Tens of thousands of Hungarians took to the streets of the capital Budapest on Sunday to demonstrate against the school policies of the government of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Protesters demanded better pay for teachers, ideology-free curricula and the right for educators to strike.
According to the teachers' union, teachers have staged 147 protests in in 61 towns across the country in the past few weeks.
Orban styles himself as a defender of Christianity, both in Hungary and Europe, and seeks nationalist teachings in the school system.
Sunday's protest was also directed against the government's control of state media and much of the private media, as well as against Orban's good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Orban took part in a celebration commemorating the start of the anti-Stalinist uprising of 1956 in Zalaegerszeg, western Hungary on Sunday.
In a speech, Orban charged that in 1956 the West had let Hungary down in its anti-Soviet revolt.
He also used the occasion to speak out against the European Union, saying: "Let's not worry about those who shoot at Hungary from the shadows or from the heights of Brussels."
Orban has previously referred to Hungary as an "illiberal democracy," putting the country in conflict with EU institutions and other member states.
