Teachers Protest in Hungary, Threaten 1-Hour Strike March 30
Hungarian teachers demonstrated against the government's education policies Tuesday and warned they will hold a one-hour strike March 30 unless leaders apologize for their intimidating treatment and initiate meaningful talks on education reforms.
Tens of thousands of people attended the rally in Budapest, the biggest anti-government protest since marches in late 2014 against a planned tax on Internet use.
High school principal Istvan Pukli told the crowd outside parliament that the strikes would grow longer until "this government understands that it cannot go against the country."
Pukli said striking teachers would go outside school buildings during the work stoppage and he called on "everyone who is interested in the future of their children" to join them.
"Life in Hungary should stop for an hour," Pukli said.
He urged Prime Minister Viktor Orban and President Janos Ader to apologize for the government's actions over the past six years against those "who spoke out about Hungary's future or their own (education) rights" and to hold negotiations on education policy.
The government has vowed to address some of the teachers' main gripes, including extreme centralization and increased bureaucracy.
Teachers also want greater leeway to choose text books, decreased study loads for students, initiatives to integrate Hungary's disadvantaged Roma students and study programs to be adjusted for "the demands of the 21st century."
