School year starts in Hungary with teacher sackings

A total of 8,223 teachers are expected to be dismissed this month, Education Minister István Hiller announced on Friday. One third of those can find jobs in the public sector, in social welfare, child protection or the cultural sphere. The ministry has Ft 16 billion in EU funds for creating jobs for the remaining 6,000 teachers. The primary and secondary school terms begin today.

Fidesz deputy chairman Zoltán Pokorni said at the weekend that the government will drastically reduce state subsidies to schools and will allocate Ft 190 billion less to education by 2010. Pokorni said Fidesz rejects the government's argument that schools must be closed because of a drop in the number of children.

Zoltán Szabó, Socialist chairman of Parliament's educational committee, said the government will not withdraw any resources this year and probably not next year, other than the surplus resulting from a rise in the number of mandatory classes for teachers. Szabó said the government will increase funds for enhancing quality and efficiency, and helping disadvantaged pupils.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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