Analysis
Security
Unlocked
Judge, Hater, Penitent, Spy – The Story of Judge Tomasz Szmydt
16 May 2024
While the new Hungarian curriculum was widely criticised nationally and internationally, its approach is nothing new in a region of heterogenous societies with post-communist education legacies.
Following the introduction of the new national curriculum (also called NAT) in Hungary, the uproar from multiple segments of society followed. Non-governmental and professional organisations, as well as opposition parties, criticised certain aspects of the new curriculum.
The curriculum’s explicit goal concerning the “transmission of national culture” via history as well as literature came under heavy fire. The government was accused of “revisionism”, introducing “pro-Nazi writers” into the canon, as well as distorting history in order to present Hungarians in a positive light.
Additionally, the structure, the quantity, and the style of the introduction were conceived as being “backwards”. Pro-government voices responded by claiming that the curriculum is “child-centred and patriotic”, while it decreases the burden on students and providing them with the knowledge that makes them competitive in the job market.