In Hungary, they have a waiting list for members of the school guard, there is a shortage

As the website said hvg.huof the 806 schools mentioned, 40 are non-state. “In the last school year, members of the school guard intervened in 234 cases. “Most of these were verbal warnings, but in 46 cases school security members used coercive measures, batons, cuffs and pepper spray,” the website said.

For comparison: in the school year 2022/2023, the school guard intervened in 199 cases and had to resort to compulsory measures in only 27 cases.

The reason for the shortage of school custodians is mainly the low financial evaluation of this work. “In Budapest, their salary is 336,000 forints (over 21,000 crowns) per month, and in the countryside 326,000 forints (over 20,000 crowns),” the website hvg.hu said.

Members of the school guard are organizationally under the police, but they are not police officers and do not have the right to carry weapons. “However, they can use coercive methods, but only on school grounds,” the website continued.

The School Watch Institute has been working in Hungary since 2020. Its main task is to stop aggression in schools, protecting teachers and pupils. School security officers are not always present in the schools, but teachers can contact them using a mobile app when needed.

Some experts question the inclusion of school guards and point out that aggression cannot be suppressed by aggression. “Conflicts should be resolved within institutions, because this is an educational problem,” the head of a primary school in Budapest, who did not want to be named, told the website 444.hu. Students’ aggression should be resolved by the class teacher, especially by the parents,” he said.

A twenty-five-year-old teacher from a primary school outside Budapest, who was repeatedly attacked by pupils, welcomed the introduction of a school guard. “I admit that there are classes where I go to class with fear. I know there are some problematic pupils who behave very aggressively,” she said.

“I teach art and these students do not take my subject as seriously as, for example, mathematics. “During the lesson, troubled pupils often shout abuse at their classmates, make obscene gestures, and there have also been physical attacks,” she said.