Hungarian State Takes Over Textbook Business
- 18 Dec 2013 8:00 AM
Only state companies will produce and distribute textbooks from January 1, under a bill first introduced on Sunday and passed on Tuesday. Textbook publishers threatened legal action, saying they have received orders even in the past few days that will no longer be valid.
Under the bill the state must ensure free textbooks from the first to the eighth grades from September 1, 2013.
Schools will have a choice of two textbooks per year and subject.
Fidesz MP Zoltán Pokorni, chairman of Parliament’s education committee described the bill as bad, and voted against it, as did fellow party member János Bencsik.
A state body will be responsible for publishing textbooks while state company Könyvtárellátó will be in charge of distribution.
Source: Hungary Around the Clock
This news item is one of many published daily by HATC, a premier subscription news service which distributes English-language info about Hungary via email or fax. For a free trial of HATC follow this link and click on 'Free Trial Subscription'.
LATEST NEWS IN current affairs