More than ten thousand teachers will receive an extra one-time bonus of five hundred thousand forints before tax, the Minister of Human Capacities announced on Wednesday in a video message posted on the Facebook account of the Ministry of Human Capacities in the latest edition of the series entitled ‘Real Life’.

Miklós Kásler said the government decided to provide such a one-time bonus for 10,500 teachers and teacher assistants working in four hundred disadvantaged settlements with a view to helping the integration of disadvantaged students.

He added that while from 2 June, with the improvement of the epidemic situation, the organisation in schools of individual teaching sessions or sessions in small groups had been allowed in order to help children catch up with their peers, some students, in particular, those living in the most disadvantaged settlements were unable to acquire the necessary level of knowledge and skills.

He highlighted that the purpose of the government’s programme worth more than six billion forints is to enable disadvantaged children to make up for the loss they suffered in learning, to minimise the number of early school-leavers and to simultaneously support teachers, helping them to stay in the settlements they live in and not to abandon their teaching careers. Therefore, the more than ten thousand persons working in the state-operated schools of the settlements concerned will receive a one-time extra payment of HUF 500,000 before tax for their integration activities up to 31 January.

In the video message, the Minister wished every teacher of the country a successful school year, while expressing hope that students will gain both in knowledge and in character.

Mr Kásler also spoke about the coronavirus epidemic and the expected measures because infection numbers “are rising extremely dynamically” in most places around the world. “According to preliminary estimates, the pandemic was going to affect 60 million people; at the same time, […] the expected number has been revised to around 120 million now,” he said.

He added that the number of infections is also rising in Hungary’s immediate vicinity which could pose a very significant threat to the country as visitors from those countries bring the virus with them.

We must remain in a state of preparedness which means, he explained, that they are continuously monitoring all circumstances related to the epidemic and accordingly, the government will adopt the necessary measures very swiftly.

Regarding a vaccine, the Minister said promising clinical tests and research projects have been launched, and they are currently awaiting the results. In Hungary a vaccine will only be made available if it proves to be effective, has no harmful effect of any kind on the human body, and causes not even subsequent late complications, Mr Kásler stressed.

(Ministry of Human Capacities / MTI)