Civil groups demand removal of education minister outside Parliament

Budapest (MTI) – An estimated 3,000 people gathered for a protest outside Parliament on Sunday to demand reforms in Hungary’s education system and the resignation of Zoltán Balog, the human resources minister.

Participants in the demonstration, organised by the Tanítanék Movement, also criticised the government for what they see as treating civil groups as enemies, and said the government should “listen to those groups even if their position is not flattering”.

At a press conference held simultaneously with the demonstration, a deputy of the co-ruling Christian Democrats said that the protest would not do any good to the case of education and insisted that the organisers were sponsored by Hungarian-born US financier George Soros.

István Hollik said that the protesters only used education as an excuse for attacking the government; they were “using foreign money” and supporting “foreign powers”.

“While they are protesting, the government is working”, Hollik insisted, and argued that the government was implementing “the largest pay hike for teachers” since 1989.

Source: MTI