Education in Hungary 2000

Chapter 5 - The Content of Education

In the past decade educational systems faced a number of challenges determined by socio-economic changes. The renewal of knowledge mediated by schools and the modernisation of content have become inevitable. The itemised and accurate definition of the content of up-to-date education, however, proved extremely difficult. The state cannot assume responsibility for determining the relevant teaching content any longer and devolves other administrational levels to share the related responsibility. This process was reflected by the introduction of frame-type curriculum regulations in the 1990s across Europe.

5.1 Regulations in the Content of Public Education

The Introduction of the National Core Curriculum and the Initial Experiences

Similarly to other countries, the introduction of the National Core Curriculum (NAT) in 1995 and the following curriculum designing process at school level was a key element of Hungarian public education.

As a result, the basic framework in the regulation of the teaching content adjusted to the previously reformed administrative relations, i.e. the former central curriculum was replaced by a two-level regulation. Essentially, it provides for a frame-type state control over educational content, whereas the key document regulating classroom processes is the school level curriculum. Each school has to create such a curriculum as part of their pedagogical programme or adopt one elaborated by others. The NAT defines the compulsory requirements common in every school, regardless of the type of the institution, for the first ten years of education. For the secondary education the common and compulsory requirements in the 11th and 12th grades are included in the subsequently passed Secondary School-leaving Examination Regulations.

What was new, however, was that these requirements were formulated according to ten comprehensive cultural domains or fields of knowledge rather than for individual subjects. The cultural domains are the following: Mother Tongue and Literature; Modern Foreign Language; Mathematics; Man and Society; Man and Nature; Our Earth and Environment; Arts; Informatics; Life-Management and Practical Studies; Physical Education and Sports.

The Public Education Act provided three years for the schools to create their local curricula in accordance with the National Core Curriculum and to adhere to the requirements of the secondary school-leaving examination regulations and the guidelines for the given type of institution, respectively. These documents regulating the teaching content on the level of schools, as part of their pedagogical programme, had to be accepted by the school staff and consented by the maintainer of the institution by the beginning of the scholastic year of 1998/99.

While implementing the National Core Curriculum, the central administration of education had to take on a significant role in improving the teachers’ competence as well as creating the necessary infrastructure (service point network; development of an ICT background; sufficient supply of model curricula and textbooks in a Databank). Institutions were given extensive professional support and help in completing and introducing the local curricula. One of the most outstanding supporters in this process was the National Institute of Public Education (OKI), which on the one hand, has organised a considerable number of courses and created forms of continuing education for teachers and, on the other hand, established an electronic Databank of NAT-compatible model curricula. Other participants of the graduate education market have joined these activities as well. Simultaneously, a national network of service points was created offering, besides curricula, a database of textbooks, experts’ registers and facilities for continuing education and tender applications for teachers. The range of curricula was enriched by the complete school curricula of the winner chosen from amongst 19 educational institutions in a competition announced jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Public Foundation for the Modernisation of School Education (KOMA), available in print free of charge, as well as the - mostly subject-oriented - curricula compiled by the textbook publishers offered as a supplement to their publications. The lack of a professional analysis of these latter curricula, however, might cast doubts on their quality.

By the spring term of 1998 the schools fulfilled their duty of completing their pedagogical programmes and most educators participated in designing the local educational system. On the whole, 8% of primary and approximately 15% of different types of secondary schools created entirely individual school curricula, others adopted complete programmes or mostly constructed their local curricula from a selection of several sources. In quite a large number of schools, however, the necessary adoption did not take place due to lack of time or professional skills.

The design of local curricula was a great professional challenge for teachers which also, in some cases, jeopardised their jobs. Their task was rendered even more difficult by the delay in issuing the county-level development projects orienting the local design with the concept of the system of pedagogic responsibilities at a regional level. In addition to this, school maintainers often failed to re-arrange responsibilities. Contrary to the original aims of educational administration, local curriculum development did not turn into the tool of local (at least mid-term) planning. The major break-through, expected by many, usually failed to occur and the maintainers did not become real owners of their educational institutions. At the same time, a communication process has started between the schools and their maintainers regarding key issues of education and a local educational policy has started to take shape.

