Önfelszámolás és önépítés
Hungarian Self-destruction and Selfconstruction in Romania

Summary/Abstract: In response to the editor’s request, the author briefly describes three cases illustrating his concerns regarding Hungarian research and higher education in Transylvania. Hungarian education began to flourish after 1990, but the drastic increase in students and the business model of higher education also brought with them BA and MA programs and an insufficient number of qualified university instructors in some institutions. Such programs cause considerable social harm to Hungarians. Another problem is that research results have been ignored by politicians. For instance, in 1994, linguistics professor Sándor N. Szilágyi proposed a “Bill on the Rights Concerning Ethnic and Linguistic Identity, and the Fair and Harmonious Coexistence of Ethnic and Linguistic Communities”. In principle, this is a non-discrimination bill, but it defines rights for both majorities and minorities (e.g. Romanians in Hungarian-majority Covasna County and Hungarians in Romanian-majority Cluj County). There is no doubt that Szilágyi’s bill, had it been passed by the Bucharest parliament, would have eased interethnic linguistic tensions in Romania considerably. However, Hungarian politicians chose to ignore it. In contrast to the previous two cases of ethnic self-destruction, the third is one of self-construction/ development. Hungarian teachers, writers of textbooks and teacher educators have created a program and several textbooks of Hungarian as mother tongue for 10- to 14-year-olds in Romania, which are greatly superior both linguistically and pedagogically to the books used in the public education system in Hungary.

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