5. Student progression and structural problems

In the past few years, the Hungarian school education system has undergone dramatic changes due to the drastic transformation of the wider political, social and economic environment. The quick transformation of the labour market and the growing demand for qualified labour, the high rate of unemployment and especially the drop-out waves of young people from the labour market have created a (growing) need to restructure school education.

5.1 Changes in the vertical school structure

Most of the structural changes challenge the formal 8+4 vertical structure of education, developed after World War II. The Education Act of 1985 was the first to make it possible to launch experiments in the schools. The modification of the Education Act of 1985 in 1990 permitted the establishment of 6 or 8 years long secondary general schools. It led to substantial changes in the school structure.

Although structural changes had to be approved by the central and local authorities between 1990 and 1993, the authorisation process was very liberal. This practice resulted in the mushrooming of the longer types of secondary general schools (see Table 5.1), and it was rarely taken into consideration that creating general secondary classes for the 10-12-year-old students might result in the decrease of the potential places at general secondary schools, since the expansion of 4-year-long general secondary schools to 6 or 8 years long ones was not accompanied by the enlargement of capacities by reason of the limited number of buildings and classrooms. So a given number of students is now divided between more grades. The number of pupils in one grade decreased, so there are fewer vacancies for the 14 year-old youngsters in `gimnázium's that give royal way to higher education. One reason for the popularity of this longer type of general secondary education was the strong desire in society to return to traditions, i.e. to the educational forms existing before 1945. The other and stronger reason was the direct interest of the institutions in early enrolment and in preserving the number of students that began to decrease due to the demographic slope. In this competition for the pupils, general secondary schools had an advantage over general schools.

Table 5.1
Number of classes and students at the 6-8-year-long general secondary schools, 1995/96

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	Number of classes at		Number of pupils at
Grade	6	8	6	8
	years general secondary schools		years general secondary schools
5	-	128	-	3,727
6	-	123	-	3,461
7	196	105	5,717	3,058
8	179	78	5,138	2,218
5-8	375	434	10,855	12,464
9	125	51	3,504	1,396
10	73	19	2,077	505
11	32	6	930	181
12	11	4	328	160
9-12	241	80	6,839	2,242
Total	616	514	17,694	14,706

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Source: Hungarian Statistical Pocketbook, 1995, Central Statistical Office

The number of classes and students at the 6 or 8 years long general secondary schools in grades 5-8 increased by six times between 1991 and 1995, from 125 to 809 and from 3761 to 23,319, respectively (see Table 5.1). As a consequence, the dividing line between primary and secondary education has faded, and shifting from primary to secondary education is possible at several ages (at 10, 12, 14). Several differently structured models coexist now in the Hungarian education system.

There is a tendency to prolong secondary education not only downwards, but upwards as well. In the second half of the 1980s a new, `zero' grade was established in the bilingual general secondary schools in order to offer an intensive language course for students who later study the various subjects in a foreign language. The 5th grade in the vocational secondary schools appeared in the 1980s with the re-establishment of the training for technicians. The extension of the duration of education can result in a long period of schooling, ranging from the age of 5 to 20. It challenges the whole education system, and raises problems in financing and administration of public education. One of the aims of educational policy is to transform the former two-level system (basic and secondary level) into a three-level system (primary, lower secondary and higher secondary level). Some of the most important tools for this are the implementation of the National Core Curriculum and a new system of examinations. Instead of the different types of educational institutions, one must focus on several educational programmes, in which the educational cycles and the grades play a more important role in the financing and curricular regulation than the type of the educational institutions.

Consequently, a school structure has emerged which does not accurately define the period of basic education in a curricular sense, that is to say, it enables transition from basic to secondary education at different ages (grades) and at the same time it also facilitates the development of different vertical structural solutions. It was of particular significance that choice among these models was attributed by the law under the authority of the municipalities. The October 1995 Amendment to the Education Act of 1993 introduced certain restrictive elements into this exceedingly liberal structural regulation: for instance, it declared that the general school has generally eight, and the secondary school has generally four grades and, at the same time, specified the conditions of deviating from this.

5.2 Changes in the horizontal school structure

The most important change in the horizontal school structure is the decline in the number and percentage of students entering the three-year vocational school and, the increase in the number and percentage of those entering schools that prepare students for the matriculation exam. This process began in 1989, and is directly related to the collapse of the large-scale industrial background on which the sphere of skilled worker training was based. Another factor of major importance was that the central planning of school admission ratios was abolished, which permitted better adjustment of school admissions to individual or family requirements.

After 1989, the rate of those who continued their studies after general school declined for a short while. This tendency was reversed by the introduction of special vocational schools and the commencement of secondary school expansion. The ratio of those continuing their studies after general school thus rose from 93.6 per cent in 1985 to 98.8 per cent in 1994. This ratio is fairly high and indicates that general school can no longer be regarded as a form of complete education.

