Reconstruction of the Hungarian Educational System: New Trends and Realities in 1993Author(s): Sándor TóthSource: Journal of Education Finance, Vol. 19, No. 4, The Oxford International Round Table onEducation Policy (Spring 1994), pp. 58-64Published by: University of Illinois PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40703874 .

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Reconstruction of the Hungarian Educational System: New Trends and Realities in 1993

SÁNDORTÓTH

Introduction: National Heritage and the Effects of External Pressure

In 1996, Hungary will celebrate the one thousandth anniversary of the foundation of the Benedictine monastery at Pannonhalma in western Hungary where the first Hungarian school was established.

In the twelfth century, universities were set up throughout Europe. In Hungary, King Louis the Great, with the consent of the Pope, granted the school in Pecs the rights of a university in 1367. The University of Buda was established in 1395. Both institutions were swept away in the storms in history. In the sixteenth century, various Protestant Churches established a number of schools in Hungary, especially in the northern part of the country and in Transsylvania. At the time of the Counter-Reformation, a great number of Roman Catholic educational institutions were established. Only the Benedictine school at Pannonhalma and the University of Nagyszombat, founded in 1635 was regarded as the predecessor of the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest and managed to survive the vicissitudes of Hungarian history. This school and this university represented, to some extent in spite of themselves, intellectual efforts to shake off the medieval spirit and to carry the message of humanism, and, later on, that of the Reformation.

Hungarian-language religious education was not introduced, and at the same time, school education was improved. Scholarly preachers and teachers discovered ways of accessing the resources and institutions of the West European culture. Hungarian schools and higher educational institutions were in close contact with similar institutions in Western Europe, ranging from Bologna to Paris, and later, from Wittenberg to Utrecht. The Enlightenment brought with it an extended educational network; 400 primary schools and 100 secondary institutions and academies.

In the 1770s, far reaching education reform was introduced by Queen Maria Theresa. The Ratio Educations, a basic document containing the principles and objectives of a West

European type educational system, was published in 1777. In line with the ideas of

enlightened absolutism, education was now considered a "matter of policy.11 The foundations of the modern Hungarian educational system were laid by Baron Jozsef Eotvos, an

outstanding writer and politician who served as Minister of Education, first in the Hungarian government of 1 848 and then in the government formed after the Compromise with Austria in 1867. Here I shall refer only to his most important achievements:

(1) the introduction of compulsory basic education which served as an example to the rest of Europe at the time; and

(2) the overall reintroduction of the Hungarian language in education institutions.

From 1849 onward, the German type of education and school system became more and more established in Hungary; to some extent, these offered a free choice of courses. Count Kuno Klebelsberg, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Minister of Education and religious affairs from 1922 to 1931, was a leading personality in Hungarian education and culture during the first decades of the twentieth century. The basic concepts in his educational and cultural thinking were "firm national unity" and "intellectual surplus." He

managed to establish a sound educational system and implemented a number of important

Sándor Tóth is Chef de Cabinet of the Ministry of Culture and Education, Hungary.

58

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Hungarian Educational System 59

reforms in his sphere of responsibility. He introduced several measures to improve primary education, as well as secondary and higher education. Klebelsberg was the first to attempt to formulate the bases for a Hungarian science policy.

After the Second World War, a completely new, highly centralized educational system was introduced in Hungary. The main features of this were compulsory primary education from the ages of six to fourteen, and three types of secondary education were secondary school (ginmázium, four years), the technical secondary school (4 years), and vocational training (3 years). The curricula of these types of schools were defined by the Ministry of Education. The principle objectives of this system were:

(a) in the case of ginmázium, to prepare pupils for higher studies; (b) in the case of the technical secondary school, to provide pupils with skills for

different specialist jobs; and (c) in the case of vocational education, to train skilled workers.

This system did not give appropriate opportunities to change from one type of school to another. All schools were state owned, except for a very few, run by different Churches.

The postwar period brought about fundamental changes in the field of higher education. During the 1950s, universities lost their earlier autonomy and direct political and ideological control was introduced. For political reasons, "universities" and colleges were established that were too small. In some cases, these were created by splitting up existing universities. Research, one of the most important of university activities, was transferred to state-owned institutions in both the pure and the applied fields.

The Rigid System Begins to Split Up

The first signs of tension in this highly monolithic system appeared in the early 1 960s in the form of certain proposals regarding school education. At the beginning of the 1970s some measures were introduced to loosen administrative and political control over higher education. Between 1960 and the mid-1980s, a series of reforms took place in the field of

public education. All these reforms were mainly directed at increasing the number of educated people which, in itself, appeared to be a desirable objective, although egalitarian considerations obstructed the meeting of the rapidly growing requirements. For example, going to rapid technological development, certain vocational training institutions came to demand a secondary school leaving certificate as a basic condition for admission.