The period of the introduction of the National Core Curriculum has been accompanied by professional and political debates of changing dynamism. According to the statistics of public opinion surveys the acceptance of the NAT amounts to approximately 60% amongst teachers. Its main supporters were those innovative schools which have gradually introduced a whole range of reforms in teaching content from the late 1980s and its opponents were chiefly the 4-year general secondary schools. With reference to the lack of qualified curricula and the teachers’ sufficient competence, the opposition parties of the time even included in their electoral campaign the demand for the revision of the National Core Curriculum in the most critical phase of the implementation of the NAT.

The Current Regulation, Frame Curricula

The structural changes introduced by the Public Education Act, last amended in 1999, enforced a partially new concept of teaching content as well. The Act aims at the restoration of the 8+4 year school structure, since it divides the elementary phase of general school education into a primary (1-8 years) and a secondary (from the 9th year to the 10th, 11th or 12th year depending on the type of the school) period. The Act announces that the permeability among the schools in the period of general education should be guaranteed in frame curricula based on the cultural domains named within the National Core Curriculum. Besides the NAT, a frame curriculum is another central document of in-class regulations by the help of which the central educational administration wishes to enhance the integration, the permeability and the systematic nature of the educational structure. By means of introducing a two-level regulation the frame curriculum increases the central responsibility, as well as the input orientation. It does not raise requirements essentially different from those presented in the NAT, but it extends those in time, i.e. the requirements can be interpreted until the end of the 12th year. The new regulations resulted in significant changes within the secondary educational period in two respects. Firstly, as separate curricula were created in different school types students are to choose a career earlier, at the age of 14. On the other hand, a distinct curriculum type was elaborated in vocational education to guide the weaker student who falls behind, thus it attempts to improve their chances for employment.

Despite the partial restriction regarding an institution’s professional autonomy, the frame curricula aspire to the assurance of vindicating local characteristics. For instance, the schools will be entitled to make autonomous decisions as to the usage of certain parts of the education period (e.g. number of optional classes) in the future as well.

The actual development of the frame curricula started in the autumn of 1999. Subject committees were formed to draw up new curricula along subject boundaries. Simultaneously, for each school type and for each subject horizontal committees performed analyses and provided assistance in order to make teaching content coherent with requirements both in the one-year and in the four-year period. Another board was set up to advance the possibilities and regulations of divergence from the compulsory number of classes and curricular teaching content.

A frame curriculum can be divided into two major parts. The first part contains the general aims, the subject structure and the number of classes concerning years and subjects within the given school type. The second part includes subject-specific frame curricula. By dividing the cultural domains, frame curricula will restore the subject system and specify the minimal number of classes which allow more and more independently designed classes towards the final years of education. In accordance with the new regulations, teaching philosophy is compulsory in general secondary schools as well as the teaching of ethics in all school types. In assistance to school education, class-masters’ classes will be included in the official timetable in the grades 5-12. Timetables for technical schools and secondary vocational schools allow a maximum of 5-10 classes in the general education years for strictly job-related knowledge and skills.

The decree on the introduction of frame curricula allows for certain divergences from these curricula and the licensing processes related to the application of such alternative local curricula, thus enhancing flexibility. It takes steps to decrease the daily burdens on the students.

Education according to the new local curricula - approved by school maintainers - is to be phased in from bottom up. Since it will be first introduced in the 1st, 5th and 9th grades from September, 2001, it is expected to be predominant in the whole of the Hungarian public education from the scholastic year of 2004/2005. The introduction of frame curricula, similarly to the implementation of the NAT, assigns significant organisational duties to schools. Observations show that teachers principally endorse the concept of frame curricula and the number of compulsory classes received a relatively small number of negative responses.

The System of Examination

The secondary school-leaving examination has always had great significance in Hungarian public education. The Public Education Act of 1993 also established basic examination. Every student is entitled to take this examination after completing primary education, at the end of the compulsory school attendance period. This type of exam has not been established in practice, and there are heated professional debates concerning its function and content.

