Kelemen Hunor rejects mandatory uniforms and calls on UDMR lawmakers to vote against the bill

UDMR President Kelemen Hunor announced on Friday that he opposes the bill introducing mandatory school uniforms and that he will call on the party’s lawmakers to vote against the legislation in the Chamber of Deputies.

Kelemen Hunor believes uniforms cannot be imposed through a decision adopted in Bucharest and says the measure is “meaningless.” In his view, the decision should be made at the level of each school community, with the agreement of students, parents and teachers.

The UDMR leader said he wore a uniform when he started school, but later stopped wearing it and was punished. He said that even then he did not understand why such an issue had to be resolved through coercion.

The announcement comes after the Senate adopted the bill initiated by the Social Democratic Party on Monday, with 84 votes in favor, 18 against and four abstentions. The initiative provides for mandatory uniforms in state-run pre-university education and is due to be debated by the Chamber of Deputies, the final decision-making body.

The National Council of Students and the Union of Hungarian High School Students in Romania criticized the bill, arguing that mandatory uniforms do not solve the education system’s problems. The two organizations announced a protest for Monday, September 28, and urged students to wear black clothes.