Hungary's earlier national curriculum reform (in 1 978) provided gimnáziums, secondary schools attended by students wishing to achieve entrance to higher educational institutions, with the opportunity to make optional subjects available and in the second half of the 1 980s, some schools were given the chance to work out and use their own specific curricula. From the late 1 970s onward the state of Hungarian higher education was studied by a number of

expert groups and by different social organizations and reports and reviews were published on the subject. This increasing public interest led to the introduction of many governmental measures. At the same time, bilingual teaching was introduced in a number of schools; in these programmes most subjects are taught in the foreign language adopted by the school in

question. Since the changes of 1 990, various types and structures have been established and these have resulted in the creation of a rather complicated, albeit colourful, secondary school

system.

The National Core Curriculum

The 1 978 National Core Curriculum basically amounted to strong central control with

regard to both general objectives and the values to be promoted. It became clear that a new Education Law was needed along with a new educational strategy. The current provisions include the new National Core Curriculum (NCC), the main characteristics of which are as follows:

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60 Oxford Round Table

(a) on the basis of the Hungarian Constitution and taking into account the relevant international conventions and documents signed by the Hungarian government, the NCC incorporates all the national and international democratic values that are intended to serve as the basis for the activities performed in every school in Hungary;

(b) it specifies all those times to be included in the local curriculum of each school;

(c) it clearly defines the main aims of education; (d) it describes the basic elements of knowledge, together with the main

requirements, for two levels: the main primary level (classes 1-6, for the age group 6-12), and another primary level (classes 1-8/10, for the age group 6- 14/16);

(e) it aims to harmonize the requirements of primary education with those of the different types of secondary schools;

(f) taking into account the requirements of a standardized examination system, it defines the necessary basic elements of knowledge and skills; and

(g) it lays down proportions of the time available which can be spent on given areas of education (except for individual subjects).

The Ministry of Education and Culture offers schools a wide range of subjects (including the main content elements) from which they can make their choice. Further, to make the implementation of the programmes easier, some curriculum schedules will be also appended to the NCC. On the basis of the NCC, the Minister of Education and Culture will outline the requirements of primary and secondary examinations, as well as those of the general evaluation system. Education and teaching will be based on local curricula, taking into account the elements, aims and schedules included in the NCC. However, educational institutions are not obliged to frame their own curricula. National and ethnic minorities are also supported to meet NCC requirements as far as history teaching, geography teaching and mother-tongue education are concerned, in harmony with their own nationality /ethnic cultural values. At the same time, they are supposed to meet the requirements concerning knowledge of Hungary, Hungarian history and Hungarian culture on the same level as that expected from Hungarian students.

The Public Education Law, 1 993

With a view of replacing the Education Law of 1985, work on the development and criteria of a new law began in the autumn of 1 990. The 1 985 law reflected the educational policy of the early 1 980s and represented a clear shift away from the spirit of earlier years; it already contained objectives concerning long-term development, differentiation and school

autonomy. The main elements of the Education Law of 1985 were as follows:

(a) it introduced change neither in the basic structure of education, nor in the centrally defined curricula;

(b) it declared the professional autonomy of education institutions as a basic

principle, and established some basic guarantees for this, such as the

possibility of local curricula and the conducting of pedagogical experiments; and

(c) it contained a rather detailed definition of the rights and duties of the

respective groups involved in education (teachers, pupils and parents) as well as the scope of jurisdiction of the different bodies (ministeries, local authorities) responsible for operating the system.

The Law was, of course, accompanied by a number of measures of a lower level, for

example, ministerial. The 1 990 Education Law introduced changes by modifying the principle goals of education by omitting the ideologically based objectives, authorizing the establishment of schools to be run by Churches or private persons and permitting the

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Hungarian Educational System 61

inclusion of these institutions in the overall educational system. Finally, by authorizing the setting up of lower grades in secondary education in order to break up the former vertical structure which existed earlier.

Following the modification of the 1 985 Law, the first draft of the new bill (as it then was) was published in January 1991 . This document incorporated the views and ideas of a broad spectrum of Hungarian professional people, such as educators, researchers and politicians. After long and thorough discussions, the government submitted the bill, suitably amended, to Parliament, which passed it into law on July 12, 1993. The Preamble of the present Law (known as the Public Education Law) defines the main goals of education in Hungary as follows:

"The Parliament enacts the following Law in order to ensure exercise of the right to education based on equality of opportunity, a right laid down in the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary, in order to achieve freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and the nurturing of patriotism in public education, in order to make good the right of national and ethnic minorities to education in their mother tongue, in order to realize the freedom of education and their freedom of teaching, in order to define the rights and duties of children, students, parents and those employed in public education, and also in order to direct and operate a public education system that ensures up-to-date knowledge."

