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GULYÁS: CONSULTATIONS WITH TEACHERS ONGOING

 

Asked about a bill in the works that would change the status of teachers and prohibit them from quitting before the end of a semester or school year, head of the PM’s office Gergely Gulyás said no draft legislation had been prepared yet, and the government was still consulting teachers’ unions on the potential regulations. Put to him that some 4,000 teachers had signalled their intention to quit the profession if the law was passed, Gulyás said there were well over 100,000 teachers working in Hungary, adding that though the loss of 4,000 teachers “wouldn’t be good for the education sector”, it was only 3% of all teachers. Gulyás said it was impossible to have a meaningful debate on a law while consultations on it were still ongoing. The government intends to keep talking with unions until they reach a point where an agreement can be reached on every issue, Gulyás said. “But we’re not there yet,” he said, adding that he could not guarantee that they would agree on every single issue, adding this is why there is no date set for when the bill will be submitted to parliament.