2022 was a year marked by continuous protests organized by the teachers’ union. Teachers, parents and students expressed their dissatisfaction with the increasing centralization and the decreasing autonomy of the public education system, the low salaries and working conditions, and the growing workload, among others. As a reaction the Hungarian Government used its regulatory power to further curtail of the teachers’ right to strike. This step was followed by instances of civil disobedience.
On 6 June 2023 the Interior Minister introduced a bill aimed at the re-regulation of the legal framework on the rights and duties of teachers working in the public education system. The bill was adopted on 4 July and was promulgated on 6 July as Act no. LII of 2023 on the new career path of teachers.
The most important change is that teachers will cease to be employed as public servants; instead they will enter into a newly created legal status called ‘public education employment’. With the new legal status come new rights and duties. Some of the most important changes:
- teachers may be reallocated to another school upon the order of school district,
- the working hours of a teacher can be raised from 8 to 12 hours per day but maximum 48 hours per week if it is needed for guaranteeing the operation of the school (e.g. in case of strikes or civil disobedience),
- the law reintroduces a disciplinary procedure that can lead to the suspension of the teacher or even the termination of their employment.
Trade unions and NGOs have criticized the law for violating the students’ right to education, the teachers’ right to work and right to property, and the prohibition of discrimination.
Secondary sources/ doctrinal works
Hungarian Helsinki Committee: Curtailing the rights of teachers who demand improvements in the public education system, 24 March 2023, available at: https://helsinki.hu/en/curtailing-the-rights-of-teachers-in-hungary/
Zita Szopkó: Thousands of Hungarian teachers could leave public education because of new law, atlatszo.hu, 18 July 2023, available at: https://english.atlatszo.hu/2023/07/18/thousands-of-hungarian-teachers-could-leave-public-education-because-of-new-law/