April 07, 2010, 9:11 CET

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Jobbik urges traditional values in schools

Schools must be a place of education for young people and teach patriotism and respect of Christian ethics to them, the deputy leader of radical nationalist Jobbik told reporters on Tuesday.

MEP Zoltan Balczo said that the schooling system should be based on Hungarian traditions to provide modern knowledge for the public.

The party wants to reintroduce the system of evaluating pupils' performance with marks in primary schools and the repeat of class if a pupil fails, said Balczo.

Jobbik also wants to remove Hungary from the EU's Bologna Process in higher education.

Concerning Jobbik's cultural policy, Balczo said the party would call for revising the financing schemes in that sector and drafting a new media act to promote national values and exercise "strict control" over commercial TV stations.

Recent polls indicate Jobbik as fighting neck-and-neck with the ruling Socialists for second place in Hungary's next parliament.

TAGS:   education   jobbik   zoltan balczo

9 Comments

Jobbik also wants to remove Hungary from the EU's Bologna Process in higher education
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"The Bologna Process aims to create a European Higher Education Area by 2010, in which students can choose from a wide and transparent range of high quality courses and benefit from smooth recognition procedures. The Bologna Declaration of June 1999 has put in motion a series of reforms needed to make European Higher Education more compatible and comparable, more competitive and more attractive for Europeans and for students and scholars from other continents. Reform was needed then and reform is still needed today if Europe is to match the performance of the best performing systems in the world, notably the United States and Asia"
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http://ec.europa.eu/education/higher-education/doc1290_en.htm
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Yes, this sounds like a terrible idea, that it would be possible to compare exams made in Hungary with other countries
That could make more foreigners come to Hungary and study and that cannot be a Good Thing(tm)

Right, 'cos 'Traditional Values' have done a bang-up job of
propelling Hungary into the 21st Century.

And this is one of those things I don't really get about Jobbik; exactly what are these traditional Hungarian values that they keep going on about in their statements. Whose values do they regard as "traditional"?

Do they mean the value system of the original 10 tribes? Or the Hungarian feudal period? Possibly the Habsburg empire's value system? Or the Communists? Or do they just mean "Catholic church" when they say this.

A new media act aimed at promoting national values!? All sounds a bit Commie/totalitarian/fascist to me.

"Concerning Jobbik's cultural policy, Balczo said the party would call for revising the financing schemes in that sector and drafting a new media act to promote national values and exercise "strict control" over commercial TV stations."
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so much for free speech.
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Hungarians students already suffer the disadvantages of being educated in a system that is incompatible/incomparable with others. Regardless of actual education standards, Hungarian certificates for English are already not accepted in some countries, while for example, Slovakia's are. Further distancing Hungary from the international community is only going to disadvantage students more, and inhibit the development of learning and knowledge within the country even more.

I'd also like to know how this would work:
"MEP Zoltan Balczo said that the schooling system should be based on Hungarian traditions to provide modern knowledge for the public."
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Not that a modern society can't co-exist with tradition to some extent, but it is difficult to draw the line and there will always be competition. Does it meanthe government will decide what 'modern knowledge' will be provided to students and will this be decided based on the party's views of what is 'traditionally Hungarian'? Does it mean people will have to give up or accept a limiting of modern conveniences such as the internet and international media? How deep does the rabbit hole go?
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Part of the success of western education comes from the focus on teaching critical thinking skills. When the focus is on traditional values and patriotism critical thinking takes a backseat.


Standardizing higher education with the rest of the EU seems like a great idea. Many Hungarian graduates are unable to get jobs in Hungary, if they get a degree that is standardized that would give them an advantage in the EU marketplace.

Yes, turning television stations into ideological mouthpieces reeks of fascism/communism.

I am guessing that if you are pushing traditional values one of the things you are doing is suppressing the rights of those that are gay or of a different religious background.

All in all a bunch of really backward proposals by Jobbik.

"Yes, turning television stations into ideological mouthpieces reeks of fascism/communism."

and they arent already? i believe the idea is actually to move away from the current system, where certain parties have too much control over existing networks. the heavily biased reporting on jobbik in the hungarian media is proof that a problem exists already.

@Paul, "i believe the idea is actually to move away from the current system, where certain parties have too much control over existing networks."
Then why pair it with an announcement about traditional values? They are calling for a "new media act to promote national values", thereby forcing Jobbik's political agenda on the media. Again how is that moving away from party control?

The text is "a new media act to promote national values and exercise "strict control" over commercial TV stations"
I read that as:
1) Over publicly owned TV (MTV1 and MTV2, plus all local TV-channels) the political control will be rigorous
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2) Over the commercial TV-channels 'guide-lines' will be produced to force them to adhere to show certain type of material, like not more than 10% foreign produced etc
And no 'deprived' sex, only 'normal' kisses and hugs, but not before 23:30 and nothing on Sundays
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All in all, it will make good business for TV-direct-from-Satellite, like in Iran
Now I know my next business...

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