Half a million bribes are needed in order for those students who failed their written test to be admitted to Eötvös József High School. According to an audio recording, the corrupt enrollment is run by the headmaster and the head of the foundation belonging to the school, who allegedly reserve free school places for the children of wealthy parents.
The Eötvös József Gimnázium in Budapest is one of the most elite high schools in Hungary, which has always been characterized by multiple over-subscriptions. Getting into Eötvös has always been a privilege. However, the audio recording sent to Metropol shakes this appearance to its foundations:
it turned out that the director of the elite secondary school, László Moss, and the head of the foundation belonging to the high school, Gábor Kálmán, despite the eight-fold over-subscription, reserve school places so that the children of wealthy parents who fail the written exam can also be admitted, of course after paying the appropriate amount. According to the audio recording, this amount is at least half a million forints.
In the audio recording obtained by Metropol, a father talks to Gábor Kálmán, the chairman of the board of trustees of the Realtanoda Foundation belonging to Eötvös József High School, but the name of the school's director, László Moss, also appears several times in the conversation. The father's son was admitted to the Eötvös six-class high school, but he did not achieve the appropriate score in the written test. It was then that the parents turned to Gábor Kálmán, but from the conversation it seems that although half a million forints have already been put on the table, they still do not feel assured that their child will be able to continue his studies at Eötvös from September.
The biggest question of the audio recording is whether the half million bribe money should be added. Then, in a strange way, the matter of a home renovation is discussed. "Moss Laci's daughter's apartment was renovated, we fulfilled the requested amount in two days!" says the father in the recording. "I'm asking, was half a million HUF not enough?" - he asks Gábor Kálmán, indicating that they are happy to pay the amount. During the conversation, they also mention that the bribe money must be wrapped and disguised. “I told you at the very beginning that no matter what happens, the child will be taken. I discussed this with Moss before I told you this. I also said that he must do this in such a way that his neck is not broken, because he has opposition there.
The way to do this, and this is not the first of this kind, is that he admits him under his authority without verbally speaking", the conversation reveals how the admission of bribed children is handled.
According to the sources, the director decides on the bribed children in his own authority.
"I'll sum it up: we'll meet tomorrow at a quarter past 11, will the director shake my hand then, in a way, that the child will be admitted?" - the father asks Gábor Kálmán, who repeatedly reassures him that the child's admission has already been arranged. László Moss himself spoke in an interview about how the admitted children experience it if they fail to get into the institution due to multiple over-subscriptions. "It's a very tough situation if, say, there are 12 children on the same score or if it depends on half a point whether someone gets into Eötvös. At such times there is real drama, the parents cry, the children cry, everyone feels that the child's future is at an end," said the director, who, according to them, takes advantage of these dramatic situations to fatten his own bank account.
According to information from Metropol, the authorities are already investigating the suspected corruption case, in which, in addition to director László Moss, the other person involved is Gábor Kálmán, the head of the Realtanoda Foundation belonging to Eötvös High School.
The elite Budapest high school is at the forefront of the teachers' protests and the illegal strike, which they call only civil disobedience. It seems that the director managed to find a solution to the "existential hopelessness" for himself.
Source and full article: Magyar Nemzet
Featured image: YouTube
