Teachers protesting against the school system

Hungarian teachers’ unions call for appointing commissioner for education

Teachers' protest on Budapest's Kossuth square in front of the parliament

Teachers’ trade unions PSZ and PDSZ have called for a meeting of their joint strike committee next week, and called on the prime minister to appoint a commissioner for education, in an open letter on Friday.

In their letter, the unions said “the government declines talks with unions referring to a pending European Commission decision concerning funds to cover a pay hike (for teachers)” but added that the government could start giving teachers a substantial raise immediately, from the central budget. They also said they refused the argument that “the Left and Brussels are hindering a pay hike in education”.

The unions called on Viktor Orbán to “appoint a commissioner without delay who has expertise in all areas of education and who is not associated with recent fiascos” to be a partner in talks on structural changes in education, managing a shortage of teachers, reducing the burden on teachers, a review of the national curriculum, and modernisation of the education system in general. Addressing those issues must not be further delayed, the unions added.

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Teachers in Romania earn more than in Hungary – Hungarians cross the border to teach

teacher board frustration

Even in Romania, teachers earn more than in Hungary. Thus, many of them who live close to the border go to the neighbouring country to work there.

Strike

Teachers continue to strike across the country, although negotiations on their demands will not start until after the elections. Teachers want a one-off, 45% increase in basic wages, so they consider the 30% increase, which was previously introduced by Gergely Gulyás, the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, to be insufficient. What is more, the increase would be gradual, and only start next year, according to Portfolio.hu.

Romanian salaries

Shockingly, today, even in Romania, people are earning €150 more net in this field, with less work.

“Romanian teachers’ salaries are around €150 net more per month, while the number of teaching hours per week is 18, compared to 25.5 in Hungary,”

Tamás Totyik, the Vice-President of the Teachers’ Union (Pedagógusok Szakszervezete), told Telex.hu. He added that the actual number of teaching hours is even higher (27 hours), so the hourly wage of a Romanian teacher is higher than that of a Hungarian teacher, even in nominal terms.

Strikes stopped during COVID-19, frozen salaries

Totyik also told Portfolio.hu that teachers had already formed a strike organisation in February 2020 because there were already big problems with wages and labour. However, for two years, during the COVID-19 pandemic, they did not start a strike. Now, they have reached the point where they could not wait any longer because there was such serious wage tension in schools.

“If the government had stuck to the reform process launched in 2013 and not frozen the projection base used to calculate teachers’ salaries at HUF 101 500 (EUR 270), teachers’ salaries would be 100% higher in this country,”

the Vice-President said. He continued by saying:

“But the government froze salaries in 2014, and since then, the only thing that has risen is the allowances, while the workload is increasing.”

A starting teacher’s gross salary is HUF 260,000 (EUR 693) with a 20% bonus. This means a net income of HUF 207,000 (EUR 553), which is drastically lower than the average net salary of almost HUF 300,000 (EUR 800) in the national economy, according to Portfolio.hu.

Teachers and students held demonstrations in Budapest

teachers Strike in Hungary Budapest 3

Speakers at a teachers’ “checkered shirt” demonstration in front of the parliament building on Saturday stressed that the right to strike is a fundamental right.

The demonstration was held as part of a teachers’ strike that started on March 16.

Erzsébet Nagy of teachers’ union PDSZ said that the “miserable” salary situation cannot be remedied with “allowances scattered like crumbs”, adding that “superfluous administration” makes teachers’ work more difficult and the accreditation system is “completely unnecessary and useless”. She also pointed out that teachers are leaving the profession “en masse”.

teachers Strike in Hungary Budapest 2
Photo: MTI/Bruzák Noémi

Nagy said the public education system “fell apart long ago” but is being “held together by the professionalism of teachers”.

She added that if the government had invested as much energy in negotiations as in working to prevent the strike, “the promised land would already be here”.

teachers Strike in Hungary Budapest 1
Photo: MTI/Bruzák Noémi

Nagy said teachers are prepared to turn to the European Court of Human Rights.

