percent, starting in January. Once the resources are accessible, teachers could see the “largest wage hike since the change of regime”, which would bring their average wages above 800,000 forints (EUR 2,100) a month by 2026, the statement said.

The amendment would also simplify teachers’ career path, establish a performance evaluation system and a change in their employment status. Their administrative burdens would decrease, it said.