After a gap of one year, the kindergarten in Bánffyhunyad, which was rebuilt last year with Hungarian state support, started operating, but remained closed due to the opposition of the Romanian majority of the city government.
The invitees to Tuesday's ceremonial opening of the school year of the Kindergarten, operated by the Reformed Church as a private kindergarten, emphasized that it has been proven that all obstacles can be overcome with cooperation. 35 children start kindergarten in the educational institution, about a quarter of whom are of Romanian nationality. Speaking to Krónika, one Romanian mother called it an honor that her child could attend a Hungarian kindergarten.
"What we dreamed of, what we dared to undertake has come true. There is still a lot to do, a lot of support is still needed to operate this institution, but we are still facing the task"
- declared Jakab Mihály Bánffyhunyad Reformed pastor at the opening of the brand new kindergarten in the capital city of Kalotaszeg on Tuesday. Brand new is perhaps not the most accurate indicator of the educational institution, since the two-story daycare center, built with the support of HUF 300 million (4 million lei) from the Hungarian state, was inaugurated in July of last year, but the education could not start at the planned date, in September 2022
Namely because the local organization of the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSD) vetoed at the time that only a Hungarian-language kindergarten and nursery school would operate in the new building, and set the condition for the support of the municipal funding of the educational institute that it be closed in two other old buildings in the city working kindergarten, and move the children to the institution built with Hungarian state support.
In line with this, anti-Hungarian sentiment erupted, as a result of which last August the municipal representative body rejected the acceptance and operation of the kindergarten by the municipality. The Reformed Church finally decided this year to operate the institution as a private kindergarten in the city of Cluj County with a population of 9,300 (about 30 percent of whom are Hungarian). Last year they felt failure, now they say thanks In his speech at the ceremonial opening of the school year on Tuesday, following the sermon, Reformed bishop Béla Kató, referring to the calvary of the kindergarten, stated: while people tend to come to the conclusion that the earthly power is the strongest against which they cannot do anything, the initiation of education also proves that power does not belong to man, but to God
"We can now start this kindergarten in the shadow of this power. Although last year we felt that we failed in something, now we can thank God that we can take possession of the institution"
- declared the bishop of the Transylvanian Reformed Church District. Praising the perseverance of the people of Bánffyhunya, Béla Kató called it a huge thing if a community can decide for itself how to raise its children. In his speech, István M. Vincze, dean of Kalotaszeg, said that there will still be those who will try to cross the institution, but according to him, they will be able to overcome the difficulties with cooperation.
Adelhaida Kerekes, Deputy Chief Education Inspector of Kolozs County, called the opening of the kindergarten a new beginning and a new challenge, expressing her joy that the educational institution can start operating even if it is a private institution. Mária Búzás-Fekete, deputy mayor of Bánffyhunyad, expressed her gratitude to all those "fellow warriors" who contributed to the establishment of the kindergarten, and especially to its operation. There is hope for state funding After the solemn ceremony, parents and small children, as well as the invited guests, were once again convinced that the modern facility at Május 1 utca, suitable for accommodating 4 kindergarten groups and one nursery school group, meets all their needs.
In the educational institution, 35 young children start their preschool life divided into two groups, in the form of day care, and food is delivered to them from Kalotaszentkirály. In the educational institute in Bánffyhunyad, four kindergarten teachers and a nanny educate and raise the little ones, who are also supervised by a psychologist assistant.
When we asked if there was still a prospect for the educational institute to receive support from the local government, the county school inspector Ferenc Török, the manager of the kindergarten, said referring to the creation of anti-Hungarian sentiment:
"after what happened last year, I don't even need it!"
Then he refined his words somewhat and explained: if everything goes well, they will not need city funding, because according to the new education law they will be entitled to state support.
"The normative support system in Romania means that the state support follows the child. At the same time, the Education Act states that all accredited, licensed educational institutions that do not charge children tuition are eligible for state funding. We meet this condition, and if we were to receive it in the future, it would cover about 90 percent of our costs."
Ferenc Török explained to Krónika.
The educational specialist, who also works as a caretaker of the Reformed parish in Bánffyhunyad, added that it is true that the kindergarten starts its operation by following the "narrower path", but it would be a sin to leave the modern facility lying idle. A great opportunity, an honor for the Romanians as well. It is a real joke for the wheelchair fitters of the Hungarian kindergarten that almost a quarter of the enrolled children, 8 small ones, are of Romanian nationality or come from mixed marriages. We also asked one of the Romanian mothers what was the reason for sending her child to a Hungarian institution, and she openly said: for them, this is an equal opportunity and an honor.
"We lived in Sweden for ten years, from where we moved back to Romania three months ago. I am very happy that my son can learn another foreign language, which is not so foreign thanks to the ö or ü sounds used in Swedish. This is a plus, as the more languages you learn, the wider your horizons will be."
- explained Nadia Capotă enthusiastically, watching her little boy with blond curls with one eye. He added that the fact that the children can learn English as well as musical instruments here was also a big influence on Lat.
"Believe me, facilities and conditions similar to those here were not provided in kindergarten in Sweden. At the same time, we consider it an honor that our child is raised here"
- says the mother, whose eldest son started school in the current school year.
And how will education take place in this setup? Among the four kindergarten teachers, Emília Fazakas and Brigitta Miklós told our paper that the children will be educated in Hungarian, the main activities will take place in this way, but at the beginning, of course, they will help them talk about Romanian details in their mother tongue.
"It will be to their advantage that a closer relationship can develop between Hungarian and Romanian children"
said the kindergarten teachers. Their colleague, Brigitta Gálfi, added that, according to her belief, Romanian children will be able to recite a four-line poem in Hungarian within a year.
Featured image: The 35 children enrolled in the kindergarten have already taken possession of the playground • Photo: Szabolcs Rostás / Krónika
