DK calls for subsidies for back-to-school costs

Budapest, August 22 (MTI) – The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition has called for blanket state subsidies for households struggling to afford supplies needed to start the school year.

Sending just a single child back to school can cost up to 40,000 forints (EUR 129), making the start of the school year a big problem for many parents, a MEP of the party said on Monday.

Providing free textbooks to poor children does little to help them if they do not get other supplies for free, Péter Niedermüller told MTI, arguing that textbooks make up just a small part of total school expenses.

He said the government was largely to blame for the “uncertainty” surrounding the new school year. Contrary to the government’s promises, the new school management system replacing the more centralised one managed by Klik will not be ready by the beginning of September. The chief schools manager has admitted that the new system would not be in place until November, Niedermüller added.