She also said that the number of teachers who joined the strike was 20,000 higher than the figure mentioned by Gergely Gulyas, the prime minister’s chief of staff.

Leaders of public sector workers union MKKSZ, the Hungarian Unions Association and other organisations spoke at the demonstration, as well as teachers, students and parents.

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Would you teach for 865 EUR/month gross wage? Hungarians go on strike

Hungary student school

The teachers’ unions complain because of the low wages, overburdening administration, and many working hours. As a result, many Hungarian schools lack professional staff, and children do not receive the proper education they deserve. For example, 43 pc of schools do not have enough Math teachers.

Thus, some unions decided to go on strike at the end of January. The ministry immediately attacked them that they only use the teachers in the 2022 election campaign.

The rights of public education staff to strike must not be restricted, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said in a statement jointly signed with mayors of the united opposition in support of a warning strike planned by teachers, on Wednesday.

Striking is “their fundamental right… to raise their voice against the grievances they have suffered”, the statement said, adding that “the government is planning to use ignoble means to thwart the strike planned for January 31”.

In their statement, the mayors said they had received reports of heads of schools threatening retaliation against employees participating in the strike action.

 
“We condemn any attempt at restricting this action,”
 
they added.
 
“The government should… negotiate rather than intimidate; find a solution rather than threaten,” the statement said.
Hungary Semmelweis University
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Hungarian teachers union protests against new curriculum promoting nationalist Ideology

school boys education

Protests by a teachers union began on Tuesday against a new school curriculum they say promotes nationalist agenda and curbs academic freedom, reports The New York Times. The new curriculum is designed by the ruling party Fidesz.

This is not the first time the party has restricted academic freedom. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences had funding withdrawn a few years back and Central European University is leaving the country. Prime Minister has often come under fire for a range of policies that the European Union and human rights groups consider to be harmful to democracy in Hungary.

The Ministry of Human Resources announced the National Fundamental Curriculum (NAT) on Friday, specifying in detail the required material for study in elementary and secondary schools. The human resources minister said on Monday Hungary had needed to update its school curriculum. A government spokesman said: “Hungary’s best experts prepared NAT after lengthy professional discussions.”

“Future generations can begin their lives leaning on a curriculum based on values and showing European, Hungarian values,” Miklos Kasler told state television.

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The Democratic Union of Teachers (PDSZ) called for protests against the changes, now cast in law. Teachers of history and literature issued separate statements complaining that the NAT favors nationalist authors and agendas.

The curriculum contains no mention of Hungary’s only Nobel-winning author, Imre Kertesz, who was honored in 2002 for his body of work on the human experience during the Holocaust but names among what it considers the 10 most important Hungarian authors Ferenc Herczeg, who was an ardent supporter of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

“This curriculum expects a constant declaration of moral, ideological views,” wrote Gyorgy Fenyo, deputy director of the Association of Literature Teachers. “It leaves no freedom for thought but dictates what (we are meant to) think.”

“It… can only serve as a curriculum of a dictatorship,” he added.

Teachers protesting began to post photos on social media with the #noNAT hashtag and slogans such as “I will not teach fascism”.

school boys education
Read alsoWhat is wrong with the Hungarian education system?

Hungary – School is starting soon, but where are the teachers?!

kids children student school education in hungary

The teacher shortage has become a serious problem all across the country. Some schools are looking for IT, English, German, Mathematics, or History teachers, while others lack professors of Physics, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Science, Drawing, clarinet, flute, or physical education. And all this just one week before school starts.

“If you meet a developmental teacher, please bring him/her with you” – the principal of an elite Budapest high school was joking according to a hvg reader, by which he certainly described that teacher shortage is a serious problem in their case as well. Furthermore, other schools are in an even more critical situation.

The Hungarian news portal, hvg.hu, checked the major job posting forum where the following results were found:

  • 21st August – 941 search results for educators (the majority of them searching for kindergarten teachers); 1360 search results for teachers; 411 for tutors, and 626 for kindergarten teachers.
  • 22nd August – 1153 results appeared for the same search;
  • While for today, ‘only’ 1064 advertisements were found, meaning that job vacancies are being filled bit-by-bit.