With the Amendment to the Public Education Act, the exam regulations have ceased to play a key role in the design of local curricula and output regulations had less control over defining the teaching content. The Basic Examination does not have any influence on local curricula, while the requirements of the secondary school-leaving examination continue to play a major role in orientation. The abolishment of the division line at the 10th year has greatly diminished the significance of the Basic Examination. Although this exam certificate qualifies the holder for certain jobs and professional exams, it is not a prerequisite for passing on to the 11th year in any school type, and additionally does not provide any sort of qualification. The secondary school-leaving examination remains to be a prominent point in the vertical division of the education system that certifies the fulfillment of the requirements posited at the lower educational level (ISCED3) and is simultaneously a prerequisite for passing on to the higher level (ISCED4,5).

Promoting the expansion of secondary education, a priority in educational policy, the central educational administration urged the introduction of a two-level system and the standardisation of school-leaving examinations in the mid 1990s. The new educational administration, taking office in 1998, has not yet pronounced a decision regarding this issue. Thus the realisation of the 1997 executive decree on secondary school-leaving examination remains doubtful. The decree calls for a unified (identical in general secondary and secondary vocational schools), two-level (optionally intermediate or advanced level in every subject, the latter also serving as a university entrance exam) and standardised (including centrally elaborated tasks) school-leaving examination to be introduced in 2004.

Since secondary school-leaving examinations do not hinder secondary school expansion, neither the educational administration nor the institutions and their students are interested in reforming the system of school-leaving examinations on the short run. The educational administration, however, on the long run continues to have an interest in receiving an objective picture of the efficiency of educational structure - chiefly that of secondary education - through the results of adequate and valid school-leaving exams.

The process of developing a standardised final exam is being carried out practically according to the original schedule. Detailed exam requirements were completed by the end of 1997 in 10 general subjects (Hungarian Language and Literature; History; Foreign Language I.; Foreign Language II.; Biology; Geography; Physics; Chemistry; Drawing and Visual Culture). Preparations concerning exam descriptions, content and grading principles started in 1998 and have been in progress ever since.

5.2 Changes in the Content of Teaching

Following the abolishment of central curricula in 1993, changes in the subject structure offered educational institutions some real room for manoeuvring. This had a major influence on the content of education. The changes in teaching content have mostly taken place at the institutional level and therefore lack precise data in description. The general experiences are however, that primary and secondary schools introduced entirely new subjects or enlarged the range of optional ones rather than upgrading the content of existing ones. Nearly two-thirds of vocational schools increased the proportion of theoretical subjects.

Changes in the Content of General Education

Nursery School

Built on the National Core Programme of Nursery School Education (1996), nursery schools have drawn up or chosen their educational programmes. In addition to the selection offered by the Databank of the National Institution of Public Education, a similar amount of other educational programmes have enriched the choice. The number of nursery schools adopting a complete programme was negligible (a total of 3%), most institutions have come up with a programme of their own. All programmes focus on development through a number of playful activities suiting the special characteristics of the age group. Objectives like mediating a healthy and environmentally conscious lifestyle and a respect for traditions; handling children according to their needs and a guarantee for equal opportunities at school beginning are high priorities. Another frequent element of the programmes is the integrated education: nursery school teachers are willing to deal with 1-5 children with minor handicaps (with physical, visual, hearing or speech difficulties) in a group. The majority of religious nursery schools have been aided in forming their programmes by the Catholic and the Calvinist frame programmes for nursery school education. 18% of private nursery schools are engaged in integrated education and 21% in ethnic education.

Primary and Secondary Schools

In the Public Education Act the state specifies the minimum number of classes necessary for the fulfillment of the tasks of education, and defines the maximum number of students’ classes per day. According to the provisions of the Act, at least 90% of the maximum number of classes must actually be taught, and students must have at least 90% of the maximum number of classes. Within the optional in-class activities, schools may offer compensatory classes, compensation for inequalities, catering for the gifted and consultation, and may teach special or additional knowledge. The resulting number of classes must be financed at least in 80% by the maintainer of the school. The number of obligatory classes should be increased by 10% in the education of ethnic groups and minorities, and by 15-50% in the education of the handicapped, depending on the nature of the deficiency.

