Live Chain by Schools in Budapest to Support Teachers

Students, parents, teachers and their supporters formed live chain of about ten kilometers in the Hungarian capital Thursday morning at the initiative of the Unified Student Front in support of Hungarian teachers’ fight for decent pay and better working conditions, state news agency MTI reports.

Katalin Törley, founder of the Tanítanék ['I would teach'] movement, criticized the fact that while protests for educational freedom have been going on for two months, the Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér, who is in charge of public education, has not said a word and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has also remained silent. "We will not stop protesting until we achieve results," she said.

At a press conference on Thursday, actor Áron Molnár, founder of the NoÁr Movement, called for a national solidarity strike. The situation of education and the future of students is not a question of political right or left, not of capital or countryside, not of liberal or conservative thinking, but a common national cause, he said.

He stressed that the growing masses are now standing up not only for education, but for better healthcare, social services and all social groups that have been let down by this government.

“Therefore, the resistance must be extended to other trade unions, citizens must show solidarity, and we must undertake a nationwide solidarity strike, civil disobedience,” the activist said, again emphasizing that this is not party politics.