Several institutions are looking for teachers of:

  • Math – Physics, or Physics with any other specialisation;
  • Hungarian – and any other specialisation;
  • IT – and any other specialisation;
  • English – and any other specialisation.

Last year was characterised by the same teacher job vacancies.

Despite the fact that the government “hates” to use the expression ‘teacher shortage,’ we are talking about a long-term problem which is becoming more and more serious. Comparing it to last year, this July, Eduline reported about 3600 vacant jobs, while one year earlier in the same period, only 2000 was counted. Last year, right before school started, a shortage of ‘only’ 700 teachers was registered.

Contradictive opinions

Labour union: ‘Something is going wrong’ vs. Ministry: ‘There is no problem’

According to Tamás Szűcs, Chairman of the Teachers’ Democratic Trade Union (PDSZ), some days ago a 1500 peak could be experienced; however, it is not surprising that the number of vacancies has decreased by the end of summer. The fluctuation can be explained by seasonal reasons: many people resign at the end of the school year; then, this number is reduced because many of them get employed by 20th August. There is a second wave as well, representing those who announce their termination by 20th August, as a result of which, teacher job vacancies rise again.

Last year, the Klebelsberg Centre opposed national teacher shortage, as they reported we can simply talk about a natural fluctuation, resulting from the changes in teachers’ living conditions, retirement, and parenthood. The same explanation was given by Emmi as well. According to the Ministry, we are not suffering from teacher shortage at the moment. What we see is only part of a natural fluctuation. “Fluctuation in schools – just like in previous years – mainly happens during the summer season; if teachers decide to change, they choose this period to realise it, and this process takes place in the forthcoming weeks as well.

The total number of teachers has not changed – 170,000 teachers are working in Hungarian public education. In the last few years, measures have been taken for making the profession more attractive. For example, average wages were increased by 50%, and students preparing for teaching careers are motivated by scholarships.

Still, not an attractive profession – According to PDSZ

However, these measures are still not efficient in attracting more youngsters towards this profession. Fewer and fewer people take teaching jobs, the majority of teacher trainees drop out during their studies, and 30% of students who graduated change professions within one year, while another 30% give up on teaching within the next 5-6 years, says Tamás Szűcs.

Teaching is not an attractive profession.

What could be done?

Fresh graduate salaries should be increased which has been realised by the government as well. Therefore, the apprenticeship period has been reduced to one year instead of two years, so the increased gross 40,000 HUF (121 EUR) can be received earlier. But this is not a complex solution as it only raises their net wages to 140,000-150,000 HUF (425-455 EUR), from which making a living is almost impossible. Recently, young teachers have presented their low salaries in desperate posts.

Despite the fact that Emmi considers the teacher workforce of 170,000 to be a stable number, this figure is deceptive. By the increase of mandatory classes, daily physical education, or by providing activities and daycare until 4 pm, more work is required from the same amount of teachers.

According to the Chairman of PDSZ, the basics should be changed. Teachers are confined by several outdated rules, offering them limited creativity. Regarding this question, no change can be expected yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Photo: MTI

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.

Teachers demand minister’s resignation at Budapest demo

Budapest (MTI) – Teachers demonstrating in front of Parliament on Monday evening demanded the resignation of Zoltán Balog, the minister of human resources.

They also demanded the re-establishment of a separate education ministry and a new education law.

The protest was organised by the Tanítanék movement.

Katalin Törley, a representative of the movement, told around 500 people gathered in Kossuth Square that the government’s education reforms had failed.

demonstartion-education

A Tanítanék Mozgalom demonstrációja Budapesten

Photo: MTI

Education state scretary: Poor PISA results not to affect education reform

Budapest (MTI) – The education reform the government has started will not be “essentially affected” by the poor results achieved by Hungarian students in the PISA test, but several points must be reviewed, education state secretary László Palkovics said in an interview published in daily Magyar Idők on Saturday.