In accordance with the 1999 Amendment to the Public Education Act the number of compulsory and optional classes slightly increased. In reality, however, the actual number of obligatory classes is approximately 5-17% higher than it is presented in the Act and in the statistics. This tendency is due to the fact that the schools give compulsory classes at the (partial) expense of optional classes in order to cover the demand for extra classes of the newly introduced subjects, advanced education, early foreign language teaching, etc. As a result, students are often overburdened. To draw a limit to this ‘illegal’ extension in the number of compulsory classes, the 1999 Amendment to the Public Education Act made it clear that students are only required to attend activities above the obligatory in-class training at their own request (in case of minors, parental consent is needed). In an international comparison the number of obligatory classes in Hungary is, however, rather small owing, above all, to the shorter period of the scholastic year.

An important indicator of teaching content is the number of classes associated with a given subject or cultural domain. These proportions are, aside from recommendations by the Ministry, more and more dominated by school-level decisions, as the NAT allows a free zone of classes in every year for independent usage. From 1988 on there has been a noticeable turn towards social sciences. The schools, more and more identifying with the role of a service company, have raised the number of classes in demand and reduced that of others within their sphere of authority. Aside from the basic subjects and the subjects improving key skills, Physical Education and Sports is also taught in a greater number of classes (Fig. 5.1).

 

Figure 5.1    Average number of classes according to cultural domains in the central class schedules and recommendations for class schedules in Hungary, 1998, 1995 and 2000; and in the OECD countries (in the education of students 12-14 years of age), 1998 (%)

NB: The cultural domain called Life-Management and Practical Studies usually means practical activities, career orientation in the practice of the European countries, while several elements of the Technology courses in Hungary are rather taught within the cultural domain of Informatics. Class-masters' Classes are included in Hungary within Others, whilst in the case of OECD countries Religious Studies, which are compulsory in several countries, were listed here, and which constitute an average 3% of the total number of classes.
Source: Calculations by Irén Vágó based on a weekly class schedule for divided primary schools, 1988;National Core Curriculum, 1995; calculations by Irén Vágó based on the frame curricula of primary education, 2000; Education at a Glance, 2000

Advanced Level Education

In the 1990s the attendance of advanced level classes in primary schools practically did not change. In secondary education, however, the interest in attending certain courses in a raised number of classes, especially those providing knowledge that the labour market valued the most (foreign language, information science) radically increased in the late 1990s. The access to forms of advanced level education, however, shows a rather diverse picture respective of the type of location and institution. Schools located in cities have more access to such possibilities than those located in villages. Similarly, general secondary schools are better equipped, in this respect, than vocational schools.

Various institutions offer a rather colourful choice of optional classes for the improvement of the talented, and for career orientation and spare-time activities. In the scholastic year of 1996/97, for example, 1 200 schools offered 324 kinds of optional classes. Informatics and Mathematics groups functioned in the greatest number (in 50% of the institutions). Popular Sport Activities, Choir, Mother Tongue and Literature and Foreign Language groups featured in the repertoire of approximately one-fourth to one-third of the institutions, and 20% of them held Dance/Folkdance, Drama and Drawing groups. Public education institutions also offered compensatory courses for weaker students at the expense of the number of non-obligatory classes. According to the 1996/97 data mentioned above, an average of 27% of primary school pupils and 23% of the vocational school students attended these courses.

Changes in the Content of Vocational Education

The Act of Public and Vocational Education of 1993 and also the National Training Register (OKJ) (first published in 1994) have lead to radical innovations both in the teaching content and the structure within and without school education. Since the introduction of the National Core Curriculum extended the period of general education up to 16 years of age in 1995, the number of schools turning away from the traditional 3 year training in weekly shifts in favour of the 2+2 structure, and those replacing skilled worker training with vocational secondary education have been constantly on the rise.

