The Hungarian Court of Auditors has warned against “education that is too female”. According to a report by the authority, this can negatively affect the development of boys and lead to demographic problems. If education promotes “feminine characteristics” such as “emotional and social maturity” and thus causes the “over-representation of women in universities”, gender equality will be “significantly weakened”.
The report had already been published in July, but only gained public attention after a newspaper article appeared on Thursday. It describes boys as naturally willing to take risks and interested in entrepreneurship. If they are unable to develop these traits due to too much female influence, they could develop “mental problems,” the auditors warn.
“Demographic Issues”
The report also states that the influence of women on upbringing can ultimately lead to “demographic problems”. Because educated women might have a hard time finding a similarly educated spouse.
The Hungarian opposition MP Endre Toth described the report as “complete scientific nonsense”. It was time to take off the “glasses from the last century”, he criticized on the online platform Facebook.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been pushing for a “conservative revolution” since returning to government in 2010. In 2019, after a visit to Hungary, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights criticized “backsliding in women’s rights and gender equality in Hungary”.