Palkovics said the assessment of the results is underway and a report comparing the scores with those of other countries will be submitted to the government in January.

He said they will look into what has changed, what happened at schools, what kind of teaching methodology was applied and whether the new way of filling in the test – which students now had to fully complete on computers – caused any problems.

Palkovics noted that many countries have seen their PISA test results deteriorate. “We were not shocked by the PISA scores, and the PISA will not essentially change the reform process that we started,” he said.

Answering the question as to who or what is chiefly responsible for poorer performance, the state secretary said “this is a complex problem”; there is the curriculum, the syllabus and the methodology, which must be reviewed. Teachers and parents play a role as well, he added, noting that children cannot be blamed although it is true that if they do not learn what they have to, these results will obviously be worse.

Discussing the points to be reviewed, Palkovics said it would be important that certain classes should be taught in smaller groups in future so that students who need more help than others should receive extra attention from teachers. Furthermore, it is also important that schools should be supplied with the necessary educational tools: there are now few schools in the country where the modelling and simulation procedures required by PISA are used in teaching students younger than year eight, Palkovics said.

Hungarian students scored worse in reading comprehension and in science in a PISA test conducted last year than in a similar test in 2012, according to a recently published OECD report.

Union: PISA results verify teachers’ criticisms of education policy

education school classroom

Budapest, December 14 (MTI) – The results published recently of the 2015 PISA survey came as a “shock” to the teaching community but they are a vindication of the criticisms highlighting the “serious problems” in public education in Hungary, head of the PSZ teaching union Piroska Galló told a news conference on Wednesday.

Galló insisted that the government’s reforms in the sector had backfired largely because teachers and schools had been stripped of their independence. Also, heavy burdens on students and teachers were introduced. The amount of teaching material has grown to such an extent that teachers no longer have time to devote themselves to individual students, she added.

The public education roundtable is expected to meet in January to discuss the results of the 2015 PISA tests, state secretary László Palkovics said earlier. A report on education is being prepared for the government and proposals will be made for a new national curriculum, teacher training and methodology courses, he added.

The test published on December 6 showed that Hungarian students scored worse in reading comprehension and in science last year than in a similar test in 2012. Participants in the 2015 test showed similar results in maths as three years earlier. But in all three areas they scored below the average of OECD countries. The PISA system, introduced in 2000, measures students’ performance across OECD countries. The test is conducted every three years.

Public education roundtable to discuss PISA test results in January

Hungarians

Budapest (MTI) – The public education roundtable is expected to meet in January and it will discuss the recently published results of the 2015 PISA tests, state secretary László Palkovics said on Tuesday.

The wage increase scheme for teachers will continue next year and by 2017 they will have received a combined 50 percent increase, he told a press conference.

In response to a question, he said a report on education is being prepared for the government and proposals will be made for a new national curriculum, teacher training and methodology courses. The education roundtable meeting in January will discuss the results, he added.

He reiterated that the PISA tests were prepared with the assumption that the various subjects were being taught in a coordinated manner. He earlier said that the PISA tests comprised of three different surveys on different groups of students, and while “the results are in correlation at some level”, they are not comparable.

The test published on December 6 showed that Hungarian students scored worse in reading comprehension and in science last year than in a similar test in 2012. Participants in the 2015 test showed similar results in maths as three years earlier. But in all three areas they scored below the average of OECD countries. The PISA system, introduced in 2000, measures students’ performance across OECD countries. The test is conducted every three years.

Hungarian teacher union: No reason to be satisfied with sector pay hikes

Daily News Hungary economy

Budapest, November 18 (MTI) – Teachers’ trade union PDSZ on Friday said there was “no reason to be satisfied” with the wage hikes that have been implemented so far in the education sector.

The wage hikes government office chief János Lázár described on Thursday as “the biggest of the last 30 years” lower as those implemented by the Socialist government in 2002, PDSZ chairman László Mendrey told a press conference.

Mendrey said the government had used a “clever trick” to divide a wage increase they had promised would be a one-time hike at the time of the introduction of the teacher career model in 2013 into four stages. As a result, the 10 percent wage increase the government had promised turned out to be a monthly net wage increase of 3.5-5.0 percent worth 5,000-9,000 forints (EUR 16-29), he said.

Further, the government failed to mention that the pay hikes come with a 30-40 percent increase in the workload of teachers, Mendrey said. On average, teachers now work more than 60 hours a week, he added.

Mendrey also expressed disappointment with the government’s planned minimum wage increase, saying that the wages of teaching assistants had stagnated since 2008. The government is promising a pay hike of 7-10 percent for teaching assistants but they stand to lose their fringe benefits, he said.

Mendrey said another reason why teachers could not be satisfied with the state of the education sector was that the teacher protests of last autumn and this past spring had turned out to be ineffective.

Teachers union calls strike to support welfare services employees

Budapest (MTI) – Teachers’ trade union PDSZ will hold a one-hour strike on Dec. 5 to demonstrate solidarity with people working in welfare services, PDSZ head László Mendrey announced on Monday.

The strike action will be aimed at calling attention to bad working conditions and low wages in the welfare sector, Mendrey told a press conference, and asked teachers and other employees in education to join the strike.

Also, the strike will demonstrate that “the solidarity of the Hungarian people, trade unions, and that of employees cannot be killed”, Mendrey said.

The strike action will complement a similar action by public service trade union MKKSZ on the same day. MKKSZ is demanding a 30 percent wage hike in the sector from Jan. 1.

Photo: MTI

Government: Teacher wages to rise 3.5 pc this year

Budapest (MTI) – Teachers’ wages will rise by 3.5 percent from September this year based on the teacher career model, László Palkovics, the public education secretary, said in an interview to MTI.

The wage increase means teachers will receive between 3,000 (EUR 10) and 15,000 (EUR 48) forints more each month depending on seniority, Palkovics said. He noted that the government has continuously increased teacher’s wages since 2013.

Next year the government will spend an additional 45 billion forints on raising teacher’s wages, bringing the total amount spent on wage hikes for teachers since 2013 to 323 billion forints, he said.

Palkovics noted that teaching assistants will be given 35,000 forint bonuses on two occasions this year and an average wage increase of 10 percent in 2017.

He said 99 percent of textbooks have been delivered to public schools on time, noting that two-thirds of students get their textbooks for free. He said the government aims to increase the number of students who get free textbooks.

The government has also allocated more funds for providing free meals to poor students, he said.

Regarding changes to the public education system that come into force at the start of this school year, he said there had not been enough time to handle the issue of reducing the number of mandatory teaching hours. But in terms of the new national curriculum that is being finalised, it will very important to reduce the burden on both teachers and students, he said.

Photo: MTI

Government to create new education forum

Hungarians education school

Budapest, July 8 (MTI) – The government is set to create a new education forum that will incorporate all the key players in the field of education, the state secretary for education said in an interview to daily Magyar Idők published on Friday.

Details about how the forum will function have yet to be ironed out, and they will be discussed at September’s meeting of the public education roundtable, Palkovics told the paper. What is certain at this point is that the forum, which was initiated by the teachers unions, will work under the human resources minister.

The state secretary noted that the state schools agency that will replace its predecessor, Klik, will be a smaller organisation and will act as an intermediary between the human resources ministry and school district centres.

He said the government will finish selecting school district centre leaders over the coming days, adding that managerial skills are an important qualification.

Palkovics said the ministry will decide how to restructure the schoolyear when it finalises the new national curriculum. The current plans are to extend the schoolyear by a couple of weeks into the summer while also extending the in-year holidays. The restructuring would be aimed at reducing the burden on students, he said.

Photo: MTI

Teachers hold demonstration in Budapest

education

Budapest, June 11 (MTI) – The Tanítanék (I want to teach) movement began a demonstration in Budapest on Saturday afternoon.

The organisers of the movement expressed their anger in an invitation to the demonstration on Facebook over what they see as the government “totally nationalising schools and destroying education”.

The demonstrators will “grade” their own performance as well as the government’s, the movement added.

The demonstrators are marching from a square next to Erzsébet Bridge in Pest over the Danube to the Várkert Bazár, at the foot of the Buda Castle.

They started marching behind a banner on which was written “Let’s send a message to the government so they can understand, too”.

The line of protestors stretched from the starting point, on March 15 Square, across three lanes of the Erzsébet Bridge to the Buda side.

The protestors were joined by teachers unions PSZ and PDSZ.

PSZ chief Piroska Galló and others will give speeches when the demonstrators reach the Várkert Bazár.

Demonstrations are taking place at the same time in the county seats of Békéscsaba, Debrecen, Győr, Miskolc, Nyíregyhaza, Pécs and Szeged.

In a statement released on Saturday, the state secretariat for education said most teachers believe in dialogue rather than demonstrations in the street and political agitation, commenting on the Tanítanék protest.

Most teachers have already realised that certain anti-government forces just want to use them, the secretariat said. It is outrageous that those want to always bring teachers out to the streets who regularly refused the opportunity for dialogue and the government’s invitation to the public education roundtable, the most productive forum for the discussion about teachers and children, it added.

The government is on the side of children and teachers, and has continuously replaced, since 2010, monies taken from public education by the left, the secretariat said.

The debate over the upkeep of schools has been successfully resolved thanks to the public education roundtable: the state has taken responsibility for maintaining and developing schools, the secretariat said. The system of local councils maintaining schools has failed, nearly bankrupting local governments, thus it cannot be reintroduced, it added.

Governments put all aspects of running public schools under state control

Hungarians education school

Budapest, May 17 (MTI) – The government will on Tuesday submit a bill to parliament that would put all aspects of running public schools under state control, a government official said.

Deputy state secretary for public education Imre Sipos said after a meeting of the public education roundtable that the delegates at the meeting were in agreement that the current school management system, under which the state and local councils share the running of over half of all public schools, had not lived up to expectations.

Annamária Pölöskei, head of state school manager Klik, noted that the basic upkeep of 55 percent of schools is currently down to local councils, which are expected to ensure supplies such as chalk. Local governments currently see to the basic upkeep of schools with the biggest headcounts, she added

Whereas the state-run schools agency (Klik) is responsible for major aspects such as teachers’ salaries and the curriculum, the state manager also fully runs the remaining 45 percent of schools in terms of basic upkeep. This is now set to change: the state will be responsible for every aspect of running Hungary’s public schools, right down to chalk supplies.

In March, the government announced that Klik in its current form would be scrapped in the summer and replaced by a new, less centralised system.

Pölöskei said the new system would be divided into three levels of management: a so-called “Klebelsberg Centre” at the top, 56 school district centres and then the schools themselves.

The school district centres are set to begin functioning on July 1, she said.

Photo: MTI

Government to increase school manager, higher-ed funds by almost combined EUR 330m in 2017

Hungarians education school

Budapest, April 29 (MTI) – The government in 2017 will increase spending on the state school manager and higher education by 103 billion forints (EUR 330m) and 43 billion forints, respectively, the state secretary for education said on Friday.

László Palkovics told journalists that contrary to press reports, the government had no plans to cut spending on state school manager Klik, and pointed out that the institution had received 96 billion forints more this year than in 2015.

As regards the running of public schools, he said a proposal to split such responsibilities between the state and local governments would result in a flawed model.

In March, the government announced that Klik in its current form would be scrapped in the summer and replaced by a new, far less centralised system.

He noted that the government is considering introducing a new national curriculum in 2018. This would prescribe a “national minimum” of material that schools would be required to teach. They would, however, be free to add to the minimum curriculum, he added.

Klik chief Annamária Pölöskei said all of the government’s consultations on handling public education had led to the conclusion that it was best to keep the management of schools under one roof. She said the government was considering six different models for reforming Klik. The restructuring of Klik is expected to start on July 1 and the new system could begin functioning from January next year.

Photo: MTI