The 1 993 Public Education Law covers all the issues most important for the creation of a new educational system and for its proper operation. Nevertheless, the present document is far from perfect; although it was approved by Parliament in no uncertain terms (almost 66% of the MPs voted for it), its weak points are sure to come to light as its implementation takes

place. Several points and ideas of the present Law have already been called into question, such as the efficiency of the school boards which have not existed in Hungary for decades and the genuine possibility of choosing between schools, especially in smaller settlements.

Questions at Issue

The implementation of the laws on public and higher education is to be gradual. Consequently, the 1993-94 academic year could start without difficulties. Implementation will require the establishment of a National Council for Public Education, a Council for Public Education Policy and regional educational centres. At the same time, measures and

regulations need to be worked out at governmental and ministerial levels concerning the

operation of educational institutions, as well as their local national and international points of contact, such as curriculum requirements at the end of the fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth

grades, the spheres of action and responsibility of regional educational centres and textbook

publishing. In our view, the performance of these organizational and legislative tasks will take

roughly one year, perhaps a little longer. Accordingly, the new law will be fully in forced from the beginning of the 1 994-95 academic year for secondary education and from the beginning of the 1996-97 academic year for vocational training.

Monitoring Research and Higher Education

In 1990, the Hungarian government published a White Paper entitled, "The National

Programme of Renewal," in which higher education was declared a strategic issue. As mentioned earlier, one of the most important issues has been the artificial separation of Research and Development (R&D) activities and higher education. This problem was gradually recognized in the early 1980s, but no effective measures were taken. In 1990, the new

government reestablished the National Science Policy Committee as an advisory board. Its

permanent members are the President of the Hungarian Academy of Science, the Minister of

Finance, the Minister of Education and Culture and the President of the Committee for

Technological Development. At present, the National Science Policy Committee is chaired by

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62 Oxford Round Table

the Minister of Education and Culture. One of its main duties is to coordinate, harmonize and monitor higher education and scientific research, as well as to bring them closer to each other using democratic means.

THE HIGHER EDUCATION LAW, 1993. The Preamble of the Higher Education Law of 1993 is as follows:

"The need to ensure the human rights guaranteed in the Constitution, the need to accord with the Magna Charta of the European universities, and the need for the creation of better conditions for social and national life, forms the tasks for the first independent legal regulation of Hungarian higher education. By means of its provisions, it ensures freedom of teaching, freedom of study and the freedom to cultivate the arts and sciences alike."

The Hungarian Government submitted the Higher Education Bill to Parliament after three years of professional and political debate. The 1993 Higher Education Law (the bill was accepted by Parliament on July 13, 1993) contains the following important elements which aim to encourage future changes:

(a) it defines and unifies the system of legal supervision and refers it to one official body, the Ministry of Education and Culture;

(b) it recognizes the Hungarian Rectors' Conference, the Conference of the College Director-Generals and the Rectors' Office of Art Universities;

(c) it establishes a National Accreditation Committee as an advisory board for the minister;

(d) it provides higher education institutions with the same autonomy as they had before World War II and gives them back the right to conduct doctoral projects and programmes for the awarding of Ph.D. degree and to lay down the general rules and mechanisms for the habilitation procedure;

(e) it establishes the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. qualification system; (f ) it introduces tuition fees from 1 994; and (g) it grants control to the institutions over admission.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAW. The Higher Education Law will be introduced gradually. Most of the regulations come into force in September of 1 993, the decree on tuition fees will come into force in September of 1 994 and the rules concerning financing will apply from

January 1, 1995. In addition, there are several organizational tasks, namely establishment of two new institutions: the Higher Education and Scientific Council and the National

Accrediting Committee, which is already operating as a provisional body. The legal package relates mainly to the following issues that will be worked out in the next two years:

(a) the general rules of the habilitation procedure; (b) the qualification requirements for undergraduates and postgraduates; (c) the basic conditions for granting doctoral degrees with the distinction

Promotio sub auspiciis praesidentis Reí Pub/icae; (d) regulations concerning fees and expenses to be paid by students and

concessions for students; (e) regulation of the condition for study by foreign students in Hungarian higher

education institutions and for those with scholarships from abroad; and (f) recognition or naturalization of degrees, certificates and diplomas, such as

equivalence.

