A one-hour protest around the country by teachers – PHOTOS
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Budapest, March 30 (MTI) – Commenting on a one-hour protest being held around the country by teachers on Wednesday, the state secretary for education told a news conference that the civil disobedience was “not right” but the demonstrators would not face any legal consequences.
Speaking in connection with the action organised by the Tanítanék (I would teach) movement, László Palkovics said the teachers would have to make up for the hour in lost lessons due to the walkout.
He criticised the so-called alternative roundtable, saying that “Hungarian education is not a private matter”, and he urged its members to join the official public education roundtable.
István Pukli, the head of the Tanítanék movement, called on teachers taking part in the protest and sympathisers to declare their demand for changes to the way public schools are run from September.
The Jobbik party said it supported the teachers’ demands but it urged a professional debate and added that protesters should behave in a way that shows a good example to children. The failure of the government’s education policy is beyond doubt and the decision to abolish state school manager Klik is only a PR trick, spokesperson Dóra Dúro said in a statement.
The green opposition LMP party said the government was fully responsible for the teachers’ action of civil disobedience because “employees have been robbed of their right to strike” and civil disobedience remains the only means of expressing their protest. LMP lawmaker István Ikotity told a press conference that his party supported the protesters and called on the government to “stop threatening teachers”.
