Ruminations on teachers’ demands for higher wages

A pro-government commentator accuses  teachers striking for higher wages of acting from political motives. A left-wing liberal columnist proposes merit-based salary hikes to motivate teachers and strengthen equality of opportunity.

In Magyar Demokrata, Ida Nagy accuses  teachers’ unions which encourage teachers to suspend teaching of ‘political pedophilia’. The teachers have begun a series of acts of civil disobedience in support of students’ demonstrations demanding higher salaries for teachers. The pro-government commentator believes that teachers’ unions and liberal teaching staff have been mobilized by Hungarian-born financier George Soros to pressure the government – despite its efforts to raise wages. Nagy believes that most teachers are reasonable and therefore stay away from the ‘ideologically motivated stunts’ organized by the unions and NGOs.

In Magyar Hang, Márton Vági calls for a selective and weighted salary hike for teachers. The left-wing liberal columnist believes that better qualified and more motivated teachers should get higher salaries. He adds that the offer of higher wages should also be used to incentivize teachers to take the more challenging jobs in disadvantaged regions, for example, in poor villages inhabited mostly by underprivileged Roma.

Tags: demonstrations, teachers, wages