In the competition for acquiring students two-thirds of schools have started education in one or more attractive professions, however, only a few institutions have abandoned programmes, which trained students for outdated professions by the second half of the 1990s. Only in the case of heavy industry was an actual reduction registered, and the most dynamically expanding field was that of institutions with an ICT profile.

The scholastic year of 1998/99 brought about a complete break away from the previous training structure and content. From that time on, vocational education could only be started from 16 years of age, and only in accordance with the professions listed in the National Training Register. Therefore the final trainees who had started their 3-year training after completing 8 years of primary education took their apprentice exam in the year 2000. The final age group in secondary vocational schools which is still being trained according the old curriculum will finish school in 2001; and after completing a fourth year of training they may receive a secondary school-leaving certificate, in addition to their professional qualifications.

Vocational training schools

The increasing demand for classrooms due to the extension of the training period by one more year - the initial year being shifted to the 11th year - as well the larger number of classes on general education and career orientation classes, resulted in a shortage of rooms in most vocational training schools.

The most significant change of the 1998/99 scholastic year affected the 9th year of the schools: instead of providing general education and skills of the trade simultaneously, they now have an introductory period of general education. Since the gradual introduction of the NAT allows a fair proportion of freedom in designing the local curricula, the subjects and content of teaching may differ considerably from one institute to another. Some of the schools have simply attempted to teach the topics given in the NAT for the 9th and 10th years, others created a temporary curriculum. Some far-reaching local curricula, however, have articulated such concrete aims as helping underachievers catch up with the others; prevention of drop-outs among school age trainees still without a qualification; or preparing the students for training in reference to personality and skills. Additional curricula have aimed at keeping the students in the school even after the 10th year in order to prepare them for the basic examination. Certain vocational training schools have consciously attempted to elaborate on a curriculum that would ensure the positions of the teaching staff and the technical trainers, thus minimising the conflicts.

There are significant differences between 9th and 10th year programmes concerning general education and the weekly hours and relative importance of subjects. The number of Mathematics and Mother Tongue and Literature classes are above average only in schools with the aim of organising compensation classes for underachievers or in schools that have no personnel to teach other subjects (such as Foreign Language teaching, Informatics and subjects of skill) in more classes. The teaching of Informatics is spreading slowly due, above all, to the lack of prepared teaching staff and equipment.

Secondary Vocational Schools

As secondary vocational schools of new model in general met the new legal requirements, their local curricula needed relatively few alternations. These schools typically focus on new 1-2 year programmes for acquiring secondary or higher qualifications after the secondary school-leaving exam; and projects financed by new World Bank loans facilitated this process.

The implementation of frame curricula is expected to bring about further radical changes. Considerable discrepancies might show in the frame curricula regarding subject areas and content, the conditions of improvement and general development requirements. For instance, one curriculum will guarantee permeability towards secondary schools, while the other will serve to focus on underachievers. General education is conducted according to the provisions of the NAT and the frame curricula in vocational training, as well. Professional training, on the other hand, is based on so-called central programmes built on the requirements of vocational certificates and exams. These programmes are prepared by appointment to the relevant Ministries, under the supervision of the National Institute of Vocational Education (NSZI).

Content Changes in Other Fields of Public Education

During the 1990s changes in teaching content took place in other areas of public education as well, such as primary art education, special education and the education of minorities.

Primary Art Education

In the past decades there has been a primary institutional structure specialising exclusively in teaching art, as part of the system of public education in Hungary. Their role is to establish the skills of artistic expression and to prepare students for further professional education. In these institutions, with programmes ranging from six to twelve years, compulsory school attendance cannot be achieved, that is students cannot prepare for the Basic Examination. Having completed the final year, students may take a Basic Art Examination that entitles them to pursue their art studies, after which they may take a Final Art Examination.

Most students are attracted to music schools with great traditions (Fig. 5.2). Institutions for teaching dance, fine and applied arts, performing arts and puppet performance are also present in smaller numbers, amongst which the proportion of private schools is particularly high. In spite of the demographic ebb, the number of pupils attending schools of primary art education has been growing dynamically, the participation rate is outstanding even by international standards. Particularly the interest in learning instrumental music shows a growing tendency.

