More than half of the teachers resigned because of the new headmaster

Even the porter quitted from the Weöres Sándor Elementary and Secondary School of Budapest, 9th district – reports 168 óra. Finding new teachers will be difficult because the whole country is short of pedagogues. The teaching staff of the secondary school did not support the application of László Kormos, the former headmaster. However, since public education is centralized in Hungary,  the decision is made by a state institution, and they decided in favour of Kormos. In another part of the city, in the 12th district, the headmaster resigned because of the “horrible system” of education.

Passing exams without teachers?

In the Weöres Sándor Elementary and Secondary School, graduates do not know how they will pass the school-leaving exam because they do not have teachers for many important subjects. The situation escalated in the school after former headmaster László Kormos’s application was accepted. Even though he was the only applicant, electing the headmaster caused irresolvable conflicts in the school.

In Hungary,

a state authority called Klebelsberg Centre decides about who will lead a public school as headmaster.

The teaching staff is allowed only to comment on their decision but has no veto.

According to Balázs Szandavéri, a former IT teacher who resigned in August, the conflict between the staff and the headmaster started in Spring. Secondary teachers thought that Kormos was not satisfied with the job of the secondary school headmaster and wanted to substitute him.  This conflict and the fact that the teachers did not support Kormos affected the everyday work of the teachers, so

all of them handed in their resignation.

This is because the elected headmaster wanted to know who did not vote for him.

At present, the school is short of teachers of many important subjects. Thus, graduates do not really know how they will pass their school-leaving exam since, for example, elective courses have not even started yet. Furthermore, graduates have only had a few History classes so far, because their teacher was ill many times and he could not be substituted, even though the subject is compulsory. To make matters worse, there is no IT teacher in this secondary school.

Teacher shortage everywhere

In fact, the story of Weöres Sándor Elementary and Secondary School is not unique. In September, 1/4 of the teaching staff in Budai Nagy Antal Secondary School (22nd district) resigned because of the

headmaster elected in 2015 against the will of the whole staff

– reports 444.hu. Before, the headmaster was reported to the police by the Parents’ Committee because she did not publish the annual account of the school’s foundation.

Finding new staff will not be easy. As we already reported, there were 700 open teaching positions at the beginning of September in more than 200 places in the country. In the 12th district, the headmaster resigned because of the “horrible system” of education – 444.hu reports. In the Farkasréti Elementary and Secondary School, László Fazekas wrote in a 9-page-long letter that

the whole Hungarian public education system is a total failure,

pedagogues are in a hopeless situation, and the burden on the students is unbearable.

Source: 168 óra, 444.hu, Daily New Hungary