Hungarian Education Ministry probes teacher blacklists amid union negotiations

Education Minister Judit Lannert said she had cancelled the practice of maintaining blacklists of teachers who left their posts due to civil disobedience or the status law, but she acknowledged that such lists may still be in use. She asked the civil‑society platform Tanítanék to collect and forward individual cases, promising that the Ministry of Education would investigate each report. Teachers say district heads continue to block their return to classrooms without providing reasons.

The Democratic Union of Teachers (PDSZ) reported partial results from the parliamentary education committee’s review of a draft law covering salary increases for non‑teaching school staff and strike regulations. The committee rejected the union’s request to suspend all teaching during a strike, maintaining a rule that certain exam‑prep subjects must continue – a practice the union says is unique in Europe and contrary to ILO standards. Budget constraints left no funding for the proposed pay rise. The committee also dismissed proposals on alternative child‑supervision arrangements and parental removal procedures, while dropping the planned 2% representativeness threshold and scrapping the creation of an education employment council.