ever attending church schools.
At a ceremony to mark the opening of a new year at the Calvinist College in the town of Papa, President Ferenc Madl suggested that the growth of church schools was the most important development since Communism collapsed in 1989.
"The rapid spread of church schools was one of the most important achievements of the free and independent Hungary over the past twelve years," said Madl.
In total about 1.5 million pupils and students returned to primary and high school, including Christian institutions, according to Government figures. Madl stressed that Christian schools "account for about six percent of the country’s educational system."
SACRIFICES
The President added that he "appreciated the sacrifices" of millions of ethnic Hungarians in neighbouring countries who often were forced to fight with even the post Communist authorities for recognition of Calvinist (or Reformed) schools.
Hungary’s President said he welcomed that since the regime change a "network of church schools" began which he said "strengthen the spirit that gives priority to the pursuit of knowledge, faith and morals".
Madl explained that this was the best way for pupils to "learn to appreciate what is good and true," in a country that for decades suffered under an atheistic ideology during Communism.
KNOWLEDGE
Education Minister Bálint Magyar was quoted as saying by news media that "only nations which respect for knowledge can be successful in the next century."
Magyar noted that " Hungary is on the threshold of joining the European Union and that therefore children must be given competitive skills in schools." Earlier former Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his country, which long had one of the highest suicide rates in the world, needed to be part of a Christian Europe.
Although Hungary, a mainly Catholic nation of over 10 million people, was founded on Christian principles, some pastors have suggested that Satanism in the middle ages left its scars on many generations.
However several evangelical Christian groups have reported a growing interest among Hungarians to find answers for their lives.
