Democratic Union of Hungarian Teachers Demands the Immediate Closure of all Schools

COVID-19 virus has reached Hungary. Due to the growing number of cases, the Government decided to ban one-on-one lessons in higher education and closed all campuses in Hungary. However, in the same Government Decree, institutions of elementary and middle education were explicitly forbidden to close during the outbreak.

The Democratic Union of Hungarian Teachers (DUHT) demands the immediate closure for all schools in question. The Union communication points out that the average age of Hungarian teachers is way over 50, while a very significant percentage is only a couple of years away from pension.

Since the illness caused by COVID-19 mainly causes severe symptoms with older patients, DUHT demands health risks to education staff to be taken seriously. The demand carries an even more significant weight in the light of most recent studies pointing out that children, while mainly running an almost symptom-free course of illness, are very effective in passing the virus on in closed environments.

DUHT rejects unfunded claims that an extraordinary break would lead to the inevitable repetition of the entire school year. The Union points out that legislation does only require a repeated academic year if the transfer of the allocated material proves to be impossible in the time frame left. However, this can be very well averted by applying the methodologies of distance learning and digital education.

Due to the above, the Democratic Union of Hungarian Teachers demands the immediate closure of all elementary and mid-level education institutions as well as nurseries and nursing schools.