Steven N.Hungarian teacher salaries are expected to reach 80% of the average salary of a graduate in Hungary in 2026, two years earlier than originally planned, after Brussels exerted pressure on the government, Szabad Európa has learned.
The Hungarian government is reportedly showing more and more flexibility towards requests from Brussels, allowing several very significant changes to take place in Hungary.
One of these is increasing teacher salaries earlier than planned. In plans submitted to Brussels, the government originally undertook to raise teachers’ salaries to 80% of the average graduate salary by 2028.
But it appears that the European Commission considered this final deadline too far and set 2026 instead, which the government accepted, according to the news source.
The European Commission previously indicated in its latest country report on Hungary that it was dissatisfied with Hungarian teachers’ salaries, which are the lowest among OECD-member EU countries.
Teachers in several Hungarian schools have protested through civil disobedience this year due to low wages, humiliating conditions, and the loss of their right to strike.
The school districts retaliated by firing teachers from Ferenc Kölcsey High School in Budapest, and issuing warnings elsewhere for now. At least 20,000 people demonstrated in Budapest in support of the country’s teachers last week, forming a “human chain” several kilometers long. [HVG]
