Teachers protesting against the school system

Socialists: Planned school reform ‘to have grave consequences’

kunhalmi socialists

Budapest, April 24 (MTI) – Changes planned to Hungary’s vocational secondary school system will have grave consequences for a whole generation as well as for the output of industry and the economy, Ágnes Kunhalmi, a Socialist lawmaker and deputy head of parliament’s culture and education committee, said.

The changes could affect the country’s social mobility, Kunhalmi told a press conference on Sunday.

“After placing public education under the control the state agency for schools (Klik), the next stupidest measure … is reform of the vocational training system,” she said.

Classroom hours for general education are slated to be cut, she said, adding that vocational schools had already seen the number of general subjects cut by one-third in an earlier wave of reforms. Students will not have the chance to gain the knowledge they need to pass their matriculation exams, reducing the chance for middle-class children to go on to university.

Kunhalmi noted that 300 schools are to be placed under the direct supervision of the economy ministry. Moreover, single-discipline vocational schools will be merged into a vocational training centre, entailing further school closures, she added.

Teacher strike successful, says union chair

Budapest (MTI) – Piroska Galló, the head of teachers’ union PSZ, declared Wednesday’s nationwide day-long teacher strike a success.

The latest reports from the union’s county offices indicate that 24,960 public school teachers and workers participated in the strike, Galló said, adding that the number could grow by a few hundred people once the remaining reports come in.

She said a total of 1,185 schools took part in the protest, some of them with the entire faculty on strike.

The teachers’ strike, the largest in kind held in Hungary since 1995, was supported by four TU confederations, 26 unions and several civic organisations. Although “life in the country did not stop for five minutes” as planned, several partner organisations staged solidarity actions, she said.

Galló said it remains to be seen if the strike will be effective in pushing the government to meet teachers’ demands, noting that talks between the two sides will continue.

Regarding the strike committee’s demands, she said they did not accept the human resources ministry’s proposal to give teaching assistants 35,000 forint (EUR 113) extra bonuses in two instalments later this year, insisting that the government should offer at least 100,000 forints. The proposal that the bonuses would apply only to assistants employed by state school manager Klik is also unacceptable, Gallo added.

Gabriella Hajnal, head of the Union of Education Leaders, said their endeavours were entirely non-political and totally governed by the goal of raising the standards of education.

Photo: MTI

Public school teachers go on full-day strike – PHOTOS – Update

Budapest, April 20 (MTI) – Public school teachers on Wednesday morning began a full-day strike after the teachers’ strike committee failed to reach an agreement with the government earlier this week on teachers’ demands.

Although the strike committee and government representatives recently moved closer to an agreement on most of the teachers’ 25 demands, the sides have so far failed to reach a deal on the reduction of the number of teachers’ compulsory classroom hours and administrative burdens, wage increases, a free choice of textbooks or the reduction of the burden on students.

In line with the strike law, schools must ensure the appropriate supervision of students and teachers not participating in the strike are to report for work as normal.

The government-initiated public education roundtable met several times over the past few months to discuss ways to improve the running of public schools but the teachers’ strike committee, made up of teacher union PSZ, the Union of Education Leaders and the Union of Hungarian Public Education and Training, has stayed away from those talks.

Wednesday’s day-long strike is the third in a series of larger protest actions from teachers in recent weeks against the state of Hungary’s public education system.

As we wrote, last Friday, the PDSZ teacher union held a two-hour nationwide warning strike at public schools. PDSZ chairman László Mendrey said several hundred schools and thousands of teachers took part in the action.

On March 30, the Tanítanék (I want to teach) teacher movement organised a one-hour civil disobedience protest which saw teachers and the movement’s supporters gather in front of their respective schools to express their dissatisfaction with the education system.

As we wrote, Monday’s meeting of the public education roundtable resulted in an agreement between the government and the meeting’s participants on two one-time 35,000 forint (EUR 113) bonuses for teaching assistants later this year and a 10 percent pay rise in 2017. The wage hike would be made up of a guaranteed 7 percent increase while schools would have the option to grant the remaining 3 percent.

Human resources ministry state secretary Bence Rétvári told commercial television TV2 on Wednesday that teachers’ wages will increase by 3.5 percent both this coming September and next year in line with the teacher career model. Next year’s budget allocates an extra 100 billion forints towards education, he noted.

UPDATE

Politicians and activists of the Socialist Party expressed solidarity with teachers in front of the Parliament. Party leader József Tóbiás told a press conference that the strike was about common goals and solidarity, and those in power must not be allowed to threaten those who joined the strike. Eleven trade unions and civil organisations in other sectors have also joined the strike, which Tóbiás said clearly demonstrates that the issue concerns more than the situation of education.

