Hungarian schools to be protected by school guards with tear gas, handcuffs, and nightstick

Even though professional bodies protested, the Parliament accepted a bill that creates a new body in the Hungarian education system: the school guards. They will do their service in the most problematic schools by having tear gas, handcuffs, and even nightsticks to keep the order.

According to Index, school guards have already appeared in hundreds of schools in Hungary. Pedagogical knowledge is not a prerequisite for them, but they have to take part in a quick training before starting work. Meanwhile, legal experts say that violence cannot be the answer to violence.

Hungarian media previously reported that 2/3rd of the school guard applicants failed to pass the entrance exam, so, currently,

there are 423 school guards in Hungary,

but authorities are committed to raising their numbers soon.

One of them, Melinda Pogács, told Index that she previously worked as a security guard. She added that she likes children and is a mother of three. She said that she is determined enough to be a good school guard, and she helps everybody in case they need it. Mrs Pogács stated that physical violence has not happened yet, but she already solved problems like students speaking ill about one another. She said that she would never like to use the equipment we mentioned above.

• Teacher union PSZ rejects planned school guard
• Hungarian government submits school violence bill
• Government to set up school guard service in Hungary

9th graders were surprised when they saw him on September 1 in the school, dr József Merle said. He added, however, that older students were happy to welcome him. The 51-year-old man has two degrees but spent his life being a detective and policeman, and he now chose to continue his career as a school guard after being a pensioner for 10 years. 

Index says that the government created the institution of school guards without having detailed statistics about the quality and quantity of violence at schools. Most of the applicants did not meet the psychological and health requirements, so only 504 people (131 women, 373 men) got a license enabling them to serve as school guards. Interestingly, they have to pass exams every 5 years, and

478 schools would like to have school guards in Hungary.

Therefore, 55 institutions still wait for their school guard, mostly in Budapest, as well as Pest and Bács-Kiskun Counties. The government aims to satisfy demands by the end of September.

Finally, some important facts about the Hungarian school guards:

• they are not porters,
• they are not part of the police: they have coercive instruments but cannot arrest anybody,
• they cannot influence the pedagogical work of the school,
• the police employ them,
• they are present only in institutions where the headmaster asked for their help,
• they can keep the order at school events as well,
• they are public officials,
• their gross wage is HUF 220-230 thousand (EUR 720) plus cafeteria, equipment, uniform, and travel reimbursement,
• they cannot substitute the school psychologist.

State secretary Zoltán Maruzsa said that the government’s goal was not to send school guards in every Hungarian school.

Source: index.hu