14. Summary

The education system in Hungary is in transition and is challenged by rapid changes in the economy, demographic phenomena and the ideals of society. Signs of both improvement, adjustment and deterioration can be seen. The values of individual freedom and of the free market are gaining ground, which provokes tension in the ranks of a people grown up under the influence of an ideology that laid emphasis on equity.

In the first half of the 1990s, the basic laws on education were passed by Parliament that outlined a decentralised system of administration that provides local decision-makers and the maintainers of schools with an increased autonomy. This autonomy may turn out to be the cause of problems since the resources, experience and expertise were often lacking, however, it gave a tremendous impetus to local innovation.

Most of the problems of education were rooted between 1990 and 1996 in the fact that there are only limited resources for this field due to Hungary's sluggish economic performance and growing indebtedness. Stress is laid on efficiency, yet figures show that Hungarian education is not efficient enough. While the GDP dropped by 20%, and the number of students decreased rapidly, expenditure on education could preserve its real value. One of the main reasons for this is the employment policy for teachers is based on the Act on Public Employees. Although it provided a one-off increase in the salaries for the teachers, it made the necessary rationalisation disproportionately expensive and differentiation almost impossible. It has resulted in the low unemployment rate of teachers, but it has relegated them to the bottom of the wage-scale compared with other professions. The municipalities that maintained educational institutions faced financing problems in 1995 when there was a big cut in state subsidies. They had to make the first step to rationalise their school policy and administration as well as to reduce the surplus of capacities. This demands a more balanced share of responsibilities between the central and the local levels.

One of the most vital issues in public education is that of the changes in the vertical and horizontal structures. The new opportunity for students to shift from one educational programme to another makes the system less transparent. Most of the tension is caused by the fact that general secondary schools that seek to expand downwards cream off the most motivated students from the general schools. However, these shifts create new opportunities for study, even for the drop-outs. The flourishing sphere of post-secondary and adult education gives another chance to them, as well.

A strategic objective of educational policy is to expand secondary education that prepares students for the matriculation examination and higher education. This is vital since the decreasing number of students limits the pool for higher education and, with an unchanged proportion of those continuing their studies, the number of students can fall, which is inconsistent with the demand of the labour market.

One of the most alarming signs in education is the worsening of achievements. According to ťMonitor '95Ť, the gap between villages and towns as well as that between short vocational education and other types of secondary education is widening. The problems of the disadvantaged students and regions demand a well clarified and targeted regional policy that harmonises with social and education policy.

The new National Core Curriculum is an important stage in the modernisation of public education. One of its most unusual elements is that the central document and the existing types of educational institutions are separated from each other. As a result, in the future one will have to make a difference between the notions of the level of education, of the institutions and of educational programmes. The formerly clear types of schools are disappearing, most of them constitute nowadays a mixture. general schools have special short vocational classes as well, vocational schools launch secondary vocational classes and vice versa, general secondary schools merge with vocational secondary schools. This tendency also gives a chance to the drop-outs to follow their study on a lower level.

The local actors usually play a very intensive role, a vast number of innovations have been locally launched. However, their quality is uneven, and their influence is limited. A system of quality control using such tools as formula financing and monitoring would be guarantee for the quality of education. Thus the local and the central efforts could be connected and would make up an integrated entity.