The LMP party said schools serve the future generations and not the government, and called on the cabinet to handle Hungarian educational institutions in that spirit. Máté Kanász-Nagy, party spokesman for youth affairs, said the government failed to understand at all any of the events that surrounded the issue of education in the recent past.

The Democratic Coalition (DK) expressed solidarity with the teachers and welcomed their “nationwide” strike which shows that the Orbán government “cannot go against the will of Hungarians any longer and kidnap their future”. The party called on the government to stop threatening teachers who participated in the strike.

The Együtt (Together) party said the government “tries to mislead” teachers by “lying” to them when pledging to provide 100 billion forints in central funding for public education, promising teachers broader freedom in setting the curriculum and school directors broader scope of financial management. It was unacceptable that some mayors for ruling Fidesz “threatened” teachers who participated in the strike with legal consequences in their employment, a party official said.

Ruling Fidesz said in response that the majority of teachers realised that they have been used by the opposition for political purposes which is why only one-fifth of them joined the strike. The party said that while the previous Socialist governments had reduced public education funding and cut teachers’ wages, the Fidesz government continued to increase funding, took over managing schools and implemented the largest wage increase for teachers so far.

Photo: MTI

Human resources ministry proposes bonuses, wage hikes for teaching assistants

Budapest, April 19 (MTI) – The human resources ministry has proposed that public school teaching assistants be given bonuses on two occasions this year and a 10 percent wage increase in 2017.

Deputy state secretary for public education Imre Sipos told MTI after a meeting of the public education roundtable on Tuesday that the proposal affects some 15,000 people and it was supported by the participants at the meeting.

The ministry is asking operators of non-state run schools to offer the same increase to teaching assistants, he said.

State secretary Bence Rétvári has indicated that nearly 100 billion forints extra will be allocated for public education in next year’s budget and the teachers’ and students’ representatives participating at the roundtable will be consulted about how to best spend this 23 percent increase, Sipos said.

Representatives of the teachers’ trade unions PSZ and PDSZ and the civil public education platform once again stayed away the talks. Rétvári expressed hope that these organisations will join the roundtable in the future.

Photo: MTI

Teachers hold 2-hour warning strike – Photos

Hungarians education school

Budapest, April 15 (MTI) – The teachers’ union PDSZ held a two-hour warning strike at state schools in the country from 8am on Friday. The strike was supported by the Tanítanék (I want to teach!) movement and the civil public education platform. The platform called on supporters to set up “checked shirt circles” and to display a black flag at their school building.

László Palkovics, the public education secretary, said talks with teachers’ representatives would continue on Monday. He said the sides had come closer to an agreement on 18 out of 25 demands, including wage hikes. He added that next year’s budget for operating schools will rise by 25 percent, or by at least 100 billion forints (EUR 321m).

A full-day strike has been called by the teachers’ strike committee for next Wednesday, as they said talks failed on the reduction of the number of teachers’ compulsory classroom hours and their administrative burdens, wage increases, free choice of textbooks as well as reducing the burden on students.

Photo: MTI

Teachers’ union PSZ calls for five-minute general strike

Budapest, April 14 (MTI) – Piroska Galló, the head of teachers’ trade union PSZ, has proposed that a five-minute general strike should be held on April 20 as a follow-up to a full-day school strike planned for April 15.

Galló told a press conference that “life should stop” with “no customers served in shops, no clients received in offices, and traffic halted” for the proposed period. PSZ’s message to the government is that “if school stops, nothing will work in the country”, she added.

Galló criticised the government’s “arrogance” concerning minimum requirements for the teachers’ strike and confirmed that children would not be left unattended and meals would be ensured on April 20.

Photo: MTI

Teachers fail to reach agreement with government, strike looms

Budapest (MTI) – Although the sides came closer, no agreement was reached at talks between a teachers’ strike committee and the government on Monday.

The talks focused on the amount of mandatory services to be provided under strike laws on the day of the strike teachers called for April 20, statements by Piroska Galló, the head of the PSZ union, and Imre Sipos, the state secretary for public education, said.

Sipos said the government wants the minimum services to be provided at all schools, while the teachers’ unions want the rules to apply only to certain schools.

Teachers’ organisations said earlier that two hours of civil disobedience and a warning strike were planned for this Friday in addition to the full-day nationwide strike on April 20.

