Hungarian president signs education law amendment

President János Áder on Friday signed a recent amendment to the public education law.

In a statement, Áder said he had consulted with the ombudsman for educational rights prior to signing the legislation, and was assured that worries around the amendment were not justified. He also noted that the “directions and content” of the new law was approved by several professional organisations including associations supporting children with special needs.

“Those organisations have voiced clear support for stipulations of the new law,” Áder said. He added he hoped that their approval would convince parents “scared by assumptions not supported by the word of the law”.

Earlier, green opposition LMP criticised the amendment passed by parliament on May 30, saying that it would infringe on the constitutional rights of children to protection and education, and discriminate against the disabled.

The opposition Socialist and Democratic Coalition parties also opposed the amendment and said they would request a Constitutional Court scrutiny.

In a statement, educational ombudsman Lajos Aáry-Tamás said that the amendment aims to motivate the children, their families and their teachers not to “give up” but to work together to boost their performance. Several other measures facilitating a successful school carrier will stay in place, such as longer preparation times at exams and the possibility to choose oral exams over written ones, he said.

The amendment came as the result of a two-year cooperation with experts, the Gusztáv Bárczi College of Special Education and the bodies responsible for special needs diagnostics among them, Aáry-Tamás added.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI