The aim of the program is to send students living in scattered settlements in Transylvania to Hungarian-language schools, providing them with the opportunity to learn in their mother tongue.
In Transylvania, more than half a thousand scattered Hungarian students will be transported to Hungarian schools in the new school year by buses of the Rákóczi Association, the press department of the Romanian Hungarian Democratic Association (RMDSZ) announced on Wednesday.
According to the announcement, the joint program of the Rákóczi Association and the School Foundation will support the mother tongue education of a total of 556 young Hungarian students in Romania in the new school year 2024-2025. The 8- and 21-passenger buses transport students of different ages to school in 13 counties.
The aim of the program is to send students living in scattered settlements in Transylvania to Hungarian-language schools, providing them with the opportunity to learn in their mother tongue.
Without the possibility of transportation, it would be burdensome or impractical for parents to commute to a Hungarian-language school far away from their home, so they would decide on the closer Romanian-language school, the announcement reminds.
The school bus program operates in 12 scattered counties of Transylvania, Partium and Bánság - Arad, Beszterce-Naszód, Bihar, Brasó, Fehér, Hunyad, Cluj, Maros, Máramaros, Szeben, Szilágy and Temes - and in Csángóföld, i.e. Bákó County in Moldova.
"As part of the program, a total of 40 buses will transport 556 children to 36 educational institutions in 33 scattered settlements from September. Getting to school is the zeroth step of mother-tongue education, so we pay special attention to the implementation of the bus program," the announcement quoted Zoltán Nagy, president of the School Foundation, who thanked the Rákóczi Association and the Hungarian government for their support.
According to the detailed data, the school buses collect Hungarian students from several, even a dozen, villages in most of the scattered counties of Transylvania and take them to schools with Hungarian sections in cities and village centers.
In the counties of Maros and Szilágy, children are taken from one settlement each to the nearby Hungarian school. The school bus transports a total of 31 children within the village of Lábnyik in Csángóföld, the announcement states. Last year, the Rákóczi Association extended its school bus program to Transylvania, and operates it in partnership with the School Foundation, with the financial support of the Hungarian government.
MTI
Cover image: Facebook page of the Rákóczi Association