The full-day strike was called by the teachers’ strike committee after talks with the government failed on the reduction of the number of teachers’ compulsory classroom hours and their administrative burdens, wage increases, free choice of textbooks as well as reducing the burden on students.

Photo: MTI

Teachers to hold strike on April 15, April 20

Budapest, April 6 (MTI) – Plans for two hours of civil disobediance and a warning strike are under way for April 15 as well as for a full-day nationwide teachers’ strike on April 20, the organisers said on Wednesday.

László Miklósi, head of the association of history teachers and of the Civil Platform for Public Education (CPK), told a press conference that the various unions agreed at a Wednesday meeting to cooperate “in the interest of public education”. Members of the teachers’s strike committee, namely the Teachers’ Union PSZ, the Union of Education Leaders and the Union of Hungarian Public Education and Training, met with representatives of the Democratic Union of Teachers (PDSZ), the Tanitanek (I want to teach) movement and the CPK, Miklósi said.

The CPK will also hold talks with a government delegation on proposals to improve public education in Hungary on April 12, he added.

László Mendrey, the head of the PDSZ, told MTI that there is no decision as yet as to whether the civil disobediance and strike would coincide. The former was proposed by the Tanitanek movement and the latter by the PDSZ. He said his own opinion was that the two events should be held simultaneously. He said the unions want to cooperate fully to draw as many people as possible.

The full-day strike was called by the teachers’s strike committee after talks with the government failed, Piroska Galló, the head of the PSZ union, said earlier. Galló said Monday’s talks failed to result in an agreement on the reduction of the number of teachers’ compulsory classroom hours and their administrative burdens, wage increases, free choice of textbooks as well as reducing the burden on students.

László Palkovics, the state secretary for education, told Inforadio on Wednesday that a working group is looking into plans to reduce the workload on students from September this year. He said however that changes would not affect physical education classes, which are mandatory to be held every day.

Photo: MTI

Teachers’ unions mulling strike preparations – Update

Budapest, April 5 (MTI) – Teachers’ trade unions could soon begin preparations for a strike, having failed to reach an agreement on their demands with government representatives on Monday evening, the chairwoman of teacher trade union PSZ told commercial news channel ATV on Tuesday.

Piroska Galló said the unions would inform the government about the strike preparations and set a seven-day deadline for it to respond to their demands. Unions would also begin discussions with schools on minimum required services, she said.

Galló said Monday’s talks failed to result in an agreement on the reduction of the number of teachers’ compulsory classroom hours and their administrative burdens, wage increases, a free choice of textbooks as well as reducing the burden on students.

László Palkovics, the state secretary for education, told a news conference that his ministry is engaged in negotiations with the strike committee on disputed issues and conditions for a possible work stoppage.

He said that in some areas the standpoints of the two sides are narrowing but there are still questions which have yet to be resolved. He said an agreement must be made on strike conditions and the minimum of services that should be provided. Asked whether a strike could be avoided, he said it was impossible to tell at the current stage. He confirmed that the strike committee had announced preparations for a national strike on April 20.

Speaking on public television M1, Palkovics said the sides had agreed on the principles of reducing the burden on students but the details are yet to be discussed. The sides reached an agreement about revamping the qualification system in an effort to reduce the burden on teachers, he added. No deal was reached, however, on the scope of the state’s management role in public education and on reducing the number of compulsory classroom hours, Palkovics said.

The opposition LMP party said it supported the strike initiative and insisted that the education roundtable was a merely a means to draw out negotiations. LMP lawmaker Istvan Ikotity said in a statement that cosmetic changes to the education system would be unacceptable and he called for a root-and-branch change.

Photo: MTI

Government weekly press briefing about Sunday shopping and teachers’ movement

Budapest, March 31 (MTI) – The government considers the debate around Sunday shopping restrictions closed, and it is now up to the voters to decide if they want to review the law, government office chief János Lázár told a government news conference on Thursday. The government feels it is wrong for the Tanítanék (I want to teach) teachers’ movement to “take politics into schools”, but does not underestimate the civil disobedience protest organised by the movement on Wednesday, Lázár said.

Government considers Sunday shopping ban debate closed

He said economic statistics had dispelled retailers’ fears about the measure, as retail trade is constantly on the rise. Consumption has increased by 3 to 4 percent since the law entered into effect, he added.

Lázár also rejected the suggestion that retail employment had fallen since the implementation of the measure, arguing that thousands of retail jobs had been created since last March.

Lázár : wrong to take politics into schools

Speaking at a regular government press briefing on Thursday, Lázár said the protest must ultimately be considered a failure, arguing that teachers and students consider negotiations to be more important than protesting.

He insisted that the Tanítanék movement’s action had resulted in failure since “out of Hungary’s 3,200 schools there were real and substantial protests at one hundred only”.

“Other governments the next day would ridicule the protests but our government takes them seriously,” he added.

Concerning the possibility of abolishing the central schools manager (Klik), Lázár said the government had not come to a decision on the matter since the issue had not yet been debated at the government-sponsored education roundtable. He emphasised that the state has no intention of relinquishing its role in managing the country’s schools.

On another topic, Lázár said the government sold 47 hectares of state farmland during the second round of auctions.

Concerning the CSOK home purchase subsidy programme, he said a total of 24,000 people had applied for the subsidy so far and 2,000 families had already received their grants.

Regarding the issue of gambling, which is to be addressed at next Monday’s cabinet session, Lázár said the outcomes of lawsuits in the upcoming period should determine the extent to which the public-interest restriction of one-armed bandits and gaming weighs against the curtailment of the freedoms of businesses. He said that his view was that stricter rules would be to the benefit of citizens and would obviate the possibility for out-of-court settlements.

The minister also announced that all state payments will be executed by the Hungarian State Treasury, which is to be reorganised. Lázár said the two-stage restructuring of the treasury would take place this and next summer. All other state bodies that currently make disbursements will be abolished, he added. Disbursements include health-fund payments and pensions, while tasks related to professional policymaking will remain with individual ministries, Lázár said. Changes of personnel can also be expected as part of the restructuring, he added.

On behalf of the government, Lázár expressed sorrow over the death of Nobel laureate author Imre Kertész.

Photo: MTI

A one-hour protest around the country by teachers – PHOTOS

Budapest, March 30 (MTI) – Commenting on a one-hour protest being held around the country by teachers on Wednesday, the state secretary for education told a news conference that the civil disobedience was “not right” but the demonstrators would not face any legal consequences.

Speaking in connection with the action organised by the Tanítanék (I would teach) movement, László Palkovics said the teachers would have to make up for the hour in lost lessons due to the walkout.

He criticised the so-called alternative roundtable, saying that “Hungarian education is not a private matter”, and he urged its members to join the official public education roundtable.

A one-hour protest around the country by teachers-7, István PukliIstván Pukli, the head of the Tanítanék movement, called on teachers taking part in the protest and sympathisers to declare their demand for changes to the way public schools are run from September.

The Jobbik party said it supported the teachers’ demands but it urged a professional debate and added that protesters should behave in a way that shows a good example to children. The failure of the government’s education policy is beyond doubt and the decision to abolish state school manager Klik is only a PR trick, spokesperson Dóra Dúro said in a statement.

The green opposition LMP party said the government was fully responsible for the teachers’ action of civil disobedience because “employees have been robbed of their right to strike” and civil disobedience remains the only means of expressing their protest. LMP lawmaker István Ikotity told a press conference that his party supported the protesters and called on the government to “stop threatening teachers”.

The opposition Együtt said competencies that enable teachers and schools to take responsibility for the children must be returned to them. Zsuzsanna Szelényi told a press conference that the teachers participating in the demonstration taken up their constitutional right and they should not be penalised for doing so.

Ruling Fidesz said the action organised by “former Socialist politican” Pukli and his associates does not serve the interests of children and teachers. The opposition statements supporting the action have been politically motivated, Fidesz said. The left-wing have “never been concerned” about teachers and they withdrew money from education during the time they were on government, the added. At the same time, the Fidesz government is carrying out an “unprecedented” increase in teachers’ wages and the public education roundtable “pursues real dialogue and successful work” with teachers, they added.

Teachers are demanding a reduction in administrative burdens, the right to freely decide which textbooks to use and the decentralisation of decision-making concerning the running of public schools. They also want more funding for schools and a lightening of the burden on students, among other demands.

The organisers of the protest told MTI on Wednesday evening that according to their records more than 7,000 people and at least 300 schools participated in the protest held between 8am and 9am.

Originally some 200 schools indicated in advance that they would participate in the action, said István Pukli, Katalin Törley and Olivér Pilz said in a joint statement.

Photo: MTI

Ministry urges teachers to join roundtable

Budapest, March 30 (MTI) – The interests of teachers and students would be best served if members of the so-called alternative roundtable joined the government’s education roundtable and engaged in dialogue, the ministry of human resources said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The organisations that are making new demands and proclaiming walkouts have received repeated invitations to join the government’s official body for professional consultations, but they have spurned every one,” the statement said ahead of a one-hour protest to be held by many teachers around the country later today.

