New school in Mereni

2012-08-12

The newly finished building of the P. Kelemen Didák in Mereni was inaugurated on Sunday. DAHR president Hunor Kelemen and MEP Csaba Sógor  attended the inauguration ceremony along with almost two hundred guests and local leaders


The elementary school was founded in 1889 by local teacher György Demeter and served as a catholic common school until its nationalization in 1948. Following the retrocession of the school it has become increasingly clear to local leaders that the old building and church do not provide proper conditions for education, so mayor István Molnár started looking for investors in order to build a new school.

“He who does right in his own time works for the centuries” – said the mayor, who also emphasized that the building could not have been erected without faith, solidarity, patience and resilience.

MEP Csaba Sógor spoke about the legacy of 17th century minorite monk Didák Kelemen and Transylvania’s golden years: “The rulers of that time knew that it was not strong armies or strong walls, but knowledge that kept the nation and the country together. Today we also know that countries that had invested into education survived the economic crisis easier. This was known to those from the past regime tried to rob us of our Hungarian education system and the possibility to educate ourselves in our mother tongue.”

Csaba Sógor remarked that Didák Kelemen, just like the other great son of the region, Sándor Körösi Csoma worked not only for their homeland. – Science does not know borders and Szeklerland will only be strong if we see past the mountains – he added. DAHR’s MEP wished for strength, health and success to all students and teachers in order to achieve this in the new building with nine classrooms, showers, a cafeteria and a library.

“Lobbying in Bucharest is not enough, we need the communities to have dreams and stubborn, goal-oriented leaders who can fulfill these dreams” – said DAHR president Hunor Kelemen who feels that the new school in Mereni is proof that we can “make sail” and progress even in these hard times if we provide a home for our culture and national identity through solidarity.