Hungary: controversy over new school curriculum

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The main Hungarian teachers' union calls for a demonstration on 02/23/ in the capital. On March 15, 2016 (Photo) teachers, parents and students were on the street in Budapest to demonstrate against the school system deemed too bureaucratic. REUTERS / Bernadett Szabo

By: Florence La Bruyère

The publication of a new school program has sparked controversy in Budapest. The Democratic Union of Teachers, the main teacher union, is calling for a demonstration this Sunday, February 23, in the Hungarian capital. This new program will be valid from the next school year and it provokes an outcry.

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from our correspondent in Budapest,

This program arouses hostility from teachers above all because it includes a list of writers to be studied obligatorily, but also because of the nature of some of the writers retained. Certainly on this list, we find George Orwell, the author of the famous "1984". But the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Hungarian Jewish writer Imre Kertész was removed from the list. However, there are now questionable authors. For example the Hungarian Albert Wass, who offers little interest from the literary point of view and who is especially racist and anti-Semitic. For this reason, Wass has always been the emblem of the Hungarian far right.

The list also includes Ferenc Herczeg, fervent admirer of Mussolini, and Jozsef Nyiro, great admirer of Goebbels and member of the leadership of the Hungarian pro-Nazi party. Nyiro's case is a bit special, because he is considered a good writer. He wrote bucolic novels that many families have in their libraries, and in which his Nazi ideas do not appear. The problem is that Viktor Orban's government has rehabilitated the man, not the writer. In 2012, the government organized a grand ceremony for the transfer of Jozsef Nyiro's ashes. An initiative that had shocked many. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel had given a decoration he had received from the Hungarian government in protest.

How does the government justify the presence of these controversial authors in the new school curriculum?

According to the Minister of Education, Miklos Kasler, " the new generation must benefit from programs containing European and Hungarian values ". In general, the Hungarian right believes that the left and the liberals have always dominated culture and education, that so far on the reading lists, we have found mostly left-wing writers, and that all of this must be balanced. . And a government spokesperson explained that this national program had been developed by the best experts.

What is the room for maneuver for teachers?

Literature teachers can devote 20% of their time to the authors of their choice. But in general the school programs are very directive. For example, chemistry teachers will have to explain to students, with supporting films, how the distillation of brandy works. It must be said that the Orban government gave each family the right to distill alcohol for personal consumption. Distilling alcohol is almost a patriotic act!

According to many teachers' associations, the school curriculum is too steeped in nationalism and ideology. On social networks, some teachers post the same motto: " I will not teach fascism. "

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  • Hungary
  • Education
  • Racism

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