 

Figure 5.2    Changes in the number of pupils attending primary music education, 1990-1998

Source: KSH; Educational statistics by the Ministry of Education

Up until the late 1990s regulations concerning content in primary art education had been outdated for several decades. In accordance with the1996 Amendment to the Public Education Act an executive decree was issued - after thorough professional preparations - on the requirements and curricular programmes of primary art education, including a supplement in the requirements and a central curricular programme for 4 branches of art.

The Education of Minorities and Ethnic Groups

The education of minorities is a part of public education, there are, however, certain specifications that allow for the articulation of characteristic content and requirements that correspond to the demands of minorities. Most requirements of minority education are regulated by the special guiding principles of the National Core Curriculum. These guidelines include the aims and possible forms of minority education, and define the content requirements regarding the education of mother tongue, Hungarian language and literature, and ethnic awareness. Minority education can be organised in the following classes: education in native language, bilingual education, minority language education, traditional minority language education, extended minority language education, compensatory education for the Gypsy minority, and intercultural education.

In designing the local curricula of minority schools the greatest problem is defining the area of knowledge that minority languages belong to. In the National Core Curriculum the Hungarian language serves as the alternative to minority languages. Since the vast majority of school age children of ethnic minorities do not speak their mother tongue, the expectation of a native language level is just as unrealistic as the orientation of the teaching of the Hungarian language as a second language on the grounds of foreign language education. The 1999 Amendment to the Public Education Act raised the number of compulsory classes in ethnic education by 10%. Nevertheless, there are still not enough classes in the curriculum to teach three languages (the minority language, Hungarian and a foreign language).

A crucial circumstance in forming the content requirements is the fact that a significant proportion of first year pupils in primary schools are to leave the ethnic education system in upper years, and only a fraction of them will take the secondary school-leaving examination in ethnic secondary schools (Fig. 5.3). The development of secondary ethnic education is facing certain difficulties, inasmuch as the elaboration of school-leaving examination requirements in ethnic languages suffered delays until the end of the past decade. On the other hand, the fact that intermediate or advanced-level language examination certificates may be obtained by means of sufficient language performance at the secondary school-leaving examination might be an attractive feature of ethnic secondary schools.

 

Figure 5.3.    The number of students enrolled in ethnic education per year, 1998/99

Sources: educational statistics by the Ministry of Education

The changes of the 1990s had an effect on the network of minority schools as well. The number of institutions has increased, their regional distribution has improved, as well as their variety of school types and forms of minority language teaching. Most of the schools function in integrated structures, i.e. only certain classes are attended by ethnic students. The number of those primary schools which offer ethnic education is slightly increasing: in 1997/98 390 institutions (10.4% of the total number of primary schools) pursued registered ethnic education, whereas this number amounted to 393 (10.5% of the total) by 1998/99. On average, there are 11 students in a class (excluding ethnic German classes). The number of secondary schools has shown a downward tendency in the past three years: from 26 (1996) to 21 (1998), and only two joint secondary schools deal with ethnic vocational education (in German and in Slovak, respectively).

The number of children attending minority education amounted to 5.7% of the total number of school children on the primary level in 1999/2000. The number and proportion of those receiving ethnic education is increasing. This trend is apparent in the case of the German language, while other minority languages were learnt by fewer children in primary schools in 1999/2000 than at the beginning of the decade. It often happens that a family - otherwise conscious of their national identity - do not send their children into minority schools, however, children from non-minority families might also happen to attend such schools.

The number of ethnic teachers has grown more dynamically than that of the students and this is why the number of students per teacher has dropped from 52 (1987) to 39 (1997). This downward tendency, however, is due almost solely to the improving supply of teachers of the German language. There are great differences concerning the type of location - the shortage in teacher supply at the present time is primarily observable in small villages. Higher education institutions do not train teachers who could teach their subjects in a minority language at all, similarly to continuing education.

