On Monday, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga and Zoltán Balog, President of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church and Bishop of Dunamellék, laid the foundation stone for the new gymnasium of the Baár-Madas Reformed High School, Primary School and Student Dormitory in the 2nd District, which will be built with approximately 2.5 billion HUF government support, writes the MTI.

At the ceremony, Mihály Varga spoke about how the institution, which has been operating for more than a century, is one of the best schools in Hungary, which currently accommodates twelve grades and more than seven hundred students. "This institution has been made more and more popular and bigger by its intellectual and spiritual performance at all times," emphasised the head of the ministry.

The location of the new gymnasium of the Baár–Madas Reformed High School, Primary School and Student Dormitory on 19 December 2022, the day of the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone (Photo: MTI/Zsolt Szigetváry)

Recalling the history of Baár–Madas, he said that the school moved into its current building in 1930, which was nationalised in several steps after World War II, religious education was restarted in 1990, and in 1997 due to the "enormous demands", the entire twelve-grade-education were reorganised. Among the objectives of the construction of the new gymnasium, the minister mentioned the expansion of sports opportunities for students and the holding of school celebrations.

He announced: in 2018, the government supported the construction of a multi-purpose hall with 1.7 billion HUF, for which the cabinet provided additional support of 712 million HUF in 2021. Construction, which will begin after the foundation stone has been laid, may end by the end of 2023 - indicated the finance minister, according to whose words the government has always supported well-founded, grassroots initiatives. Mihály Varga also pointed out that the planning of the new part of the facility and the tender process took longer.

Among other things, Zoltán Balog, President of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church and Bishop of Dunamellék spoke about the importance of "restoring the old and constantly being able to create new things on old, stable foundations". At the same time, he thanked the government and the district local council for their support and help in building the new gymnasium.

Quoting former Reformed Bishop László Ravasz from his speech at the school's end-of-the-year ceremony in 1934, Zoltán Balog also touched on the fact that the entrance pillars of the school are called the "golden gate", through the original Jerusalem version of which the Messiah will come through, and according to the Christians, the saviour will come again through it. Also quoting the words of László Ravasz, he called it the task of the church to "conjure Advent souls into Pentecostal souls".

The capsule placed in the foundation stone contained, among other things, the school's founding words and insignia, photos of the teaching staff and the students currently studying there, as well as visuals of the gymnasium to be built, with a floor area of about 1,500 square metres.

Source: MTI

Cover photo: The courtyard facade of the Baár–Madas Reformed High School building (Photo: Balázs Both/pestbuda.hu)