Orbán promises everyone profession and decent pay

Vocational training is becoming increasingly attractive, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his opening address at the 17th festival for vocational training in Budapest on Wednesday.

When the time comes to make a career choice, more than half of young people choose vocational school, with the number of applicants usually being three-fold, but at times ten-fold the admission limit, Orbán told the opening of the Vocational Star Festival.

The prime minister said the Hungarian government could guarantee that “everyone in Hungary will have a profession, and vocational schools are open to all”. He also promised that those who had a profession would also have a job, pointing out that there were now more jobs than skilled labourers.

Orbán also said that those who work will receive a decent wage. As long as the current government was in power, he said, every Hungarian worker would be respected.

Finally, the prime minister said that “those who have a family alongside a profession will have a home and can count on family support from the government”. “Because we know that those who have a family have a good chance to live a happy life,” Orbán said, adding that happy families made up “the strong and independent Hungary we’ve been fighting for for centuries”.

Orbán: No future without vocational work and workers

Hungary has built a labour-based economy over the past 15 years and “today everyone knows that there is no future without vocational work and workers”, the prime minister said opening a professional fair on Wednesday.

Viktor Orbán told the event dubbed Vocational Star Festival that 15-20 years ago, it was generally believed that the future would be mostly determined by degree-holders and white-collar workers.

But in the past 15 years, a labour-based economy has been built and the backbone of the economy is now represented by vocational workers and skilled workers, he added.

“If intellectuals also make the best of their abilities and the worlds of intellectual work and vocational work are combined, it will result in a successful Hungary,” he said.

It is difficult to forecast what the future brings, but the government’s job is to offer futureproof and up-to-date training to everyone, he added.

Viktor Orbán told the event dubbed Vocational Star Festival that the Hungarian government could guarantee that “everyone in Hungary will have a profession, and vocational schools are open to all”. He also promised that those who had a profession would also have a job, pointing out that there were now more jobs than skilled labourers.

“We, older people, know that talented youngsters write the future of Hungary,” he said.

He added that 15-20 years ago, it was generally believed that the future would be mostly determined by degree-holders and white-collar workers.

But in the past 15 years, a labour-based economy has been built and the backbone of the economy is now represented by vocational workers and skilled workers, he added.

“If intellectuals also make the best of their abilities and the worlds of intellectual work and vocational work are combined, it will result in a successful Hungary,” he said.

It is difficult to forecast what the future brings, and increasingly difficult to pick a profession for life, he said. At the start of the decade, many expected that new technologies would replace blue-collar work but it turned out that computers cannot do the work of labourers, he added.

A decade ago, nobody could have predicted that a war would break out in a neighbouring country or that the European Union would lose it direction and fall behind America and Asia in the economic competition, he said.

“I am convinced that when someone chooses a vocational profession they make the right bet,” he said.

He said it was the government’s job to help young people stand on their feet and start an independent adult life. He added that it was difficult to tell what the future brings but the government’s job was to offer futureproof and up-to-date training to everyone.

He also said that the world of universities and vocational schools had been brought closer to each other, adding that the last year spent in vocational training could be used as a credit in higher education.

The prime minister said vocational training was becoming increasingly attractive. When the time comes to make a career choice, more than half of young people choose vocational school, with the number of applicants usually being three-fold, but at times ten-fold the admission limit, Orbán said.

He said the Hungarian government could guarantee that “everyone in Hungary will have a profession, and vocational schools are open to all”. He also promised that those who had a profession would also have a job, pointing out that there were now more jobs than skilled labourers.

Orbán also said that those who work will receive a decent wage. As long as the current government was in power, he said, every Hungarian worker would be respected.

Finally, the prime minister said that “those who have a family alongside a profession will have a home and can count on family support from the government”. “Because we know that those who have a family have a good chance to live a happy life,” Orbán said, adding that happy families made up “the strong and independent Hungary we’ve been fighting for for centuries”.

Laszlo Parragh, the head of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK), said that, since 2010, Hungary had established one of Europe’s best vocational training systems, with a high degree of corporate participation.

Orbán campaigns in Budapest

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán continued campaigning for the upcoming local elections in the capital on Wednesday, helping to collect supporting signatures for Alexandra Szentkirályi, the ruling parties’ candidate for mayor of Budapest, in downtown Batthyany Square, the PM’s press chief said.

“Alexandra is making good progress; I was just looking at the numbers,” Orbán, who is the leader of ruling Fidesz, said while talking to voters.

He said that what had been Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony’s “advantage” up until now, “namely that he hasn’t done anything”, had now become a “disadvantage”.

Orbán said Szentkirályi wanted to act in the interest of the city, “which has created a sharp contrast”.

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