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 Klebelsberg 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.

The opposition Együtt party said that it had repeatedly called for Klik to be scrapped ever since the body was established. Együtt insisted that the ruling Fidesz party “has finally begun to implement Együtt’s education proposals”.

The Democratic Coalition said the only way the education system could be changed were if the Orbán 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 said, 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.

László Palkovics, the state secretary in charge of education, told parliament’s cultural committee that the closing down of Klik meant that the institution will cease to operate in its current form, but the running of Hungary’s public schools must remain the competency of the state.

Regarding the planned teachers’ strike, Palkovics said teachers have the right to hold a strike, adding, however, that it is “irresponsible” to encourage other teachers to do something that would “harm the interests of students”.

Protests have their distinct role in public affairs, but problems should be resolved through professional negotiation, he added.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu - Visit Hungary Matters to sign-up for MTI’s twice-daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Kovács Tamás