On Saturday afternoon, representatives of teachers’ advocacy and civilians held a protest in downtown Budapest. Several of the participants of the event gathered in front of the building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in the early afternoon.
Meanwhile, another group marched to the Ministry of the Interior to submit the 9-point demand that the Civil Public Education Platform formulated in October as a petition.
After that, they marched to Kossuth Square, where students and teachers spoke, and then representatives of the United Student Front took the stage. In addition to the Teachers’ Union, several other employee advocacy groups and the flags of Amnesty International also appeared in the crowd. Participants mostly wrote the slogans of the protests since September on the banners.
At the end of the event, Gábor Bojár, the president of Graphisoft, greeted the audience in a video message, and the founder of the noÁR movement spoke about how education is not a matter for the right or the left wing, but a common national matter. Among other things, Áron Molnár suggested that the politicians give up their salary increase this year in favor of the teachers.
At the end of the demonstration, representatives of the Teachers’ Union, the Democratic Union of Teachers, the Tanítanék Movement, the Adom Student Movement and the Parents’ Voice read questions. The participants expressed their agreement with a public outcry that the government should start a public dialogue about public education, that those working in public education should be respected, that there should be a right to strike again in education, that there should be a Ministry of Public Education, that the workload of teachers and students should be reduced, that everyone from kindergarten to university should receive modern education , workers in education should receive competitive wages, modernize the educational environment.
Photos: MTI – Zoltán Máthé
