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🇭🇺 Hungary /Culture & Society

Does the education minister really expect teachers to accept this? Rétvári says Lannert’s response only made matters worse

From Magyar Nemzet · () Hungarian

Translated from Hungarian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Hungarian Education Minister Bence Rétvári criticized Judit Lannert’s explanation of remarks about schools, teachers and school principals, saying it had worsened the controversy.
  • The original unedited interview included statements calling for the dismissal of all school principals and describing Hungary’s education system as employing disproportionately many teachers.
  • More than 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for the minister to leave, while the teachers’ union PDSZ rejected a general replacement of school principals.

The controversy over Judit Lannert’s comments about Hungarian teachers has deepened, with Education Minister Bence Rétvári saying her explanation only made the situation worse.

Rétvári accused Lannert of speaking about manipulation and having her words misrepresented. But Magyar Nemzet points to the original, unedited Klubrádió interview, in which Lannert reportedly called for all school principals to be dismissed, questioned whether people entering the teaching profession could think independently and innovatively, and criticized the high number of teachers.

Rétvári said Lannert should explain what she meant when discussing the closure of smaller schools, the claim that there were too many teachers and the dismissal of every school principal. He also challenged her reported assertion that Hungarian teachers could not think independently. In his view, her response had relied on personal attacks and evasion rather than explaining how the disputed statements meant anything different from their ordinary meaning.

The large number of subjects requires a great many teachers. Hungarian education is very teacher-intensive, with few students per teacher. We work with very many teachers, disproportionately many.

· Judit LannertRemarks from the original unedited Klubrádió interview cited in the article.

The minister also criticized Lannert for asking Debrecen’s municipality not to invite city leaders when she attended the university’s opening ceremony. He said this broke a longstanding tradition in which the city and university leadership opened the academic year together.

The article contrasts Lannert’s current claim that every teacher is needed with her earlier interview. In that interview, she said the large number of subjects required many teachers, that Hungarian education was particularly teacher-intensive and that the country worked with “far too many teachers.” More than 10,000 people have signed a petition demanding Rétvári’s departure. The PDSZ called the wider dispute contrived but still distanced itself from replacing all school principals.

wanted too much and offered too little

· Bence RétváriNot applicable to this article.
About this summary

Originally published by Magyar Nemzet in Hungarian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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