The university officially described the lecturers' remarks as an "unworthy private performance" in a statement on Thursday, though the Telex news site reported that their speech was met with cheers from the audience.

The lecturers told the 200-strong student body and forum that the university no longer operated under EU rules and had been stripped of its autonomy by the government of Viktor Orban.

The forum also allowed students to submit questions to the leadership, most of which were answered on the spot. However, the Student Union (HOK) posted on Facebook that they had still not received substantive answers or solutions.

A key topic was the expected reform of foundation-run universities. Eniko Sepsi, SZFE's director since September 2023, stressed that ongoing professional consultations on the future of the KEKVA model are taking place within the Hungarian Rectors' Conference. She added that SZFE welcomed any change that genuinely improved higher education.

The statement said the university, with 550 students, had seen 10–15 times more applicants than places across its 20 programmes.

Since September 2023, SZFE has launched five new degree programmes and four specialisations, while its revamped doctoral school now has 62 students. Over the past three years, the university has also undertaken significant infrastructure developments, it added.

The next five years will be defined by the successful completion of institutional and doctoral school accreditation by July 20, 2026, the statement said. The rector urged the university community to contribute responsibly and cooperatively to the process, it added.

The university also cited a Hungarian higher education ranking, UniSide, that indicated SZFE ranked second nationally in arts and arts mediation.

Regarding student involvement in decision-making, the leadership emphasised that the university's senior management met with student union representatives every two months.
 

HOK also reviews draft regulations affecting students before they go to the university senate and participates in the senate's work and various university committees through its delegates, it insisted.

The rector further underlined that the university's internal audit system operates continuously in line with annual plans, and recent internal and external audits found no deficiencies.

Student union calls on theatre and film uni leadership to resign

The Student Union (HOK) of the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SZFE) has called on the board and leadership of the university to resign, the student organisation said in a statement on Tuesday.

In the letter, HOK called on the board as well as Rector Eniko Sepsi, Deputy Rector Zsolt Antal, and Deputy Rector Jozsef Pacskovszki to resign, calling them "unfit to represent the unity of our university and to preserve the 161-year-old intellectual heritage of our institution". 

"We do not dispute the achievements we consider positive; however, we are convinced that their resignation is essential for building our university’s new system," HOK said.

HOK's representatives have sought to establish meaningful dialogue with the university administration in recent years at university forums and Senate meetings, to no avail, the letter said.

Citing the "alienation" between students and the administration, HOK'S leadership called for the resignation of all dignitaries with the authorisation of 87 percent of the students participating in the consultation.

Further, HOK sent an open letter to Judit Lannert, the incoming minister of child and education affairs, as well as to Zoltan Tarr, the incoming minister responsible for social relations and culture.

The letter welcomed the new government’s efforts toward a professionally grounded approach and emphasised the importance of student participation in future changes affecting the university.

The letter summarised the students' expectations in six points: strengthening student participation in decision-making, making the university’s operations more transparent restoring autonomy, strengthening the Senate’s decision-making role, taking student feedback into account when shaping the faculty, and a review of the university's capacity.

HOK also noted that SZFE had no stage of its own in the past five years, something they said was "a fundamental requirement for performing arts education and professional visibility."

The statement also called on the incoming government to honour its promise to ensure the university’s autonomous operation and abolish the foundation system and the board of trustees.

MTI Stock Photo

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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