The most important material conditions lacking from the education of minorities are the textbooks and school equipment. The range of textbooks in Romany languages is the poorest, while the most ample choice is offered in Romanian, Serb (half of which is published in the homeland) and Croatian. There are also significant discrepancies concerning subjects. Romany textbooks, for instance, are only published for first grade pupils, and there are no textbooks for chemistry, physics and informatics in any of the ethnic languages. The Ministry of Education has made every effort since 1998 in order to improve book supplies in ethnic education.

Special Education

Over 5% of children in primary schools are handicapped, which is higher than the relevant proportions of developed countries. Their rights for special care are guaranteed in the Public Education Act, should they attend institutes for the handicapped or integrated forms of education. Curricular principles for handicapped students, based on the National Core Curriculum, include handicap-specific guidelines, goals of improvement and tasks, drawing up new proportions in knowledge areas, and the elaboration of detailed requirements for certain larger handicap types in each cultural domain.

On the grounds of these principles, autonomous schools and divisions for the handicapped have created their pedagogical programmes and local curricula. In accordance with the Public Education Act, institutes educating children with special needs will also have revised and corrected programmes by September, 2001.

Improvements in areas of high priority

Within the field of school education in the second half of the 1990s, the improvement of the so-called key competencies attracted most of the attention. From the aspect of content improvement, primarily communication skills (especially communication in foreign languages, or via ICT), cooperative skills and learning capacity have gained prominence.

Foreign Language Teaching

The level of foreign language skills among the adult population in Hungary is alarmingly poor. This can be attributed to several reasons; firstly to the isolation of the country for several decades, to the undemanding nature of the labour market in this respect, and to the rather inefficient compulsory Russian language teaching. The demand for teaching western languages started to grow dynamically in the 1970s and 1980s. Though the launch of bilingual education (in 1987) was a major development, only the abolition of compulsory Russian language teaching brought about a real break-through in the education system. In the following three years the schools reformed the structure of foreign language teaching practically all by themselves: while in the scholastic year of 1989/90 the number of students learning Russian amounted to 928 000 and of those learning western languages to 275 000, by 1992/93 this rate changed to 200 000 for the Russian and 975 000 for western languages. The central education administration played a fairly negligible role in this major modernisation process. Besides the efforts made by the schools, local governments, which became school maintainers, helped the transition to teaching western languages with additional funds and by new means of human resource management.

The development of foreign language teaching had not always been a high priority of education. The Ministry of Education is currently trying to propose a national concept for foreign language teaching, developing new guidelines in language policy, however, is not an easy task. According to the plans, the programme expected in 2001 will identify the objective of providing every student with adaptive language skills, and furthermore, that public education be able to prepare every student for one intermediate level and one basic level language examination by the end of secondary school.

Students of Foreign Languages, Languages Taught

While the total number of primary school children keeps dropping, the number of those learning foreign languages in primary schools continued to increase until the scholastic year of 1998/99. Today 3 579 primary schools are engaged in foreign language teaching (that is 95.9% of these institutions), sometimes making great financial sacrifices for this purpose. 84% of the schools offer German, 67% English, 5% teach French and another 5% Russian (as well). Though learning German in primary education is still more widespread than English, the discrepancy between the two languages is gradually reducing. Signs of linguistic diversification are showing as well; more and more students learn languages labelled as ‘other’ - including classical Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, modern Dutch, Finnish, Japanese, Ukrainian, Polish, etc. (Table 5.1).

As reflected by the statistics, language teaching in the three types of secondary schools varies greatly. In general secondary schools two languages are taught starting from the first (9th) year, in the case of secondary vocational schools, however, this occurs quite rarely, except for professions that require language skills (tourism, catering). Compulsory language teaching is being phased in from the bottom up in vocational training schools (accommodating a quarter of the students) from 1998/99 and on.

Advanced Level and Bilingual Foreign Language Teaching

Advanced level foreign language education means teaching of the factual knowledge of a given subject in a foreign language according to higher standards and using more weekly hours than usual. Advanced level teaching might take place in four forms: bilingual education, education with a special curriculum, optional education or other advanced forms. The first bilingual general secondary school in Hungary were founded in1987 and from the early 1990s all school types (with the exception of vocational training schools) have started such programmes: in the scholastic year of 1999/00, 56% of students of bilingual programmes studied in general secondary schools, whilst 44% studied in secondary vocational schools. Such secondary schools function in every county of Hungary.