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Hungarian Educational System 63

The Structure of the Hungarian Educational System and its Management

The system of Hungarian public education is such that the majority (91 %) of primary and secondary schools are owned by local authorities and the number of other owners is increasing rather slowly. Table 1 indicates the details of distribution in 1991 and in 1992. Local authorities have a fairly broad jurisdiction and responsibility. They make decisions concerning the budget of schools and school principals are appointed by them; moreover, they decide on the vertical and horizontal structure of local education. The Minister of Education and Culture is responsible for the content of education and for requirements on the national level.

TABLE 1 : Distribution of Ownership

Primary Secondary Vocational Total

Owner 1991 1992 1991 1992 1991 1992 1991 1992

Local Authorities 3530 3562 692 727 232 230 4358 4519

Counties 38 40 159 165 72 77 243 282

National agenceis 30 32 21 28 8 8 55 68

Churches 19 58 21 35 1 1 42 94

Foundations /private 17 20 19 16 6 8 33 44

Other 6 5 3 4 1 5 10 14

Total 3640 3717 906 975 320 329 4741 5021

As far as vocational education is concerned, the Ministry of Labour plays the governing role. Other ministeries, of course, have both rights and responsibilities in this field, with coordination being performed by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Public Education Financing and Support

The financial resources of public education are provided by the state budget and by the contributions of the maintainers. These may be supplemented by funds stemming from, for

example, fees and services. The respective sums for the educational tasks to be performed in the framework of the state budget are decided in the annual budgetary law. These are to cover salaries, bonuses and extras to be paid to teachers and other staff members. State

budgetary contributions extend to local authorities and state budgetary bodies and other

maintainers, if they operate kindergartens and schools within the framework of public education. The financial support given to the maintainers of public education is calculated

according to the number of pupils. Local authorities receive the greater part of their subsidy from the state in a lump sum. For example, money is given without restrictions on the

purposes to which it can be devoted. Besides the number of students, the size of state

subsidy depends on the number of inhabitants of the settlement in question and on the services provided by the school.

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64 Oxford Round Table

Higher Education Financing, Supportano Research

Before 1993, higher education in Hungary was free of charge. All higher educational institutions were given subsidies from the state budget to cover their expenditures, which included compensation for inflation. This form of financing preserved inequalities, promoted red tape and resulted in overspending and profligacy. According to the new principles, normative and value-centered activities are to be supported. However, the Law offers a "seminormative" mechanism, taking into consideration the number of students attending higher educational institutions and operates an education allocation.

Research carried out in higher educational institutions is promoted by means of competition. The National Research Fund (OTKA) was reestablished in 1991. The other possibility for the support of research is the National Technology Fund, primarily for the promotion of activities in engineering, agriculture and environmental protection. This fund is operated by the National Committee for Technological Development (OMFB). Besides Hungarian sources, there are several other funds, such as the British Know-How Fund; the "Catching Up with European Higher Education" Fund (FEFA), maintained by the World Bank and the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture; the Higher Education Fund, established by the Ministry of Education and Culture together with the Marton Aron Foundation as well as bodies such as TEMPUS, Fulbright and PHARE Aktion Österreich-Ungarn.

Several initiatives have been made in the field of profit-oriented research on a contract basis, as well as in that of business consultancy work. As far as tuition fees are concerned, these seem to be a promising resource; however they are the subject of discussions with the experts from the World Bank. According to the statistical data, in Hungary approximately 1 1

per cent of the age group concerned participates in higher education. This figure does not embrace post-secondary and tertiary education students, as in the statistics of West European countries. According to the "corrected" view, experts say the figure is somewhere around 15 per cent. In previous years, a certain increase occurred in the number of university students without extra demands being made on the budget. At present, the number of students in higher education is about 1 7 per cent of the age group concerned, which is still a low percentage as compared to other European countries.

Conclusion

The Hungarian Parliament has recently passed a number of laws on public education, vocational education, higher education and on the rights of national and ethnic minorities.

Hopefully, the Parliament will soon pass the law on the role and status of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This Law will be of great importance to Hungarian higher education because of the research institution network of the academy. Hopefully, these laws will help us to return to the European standard in higher education, if there is such a thing. We do not want to copy any other system, but we are open to international cooperation to bridge gaps which have appeared in the past 40 years.

In spite of the differences in the development of many countries, represented at the 1 993 Oxford Round Table, I am convinced that there are foreign experiences that should be studied

by our decision makers, experts and local authorities, and that our efforts should be made clear to the people of foreign countries. International cooperation on the basis of common interest lies at the heart of our endeavours.

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