Central European Nations Clash Over Funding and Role of Church Schools

Religious education providers in the Visegrad Group are confronting a wave of policy shifts from governments across the political spectrum. Andrej Babiš, the Czech prime minister, raised questions about the 20 billion-crown annual state contribution to private and church schools, then clarified that the aim was not to eliminate them, citing budget concerns. In Hungary, Prime Minister Peter Magyar, whose party is right-wing conservative, has signaled a review of the extensive support given to church schools under former leader Viktor Orbán, while Education Minister Judit Lannert’s proposal to increase Roma enrollment in these schools has sparked controversy over segregation motives.

Poland’s centre-right administration under Donald Tusk added a mandatory health-education course and moved religious instruction to peripheral times, stripping it of grade-point impact, which the Coalition to Save the Polish Schools denounced as anti-family. Slovakia’s left-wing nationalist government led by Robert Fico enacted a 2025 school-financing amendment that reduces funding for private and church institutions, a move bishops say is discriminatory and legally precarious. Across the four countries, critics warn that limiting religious schools could raise state costs and diminish educational diversity, while supporters argue for fiscal fairness and inclusive schooling.