Calvin Synod Herald, 2010 (111. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2010-03-01 / 3-4. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 11 accompanied by Chief Elder, Kiss Béla, or by church member, Joe Tegze. In the pastor’s absence Vásárhelyi Mária substituted at the Worship Services. Thank you for her many services in, and to, our Church. In 2010 we will continue the great work on our Church, physically and spiritually. “A mighty fortress is our God”. Rt. Rev. Joseph Vásárhelyi, Minister Calvin Synod School Fund End of the Year Report for 2009 This year the students letters are late in coming. Like with all things this too is tied to the economy. The Romanian Ministry of Education is in financial difficulty and consequently asked all teachers to take a two week vacation without pay in 2009. Most teachers were directed to take off the last week of November and the second week of December so that they would not experience a major pay cut in one month. In Kolozsvár, the students left early for their Christmas break, so the letters weren’t written like in previous years, and then the principal decided to wait till after the January mid terms to award stipends based not only on need but academic achievement. The Romanian Ministry of Education has started education reforms. Unfortunately reforms do not address the vastly outdated mandatory subject material, or the number of hours taught per day, but focus on the number of teachers and students. The first reform is the firing of 15,000 teachers, principals, janitors and cafeteria staff and the merging of schools. The emerging problem is that students in villages will have to commute and the road system and the system of public transportation is not developed enough to handle this new burden. Also teaching positions in Romani are awarded based on teacher achievement test scores. The laws state that teachers who have gotten their positions through these achievement tests are ensured their teaching jobs, but the tests need to be retaken. Any teacher of principal who is not fully qualified will be let go. In villages, grades may be combined, but if this is not possible then the local school district will receive payment only according to the number of students in the district and that may mean that teachers and principals will face a 30-50% pay cut. Some of these firings were already implemented in the fall of 2009. Two thousand people demonstrated in Nagyvárad against the firing of the principals of Székelyhid, Köröstárkány and Hegyközszentmiklós schools near the Hungarian Romanian border. The demonstrators maintained there was no reason to fire the Hungarian principals and replace them with Romanian speaking principals who were members of the then reigning government party, especially since the student in these villages are predominantly Hungarian speaking. Other schools in the counties of Szatmár and Bihar faced similar principal changes, but I have no information as to whether they occurred. Several fired teachers took the achievement test listed for their position, and were rehired, however the bulk of the firings are scheduled for 2010. So how dies this impact the Reformed Church’s School? Just a little background first: As of last June there were 6 Reformed Church schools in Transylvania, 59 classes for a total of 1444 students attending grades IX-XII. 10 classes of a total of 231 students attending grades 1-4, and 17 classes of 382 students attending grades VVIII. The number of classes allowed is strictly controlled by the Ministry of Education. If villages schools are merged into larger schools, the proportion of Hungarian speaking students to Romanian speaking students will change and in many cases the requirements for Hungarian language instruction will not be met. Subsequently Hungarian speaking students will not be able to attend Hungarian language schools. The Reformed Church’s schools accept students from the immediate area, but, for example in Kolozsvár most of the students board. In this way the Reformed Church’s schools offer an alternative to the consolidated area schools. On my inquiries of how they are faring, Zsolt Tőkés, principal of the Székelyudvarhelyi Reformed School wrote that it is only through our support that they will survive this critical period. Székely Árpád shared some good news, the number of student at his school increased by 37, they have 23 first graders, 58 ninth graders and a total of 309 students. He writes “We stand before a very difficult year full of uncertainties and are thankful for your support, without it, we are not sure what the future would bring. May God help us again this year.” $6,350 were sent to the Reformed Church’s High School in Kolozsvár to support the renovations of the school, $38,000 were donated for the “Godchildren” student sponsorships. $2,000 were collected for the Baczkamadarasi Kis Gergely Reformed Church’s school in Székelyudvarhely for the roof repair building fund. This amount was added tot the $52,945 wired over in June from last year’s donations. The Juhász Mária Scholarship for the Bethlen Gábor Kollégium in Nagy Enyed was increase by $20,000 for a current total of $25,000. A new donation of $500 was sent to start up the Csiha Kálmán School and Church Fund to be awarded to the Bolyai Farkas High School in Marosvásárhely. A heartfelt thank you for all donations. This year our support is especially valued in the trying times facing all the Hungarian Schools in Transylvania. The future of the Hungarian communities in Transylvania depends on their ability to use the Hungarian language. If schools teaching in Hungarian are decimated, members of the Hungarian community will also decrease. Gabriella Nadas, coordinator CHANGE OK ADDRESS FORM Name................................................................ Subscription No................................................. Old Address:..................................................... New Address:....................................................
