At a school year opening ceremony in Szigetszentmiklós, near Budapest, on Sunday, President Katalin Novák said a good school can only be whole with a harmonious relationship between teachers, parents and students.
“We can be thankful that the new school year can start in peace, that parents can raise their children in freedom, that there are devoted educators and teachers, that schools are developing and that our children can acquire more and more knowledge,” President Novák said at the ceremony which also served as the inauguration of the Temesvári Street Primary school’s new building. The president said Hungary had two “homework assignments”, one of which concerned the situation of teachers and the other the ideologies that wanted to use schools. More than 4,500 development projects have been launched in Hungarian kindergartens and schools in the last five years, she said, adding that good schools were in Hungary’s national interest. “A good school is more than just a nice looking building, well-equipped classrooms, more than brick and mortar,” Novák said. “A good school is made up of dedicated teachers who know and love their homeland, responsible leaders, devoted helpers, cooperative parents and grandparents who are prepared to bear responsibility for their children, and curious children who are open to the world and each other.” Concerning the situation of teachers, the president called for creating conditions allowing teachers to be recognised and become respected leaders of the community, adding that they needed to be guaranteed the financial means to live a civic life. As regards threats coming from “the outside” to schools, Novák said more and more people saw schools as a tool and parents as enemies. She said schools could not become tools for any ideology and called for protecting parents’ rights to decide how they want to raise their children. The ceremony was also attended by Speaker of Parliament László Kövér.
Photo credit: Facebook/Novák Katalin