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During the autumn, the Rákóczi Association, together with its supporters, thanks 10,000 children enrolling in Hungarian schools abroad in 5,000 settlements. At some of these events in Slovakia, representatives of the Hungarian Government also join in welcoming those enrolling in Hungarian schools, ma7.sk reports.
On September 24, 54 Hungarian children started school in the Jókai Mór Hungarian Teaching Language Primary School in Komárno (Komárom) where they were welcomed in a ceremony. The event was attended by Katalin Balatoni, Deputy State Secretary for Education.
In areas where minority communities live, the choice of Hungarian schools means the preservation of the Hungarian language, culture and community and, not least, the individual’s greater knowledge and better fulfillment.
Katalin Balatoni told ma7.sk that the Hungarian Government is committed to the education of Hungarian children abroad in their mother tongue and expresses its sincere gratitude to those parents who enroll their children in Hungarian educational institutions.
Irén Fekete, the national president of the Hungarian Association of Teachers, also stressed the importance of the decision and the powerful support of the Hungarian state, without whom the work of the teachers’ association would be more difficult. She emphasized the work of the Rákóczi Association to preserve the nation and the effectiveness of the School Choice Program.
Zoltán Finta, principal of the Jókai Mór Primary School, said that this year, as in previous years, the school had opened three classes, which was a source of satisfaction and further motivation for Hungarian teachers in Slovakia.
Zsolt Szilágyi, the network development director of the Rákóczi Association, said that
the parents who enrolled their children in a mother tongue school gave them the best start and deserve thanks in the form of a handshake and a symbolic scholarship.
He also added that in recent years several Hungarian multinational companies have supported the Rákóczi Association and their work, such as MOL Hungary, Béres Pharmaceuticals and even OTP Bank, which shows the seriousness of the issue.
The Rákóczi Association launched a Hungarian School Choice Program focusing on the education of children from the Hungarian minority in 2004. With the the program, they aim to encourage Hungarian or partly Hungarian families living in border areas outside Hungary to choose Hungarian-language schools for their Hungarian-speaking children. As reported by Hungary Today in January, two decades after the launch of the program, the highest growth in the number of pupils entering Hungarian schools in Slovakia has been achieved in Bratislava (Pozsony) and Košice (Kassa).
Via ma7.sk, Featured image: Facebook/Potápi Árpád János