From January 1, wages for those working in the cultural sector will increase by 15 percent, said the State Secretary for Culture at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation on Wednesday on the M1 Ma reggel program.
The wage increase will affect cultural workers in state-run institutions, certain jointly operated theaters, puppet theaters, as well as those working in the church and civil sectors, totaling 41,000 people, Magdolna Závogyán said.
The state secretary recalled that in 2010, more than 2,600 of Hungary’s 3,155 municipalities no longer had public education specialists, and cultural centers had closed, which is why “the Hungarian government made a very good decision in 2010 to consider culture a priority sector.”
Today, it is mandatory for every municipality to employ a public education specialist, which gives cultural strategy institutions the opportunity to expand their activities as widely as possible, not only in Hungary, but throughout the entire Carpathian Basin,
she emphasized.
Hungarian folk dance. Photo: MTI/Kiss Gábor
He added that we need to respond to challenges such as multiculturalism and the phenomena brought about by the Covid period, such as the shift of human relationships from personal social spaces to the online world.
She emphasized that those working in culture “have a great mission in terms of strengthening Hungarian culture and our identity, whether through theater plays, public collections, archives, or museums.”
Magdolna Závogyán spoke about the challenges of public education and culture on Kossuth Radio’s Good Morning, Hungary! program, saying that “it is very important for a nation not only to consume our thousands of years of culture, but also to live it out.” Since 2010, the Hungarian government has been committed to securing our identity through our traditions and the experience of our culture, she emphasized.
“Hungarians have an inherent need for community, and it is up to us, as professionals, to support this,” she said. She described it as an important task to get young people out of the online space and encourage them to participate in community life.
Via MTI; Featured image: MTI/Kiss Gábor
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