A culture of debate in schools – the IRÁNY Party addresses Judit Lannert in an open letter

Dezső Farkas and the IRÁNY Party are asking Judit Lannert, Minister for Education and Children’s Affairs, in an open letter, to make the teaching of respectful, constructive debate part of everyday life in primary and secondary schools, and part of the review of the National Core Curriculum now getting under way.

The letter was prompted by Viktor Orbán’s speech on 12 September at the Civic Picnic in Kötcse, where, according to press reports, he declared a fight. “Our country is more divided than ever. The quality of debate around the parties is getting ever lower, personal attacks ever stronger, and the social divide ever deeper,” writes Dezső Farkas. The letter recalls that the art of debate and argument, dialectics, was one of the seven liberal arts of the Middle Ages.

The letter starts from the premise that it is not enough to condemn the split into camps and political lies: the next generation must also be taught how to argue differently. “Division is not a twist of fate. It is learned behaviour. And what is learned can also be taught differently,” the letter states.

The party supports the directions announced by the minister, including the strengthening of civic knowledge and media literacy in the new National Core Curriculum. According to the letter, a culture of debate fits in with this: it is not a new subject but a method usable across several subjects, so it does not increase the burden on students or teachers.

The letter’s proposals:

• building a culture of debate into the Core Curriculum review, from the lower grades up to secondary school, with age-appropriate levels;
• a pilot programme in primary and secondary schools that volunteer to take part;
• free in-service teacher training on the methodology of leading debates;
• strict party neutrality: topics tied to students’ lives, and the representation of every position from both sides;
• debate days within and between schools, with university and civil partners.

The IRÁNY Party counts this issue among the most important, and publicly supports the ministry if it moves in this direction.