He was fired, reinstated, then fired again. After that, the school was given Ukrainian leadership, as a result of which the students could not even sing the Hungarian national anthem at the opening of the year. Here is Münkacsi II. The ordeal of the director of Ferenc Rákóczi Secondary School lasted almost a year.
Again, for the third time, the court ruled that Münkacsi II. Ferenc Rákóczi Secondary School dismissed the Hungarian director of the unilateral termination of his employment contract and obliged the school inspector in Münkac to restore him to his position as school director, the institution reported on its social media page
Again, István Schink is the Munkácsi II. Principal of Rákóczi Secondary School!
After three successful lawsuits, the school inspector in Münkac finally reinstated our principal," they said.
As is known: the story began back in January 2023, when István Schink - who had been the director of the institution for seventeen years - was unexpectedly and unjustifiably dismissed from his post. In the past year, several well-respected Hungarian heads of institutions were dismissed in Munkács and its neighboring villages, including Munkácsi II. Also to the director of Ferenc Rákóczi Secondary School.
At the time, the KMKSZ's Münkac base organization responded in a statement: as they wrote, they were perplexed by the dismissal of István Schink, the school principal, without any real reason, "who, during his seventeen years of activity, earned respect among the Münkács teaching community and the citizens".
"The teaching staff, the Hungarians in Münkac and the Ukrainians in Münkac were shocked to learn of István Schink's dismissal, and his letter of resignation did not include any reasons, nor was there any professional basis for the move. This situation deeply outraged parents and teachers as well."
- said Pál Popovics, one of the school's teachers, to Ungvári TV.
The deposed director then appealed to the court, which ruled at first instance that the dismissal was unlawful.
Pursuant to the court's decision, the dismissal of István Schink proved to be unfounded, so the Education Department of the Munkács Kistérség reinstated him as director.
"Munkács District Court reinstated István Schink to his post with immediate effect, Munkács II. The principal of Ferenc Rákóczi Secondary School was fired"
- the educational institution announced at the time.
Not long after his reinstatement, three weeks to be exact, István Schink was replaced again, so the litigation continued. At the end of September, however, he won the second-instance case to annul his dismissal in January, but the annulment of the decree on his replacement in May had yet to be repealed, so he was not reinstated at that time. The dismissal of the second was therefore not invalidated by this court decision.
"Our school was brutally attacked by the city administration!" - wrote then Munkácsi II. On the community page of Ferenc Rákóczi Secondary School, one of the school's teachers commented on the increasingly difficult conditions and the systematic obstruction of the teaching of the Hungarian language. Not long after, the relevant department of the city council placed a Ukrainian kindergarten director, who had no experience in school education and did not speak Hungarian, in the director's chair.
"Marija Pauk was appointed head of our school. It has nothing to do with our Hungarian community or school. We will endure!” - said the institution after what happened. They added: "At our trade union meeting, the appointed director and his deputy indicated
their short-term goal is to Ukrainianize the school, teach Hungarian as a foreign language,
starting the first class in Ukrainian from September, teaching some subjects in Ukrainian (…) We see that the city administration's plan is to end Hungarian education in our school as soon as possible," they said desperately.
Marija Pauk despite the rights provided in the constitution and the laws in force regulating and authorizing the use of national symbols of national minorities,
at the opening of the school year, he did not allow the display of the Hungarian flag, nor could the Hungarian national anthem be played.
They referred to the fact that "this is Ukraine, where the official state language must be spoken and the laws in force must be observed." In essence, the Hungarian school's death sentence began to be carried out on the instructions of the Ukrainian city administration.
"The grinding of our school continues. They fired one of our deputy principals, they don't consult with the other one, they just instruct them, they bring in another "own" deputy principal, they review the school's documents with outsiders looking for errors, they make a new timetable, they want to take lessons away from our teachers so they can give them to people from elsewhere," the school announced at the time about its struggles. "Turning completely against the faculty, they carry out the evil will of their dark-hearted clients as a cancerous tumor, at any cost.
We are living through perhaps the most difficult period in the history of our school"
they added.
But it seems that all "de-Hungarianization" intentions in Munkács are in vain, the recent news is that István Schink was reinstated to his directorship by the education department of the Munkács City Council on December 11. Lasting almost a year,
in the fight for the survival of the Hungarian school in Münkac, the truth finally prevailed.
“The superintendent called and told me that he was going to reinstate me from December 11; as long as my contract lasts, that is, I will hold the position of director until August 30. I waited somewhere and thought that the truth would triumph sooner or later, and it is true that it took a little longer than it should have, but thank God the persistent work was fruitful. I would like to thank the collective of teachers, my friends and colleagues, who took on this – not at all easy – fight with me!" - said the former and now reinstated director to Ungvári TV.
Pál Popovics, one of the school's teachers, who took an active part in the fight for justice, said: the school needs employees who work wholeheartedly for the survival of the Hungarian school.
"The Hungarian community in Münkacsi is alive, it strengthened us, what they tried to do against us. We were very relieved and liberated when the truth finally prevailed. We should not be written off yet.
As long as we are still around, as long as we have communities, count on us, because we are at home!"
Pál Popovics told our paper.
István Schink's contract expires on August 30, 2024. Being a municipal institution, it will not depend on the faculty who will be the director of Munkácsi II from September 1, 2024. Ferenc Rákóczi Secondary School.
Mandarin
Featured image: kulhonimagyarok.hu