“Instead of dialogue and collaboration, they are organising political actions similar to Wednesday’s and encouraging teachers towards illegality,” the statement added.

The ministry said that results of the official roundtable were already tangible: it has been agreed to reduce the burden on teachers and children and the schools manager will be abolished in its current form. Further, head teachers will be given more room for manoeuvre and financing will be improved, it added.

Photo: MTI

Civil education platform invites goverment to discuss demands

Daily News Hungary

Budapest, March 29 (MTI) – The civil public education platform representing the teachers’ movement, which calls itself an alternative to the government-teacher roundtable on school reform, has initiated talks with the government on its 12-point list of demands. The platform has given the government a two-week deadline to respond to its invitation.

Aurél Puskás, the platform’s spokesman, told a press conference after a meeting on Tuesday that the government must respond in one way or another to the teachers’ demands before the start of the next schoolyear. If the government ignores the invitation to sit down for talks, the Tanítanék (I want to teach) teachers’ movement is prepared to organise further protests beyond the hour-long nationwide civil disobedience protest scheduled for Wednesday morning, he said.

László Miklósi, another spokesman for the platform, said their grouping of civil organisations and trade unions supports the teachers’ movement. Miklósi expressed hope that the movement would “not have to organise any more protests” and said he did not expect its members to be penalised for participating in Wednesday’s demonstration.

The civil public education platform’s demands include reducing academic burdens on pupils, such as cutting the number of physical education classes and eliminating mandatory moral and religious education classes. They have also called for the government to postpone planned changes to the secondary school-leaving exams and to stop all changes planned at the secondary level. A free choice of textbooks and the immediate suspension of the teacher evaluation system, as well as the legal possibility of employing teachers beyond the retirement age, is also among their demands.

The Tanítanék movement has called on teachers and supporters around Hungary to express their dissatisfaction by protesting in front of their respective schools between 8am and 9am on March 30 after the government earlier rejected a call to apologise to “teachers who suffered humiliation over the past six years”.

National conference of head teachers to start next Friday

education

Budapest, March 25 (MTI) – The minister of human resources has called a national conference of head teachers for next Friday.

Zoltán Balog told public radio on Friday that key players in public schooling would be briefed on government plans so that they can report the information back to their own schools. Afterwards, the aim is to hold regional forums so that everyone gets hold of the relevant information and so it should become clear that “we are taking this thing seriously”.

He said the head of more than 300 schools will be invited to the Academy of Sciences in Budapest. The academy, he added, would be of great help in respect of the “educational forms of the 21st century”.

The minister said an important part of the discussions would be questions of maintenance and financing. He also said a key issue for teachers of reducing the burdens on them would be addressed, adding, however, that assessments, external controls, and professional supervision is necessary.

Balog said that it must be made clear that in this day and age the world is changing, and expectations are that people must work harder. This also means that children must do so, too. At the same time, a system must be established which is rational and efficient so that it does not “rob them of their childhood”, he said.

Government to finalise structure of new state school manager in April, says Klik chief

Budapest, March 25 (MTI) – The government will decide on the structure of the new state institution to replace central schools manager Klik next month, Klik chief Annamária Pölöskei told the daily Magyar Idők on Friday.

The government’s aim is to have the new state school manager up and running by the beginning of July, Pölöskei said.

Klik will settle all of its outstanding debts by the end of the month, having already settled 8.6 billion forints (EUR 24.7m) worth of liabilities, she told the paper.

Pölöskei said that under the new school management system, centralised budgeting for schools will be replaced by bottom-up budgeting, meaning schools will have a far greater say in how they spend their money.

Photo: MTI

Teachers’ movement calls for civil disobedience on March 30

Budapest, March 24 (MTI) – The Tanítanék (I want to teach) teachers’ movement has called for an hour-long nationwide civil disobedience protest in the morning of March 30.

István Pukli, the headmaster of Budapest’s Teleki Blanka secondary school, noted at a Thursday press conference that during a demonstration on March 15, the prime minister had been called on to apologise to “teachers who suffered humiliation over the past six years” but Viktor Orbán failed to act. Additionally, no progress has been made concerning a 12-point list of demands presented by the Civil Public Education Platform, he said.

The Tanítanék movement is asking teachers and supporters around Hungary to express their dissatisfaction by protesting in front of their respective schools between 8am and 9am on March 30, Pukli said.

