Student Protest Against Low Teacher Salaries Takes Place in Budapest

BUDAPEST (Sputnik) - The "Students for Teachers" movement organized a rally in the center of Budapest to advocate for an increase in teachers’ salaries and to raise the issue of teacher shortages, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Friday.

The protesters’ main demands include solving the issue of teacher shortages, creating more comfortable conditions for teachers and students at schools, as well as bringing the state's attention to the problems of education, the movement said on social media.

More than 4,700 people planned to take part in the action. The organizers encouraged participants to wear plaid shirts and many people are using them as flags. The crowd passed through the pedestrian streets in the city center, so the traffic is practically intact. Police officers are on duty at the road sections.

The protesters, including both schoolchildren and the older generation, are carrying posters saying "We are with you" and "Pay our teachers", chanting slogans "Free country - free education", "Respect our teachers", "Today's class is future country" and "No teacher - no future". Gergely Karacsony, Mayor of Budapest, and the former candidate for prime minister from the opposition coalition, Peter Marki-Zay, took part in the rally.

A similar action took place on March 16, the day after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 commemoration day.