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Hungarian Students in Cluj County Allegedly Face Discrimination in Romanian Exams
John Sigismund Unitarian Academy in Cluj Napoca Parents of Hungarian students in Cluj (Kolozs) County have appealed to the Romanian Ministry of Education, alleging discriminatory treatment in the Romanian language and literature exam held on July 1.
John Sigismund Unitarian Academy in Cluj Napoca
Parents of Hungarian students in Cluj (Kolozs) County have appealed to the Romanian Ministry of Education, alleging discriminatory treatment in the Romanian language and literature exam held on July 1.
The issue arose because the students’ papers were not marked to indicate they were from Hungarian-language classes, a crucial detail following Romania’s introduction of digital marking for this year’s school-leaving exams. This system assigns papers randomly to teachers, who may not be aware that Hungarian students are less proficient in Romanian, potentially leading to unfairly low scores.
Botond Csoma, head of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) in Cluj County, highlighted that
this marking issue significantly affected the Hungarian students’ performance.
Zoltán Kallós, the Secretary of State for National Minority Education, had requested county exam boards to allow marking of Hungarian students’ papers to prevent such bias. However, Cluj County refused, citing a lack of official instruction, despite Mr. Kallós noting that “marking is not required by law, but it is not forbidden either.”
In response, parents’ associations submitted a petition to the county education inspectorate, which redirected them to the Ministry of Education. Mr. Csoma expressed frustration at the lack of resolution, stating, “I and others tried to seek a remedy in Bucharest, but so far this has not been successful.”
He emphasized that a ministerial-level solution is needed, though its form remains uncertain.
Hungarian parents also launched an online petition accusing the Cluj County Examination Boards of discrimination, garnering 500 signatures by Wednesday evening. The Advocacy Group for Freedom of Identity (AGFI) supported this stance, arguing that certain groups of Hungarian students were “unjustifiably discriminated against,” and called for uniform marking procedures to ensure fairness.
The Romanian Ministry of Education has been urged to ensure that any protests against unmarked examination papers are handled equitably, applying the same procedures as for previously marked papers. This situation underscores the broader issue of ensuring fair treatment for minority-language students within the Romanian education system.
Via MTI; Featured Image: Wikipedia
The post Hungarian Students in Cluj County Allegedly Face Discrimination in Romanian Exams appeared first on Hungary Today.
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