The rate of those continuing their studies in general secondary school was over one quarter of the total number of school-leavers in 1994. The growth in the rate of those continuing their studies in secondary vocational schools is even greater. This type of school enrolled nearly a third of those who studied on a higher level after leaving general school in 1994. Vocational schools, in spite of the continuous decline in both the number and rate of enrolled students, still enrol the largest percentage of those completing the eighth grade. Some of the students who cannot be admitted to the three-year vocational programs continue in special vocational schools. The past few years have seen a spectacular expansion of this type of school, reinforced also by favourable conditions of financing.

The rate of students admitted to secondary schools offering courses for matriculation examination reached 60.8 per cent in 1995 (see Table 5.2 and Figure 5.1.). If the expansion of this sector continues, two thirds of the age cohort concerned will be expected to be enrolled in secondary schools leading to the matriculation exam for the certificate of secondary education.

Table 5.2
The proportion of students entering general school and of those entering secondary education, 1985-1995

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Year	Having completed general school	General secondary school (%)	Vocational secondary school (%)	Vocational school (%)	Other special vocational school (%)	Total (%)
1985/86	130,992	20.8	26.0	43.8	2.8	93.6
1986/87	131,219	20.7	27.0	43.5	3.0	94.2
1987/88	134,223	21.1	26.7	44.2	2.8	94.8
1988/89	149,640	20.1	27.4	44.5	3.0	95.0
1989/90	170,891	20.4	27.0	42.7	3.2	93.3
1990/91	164,616	21.1	27.5	42.0	2.9	93.4
1991/92	158,912	21.6	28.9	39.2	2.1	91.9
1992/93	151,295	23.3	30.1	36.6	5.7	95.7
1993/94	144,203	24.2	31.8	35.5	6.0	97.5
1994/95	136,900	25.7	32.6	35.2	5.3	98.8
1995/96	122,400	27.1	33.7	34.2	4.4	99.4

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Source: Statistical Yearbook of Hungary, Central Statistical Office Figure 5.1
Progression of pupils after having competed general school (%), 1985-1995

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Source: Statistical Yearbook of Hungary, 1996, Central Statistical Office

It is mostly due to the emergence of comprehensive secondary schools that the enrolment ratio of the general secondary schools has not declined in spite of the newly established 6- and 8-grade forms. Some of these have come into being on the basis of secondary vocational schools which also opened general secondary school classes. At the same time, there is a fair number of comprehensive schools which have developed out of general secondary schools offering secondary vocational courses. In addition to genuine training needs, the interest in comprehensive schools is motivated by the more favourable financial conditions of secondary vocational schools and the higher prestige of general secondary schools. This is considered a positive development, as it introduces a higher degree of flexibility into the system and provides greater opportunity to adjust it to local demands.

5.3 Proceeding of students at schools and the drop-outs

Although the enrolment into primary education is at the age of 6, the flexible enrolment system allows children born in the summer to enrol at the age of 7. During the past four years the proportion of the 7-year-old children among the first-grade students at general school rose from 11 to 14%.

As to compulsory education, there is a rising proportion of 16-year-olds completing general school: in 1995, it was 97%. The proceeding of students at general school is not automatic, those who fail must repeat their grade. The highest rate of failure can be found at grades 1 and 4 (see Table 5.3.), at the beginning of the primary and the lower secondary cycles. (Although the National Core Curriculum is likely to reshape the cycles.)

Table 5.3
Proportion of repeaters by grade 1990-1993,%

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	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.
1990/91	4.8	2.8	2.5	2.8	4.2	3.8	2.8	0.4
1991/92	4.5	2.6	2.3	2.5	4.2	3.6	2.8	0.5
1992/93	4.3	2.3	2.0	2.1	3.6	3.6	2.6	0.5
1993/94	4.5	2.1	1.8	1.9	3.3	3.2	2.6	0.4

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Source: Report on Public Education '95, National Institute of Public Education, 1996

The incidence of incomplete studies is examined here of the basis of the number of drop-outs (difference between the number of students in the first and the last grades) in secondary education. The number of drop-outs also includes students who transfer from one field of study to another. The real number is thus smaller than what the figures suggest.

The highest drop-out rate can be observed in vocational schools, and the lowest in general secondary schools (see Figure 5.2).

Figure 5.2
Drop-outs per 100 students in vocational, vocational secondary and general secondary schools in 1989-1994

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Source: Statistics of the Ministry of Culture and Education

The drop-out rates have been slightly decreasing since 1992, but they are still high in vocational schools. In some fields of specialisation such as the mining, metallurgy, textile and paper industry, the drop-out rate (40%) is above average. It only covers few students since there are fewer and fewer apprentices specialised in these trades.