Katalin Törley, a representative of the teachers’ movement, said children will not be left unattended during the protest.

Olivér Pilz, a teacher from Miskolc in northeast Hungary, said that the government’s announcement to abolish state school manager Klik was merely an effort to “trim” public support for the teachers’ protests.

The human resources ministry suggested in reaction that the protest was not serving the interests of children and teachers, and suggested “dialogue and joint efforts” in the public education roundtable instead. In its statement, the ministry condemned that “children should be involved in political actions” but added that teachers participating in the strike would not be penalised.

Photo: MTI

PSZ teachers’ union withdraws initiative for March 30

Budapest, March 23 (MTI) – The teachers’ trade union PSZ has withdrawn an initiative calling on teachers to express their opinion about public education at 4pm on March 30, the head of the union said on Wednesday.

Ms István Galló told a press conference that PSZ does not want to divide the teachers considering that the Tanítanék (I would teach) movement is expected to call for action in the morning of March 30.

PSZ maintains the position that teachers have the right to freely express their opinion. If an agreement is not reached, PSZ has not given up on plans to organise a strike, she added.

Talks are under way concerning a 25-point list of demands by the strike committee which included abolishing the state agency managing Hungary’s schools Klik. Referring to Tuesday’s announcement by the human resources ministry that Klik will close down, she said PSZ does not know why “they rushed ahead”. According to PSZ, instead of one Klik, there will be several smaller bodies similar to Klik and the schools’ organisational and professional independence will still not be assured, she said.

Photo: MTI

Teachers protesting against the school system – State school manager to be abolished in summer

Budapest, March 22 (MTI) – The state agency managing Hungary’s schools (Klik) will be abolished in the summer, a human resources ministry official said on Tuesday.

A new regulatory framework will be designed during the spring session of parliament with the aim of establishing a new, far less centralised system by the autumn, parliamentary state secretary Bence Rétvári told commercial news channel ATV.

There are real problems in public education, he said. One is the way the central schools manager operates the other is that students are overburdened, Rétvári added.

Whereas Klik will be abolished, the state will continue to run the country’s schools, Rétvári said in a separate interview to public radio.

The government has no intention of returning to the state of affairs prior to 2010 and the system whereby local councils ran the schools, he said, adding that decision-making should nevertheless take place closer to schools.

Explaining the reason for closing down Klik, he said criticism over the recent past had centred on the body. Discussions at the public education roundtable so far suggest that it would be worth reducing centralised control, Rétvári added.

The state secretary said that the government does not have the resources to spend more on public education. The wages of teachers will rise according to previously laid-down plans, but by no more, he added.

The opposition Együtt party said in a statement that it had repeatedly called for Klik to be scrapped ever since the body was established. Egyutt insisted that the ruling Fidesz party “has finally begun to implement Együtt’s education proposals”. Együtt MP Szabolcs Szabó said the government should implement a modern system that can operate sustainably over several decades.

The Democratic Coalition said the only way the education system could be changed were if the Orban government resigned. Zsolt Gréczy, the party’s spokesman, told a news conference that the announcement could not be taken to be official and it could be assumed the government would retreat from its “cheap, empty promise”.

Green opposition LMP expressed doubt that the closing down of Klik would be enough to bring about the “radical” changes needed in Hungary’s education system. Lawmaker István Ikotity told a press conference, however, that scrapping Klik was a step in the right direction and congratulated those who participated in the protests against the institution. He added the fact that the announcement was made by the ministry’s parliamentary state secretary rather than the state secretary in charge of public education or the minister himself raised the possibility that the move is merely a “rebranding” of Klik, creating a less centralised institution.

The Liberal Party said the announcement was a “cheap government trick” to stir up confusion among protesting teachers. Anett Bősz, the party’s spokeswoman, told a news conference that the government insisted it was sticking to its guns over schools policy before mounting a campaign against those who criticised the system on professional grounds. Retvari, who announced the dismantling of Klik, only a day earlier had attacked teachers in parliament, she said, adding that the government’s behaviour over the past six months had been “ridiculous”.

The Dialogue for Hungary party said the announcement was an attempt by the government to divert attention away from a planned teachers’ strike scheduled for March 30. Tímea Szabó, the party’s co-leader, told a news conference that it was “unacceptable” that Retvári’s declaration had not been accompanied by any substantive statement.

The Klebersberg School Manager (Klik) was established by the government of Viktor Orbán in 2012. At two recent demonstrations, teachers urged the body’s elimination among other demands.

Photo: MTI