THOUSANDS OF TEACHERS FIRED

Since September 1 there have been 218 kindergartens and schools closed nationwide. The Democratic Union of Teachers claims that about six thousand teachers have lost their jobs since September. The trade union says that many teachers’ salaries have not risen in spite of wage-increases as the institutions maintaining shools reduced the different allowances.

The Ministry of Education refutes the allegations of the trade union. The Democratic Union of Teachers sent questionnaires to the maintainers of the schools and the result is that about six thousand people have been dismissed. The Ministry claims the survey has not been representative as only a quarter of the institutions gave answers to the questions and at the moment they have no reliable data yet about the exact number of dismissed teachers. László Sió, head of the section of educational policy of Fidesz claims there have been 218 kindergartens and schools closed down in Hungary, mainly in Northern Hungary and in the Alföld region. The government plans to introduce further restrictions next year as the normative state subsidies will be halved for villages with a population less than 1100 while in the case of settlements with a population of 3000-3500 no subsidies will be paid at all.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó