October 23 – NGOs hold protest in Budapest for ‘education freedom’

The protesters gathered in Heroes’ Square and also demanded higher wages for teachers before marching in streets around Andrassy Street and down to Oktogon.

The demonstrators waving national, European Union and Ukrainian flags stopped outside Kolcsey Ferenc High School, from which five teachers were forced to quit their jobs last September. Here, Bence Toth related how he left public education after discovering that he colleagues had been sacked.

He insisted that the government was uninterested in finding a solution to problems afflicting public education, adding that Sandor Pinter, the minister of interior who is also responsible for education, had conceded that he did not understand the sector.

On the way to Oktogon, the marchers stopped in front of the Russian embassy building and tied ribbons in the national colours on the embassy fence.