Socialists appeal to Fidesz local councils not to hand over nurseries to central government

Budapest (MTI) – The Socialist Party has appealed to local councils run by the ruling Fidesz party not to hand over kindergartens to the central authorities.

Speaking at a press conference outside a nursery in Budapest, Agnes Kunhalmi said Fidesz-run councils had already started to merge nurseries, in many cases in face of protests of parents and teachers.

She made an appeal not to create the same conditions in kindergartens that now exist in general schools thanks to centralisation under the Klebelsberg Centre, the state body which oversees schools.

Local council leaders in Fidesz districts have said the mergers are necessary as part of a structural transformation leading to financial savings, Kunhalmi said. The Socialists, however, disagree with making savings when it comes to children, she added.

The politician welcomed, however, the introduction of career models for creche employees with a higher-education qualification. She added that the new measure only affects 800 people and 75 percent of creche employees still earn below subsistence-level wages.