 

Table 5.1    The number and proportion of students learning foreign languages in primary and secondary education, 1992/93, 1997/98, 1999/2000

NB: Each student is listed under every learned language.
* Out of this Spanish: 2 760 individuals = 0.5%
** Out of this Spanish: 3 306 individuals = 0.6%
 
Source: Calculations by Irén Vágó based on the education statistics of the Ministry of Education, calculations by Erika Garami for 1999/2000

Bilingual primary schools are still considered today to be unique, however, parents show a great interest in this form. Bilingual primary and secondary schools alike attract a double to sevenfold over-application. In bilingual schools any of the subjects may be taught in a foreign language. The most frequent subjects studied in this way are History, Mathematics, Biology and Geography. English and German are the most widespread target languages, bilingual schools of French, Italian, Russian and Spanish are only found in Budapest, but they can provide for student dormitory accommodation for students from the country. There is a gradual shift towards the ’great languages’. Higher education in Hungary still does not train general and technical teachers capable of teaching in foreign languages, neither are public education textbooks published in foreign languages.

Teaching Hungarian as a foreign language falls under the rule of special regulations. The relevant provisions are found in the Public Education Act, and the Secondary School-leaving Examination Regulations along with the guidelines issued in 1997 define the detailed requirements. The latter document defines possible types of bilingual education in particular and, within these types, the proportions of the target languages (minimum 35% of the total number of classes). These parameters serve to ensure the quality of this relatively costly form of education. These guiding principles are of historical importance: although educational institutions of foreign languages have been functioning in Hungary since the 18th century, this the first time for a law to settle the relationship between Hungarian and foreign teaching languages, as well as the theoretical, management and competence issues of bilingual education.

The Acknowledgement of Language Learning

Out of all the knowledge acquired within the period of compulsory school attendance, language skills present only a part with an early (acquired from the age of 14 years) and external (to the structure of education) qualification system that is accepted in the education and in the labour market alike. Students have been strongly motivated to obtain a language certificate at the earliest possible age, formerly by advantages (waiver from further language learning, eminent secondary school-leaving examination certificate, bonus points at the entrance examination to a higher education institution, language allowance), or by the current disadvantages related to the lack of state examination certificates (certain university majors and working positions are unavailable, higher education degrees and academic titles cannot be obtained). While until the early 1990s the number of applicants for language examinations had consisted in 10-15% of secondary school students of 14-19 years of age, by 1998 this proportion reached 65% of the total. In today’s Hungarian secondary schools language examination has become the real measurement and actual aim of language learning rather than the traditional forms in the acknowledgement of language skills. An examination of a non-educational institution has appeared in the schools as a ’hidden curriculum’ with the requirements not being described clearly enough to function as a quasi curriculum in language teaching. The year 2000 is a significant milestone in the external measurement of school knowledge, since from that time on language examination certificates could be issued exclusively by those language schools that have undergone the accreditation processes. These new regulations put an end to the monopoly previously held by the Centre of Foreign Language Education (ITK) and give way for private schools to obtain the right for language examinations recognised by the state. The accreditation process is, on the other hand, a hotly debated issue, because there is no such system functioning in Europe, and it is feared that the complicated and costly method will lead to the termination of examinations in less popular languages. In addition, changes are to be expected in the acknowledgement of language skills within the school as well. Following the introduction of a two-level secondary school-leaving examination, the advanced level final language exam could prospectively be taken as a state accredited language examination, provided that the hosting school, similarly to other language schools, is accredited.

Language Teachers

Public education statistics registered 24 712 language teachers in 1999/2000, however, a mere 61.9% of them (15 291) actively teach their subjects, as there are still a large number of qualified Russian teachers, of whom only 4% actually teach Russian. An important factor that could guarantee the quality of language teaching is being delayed: the provision of the Public Education Act which says that only fully qualified language teachers with a university or college degree may teach in schools will only come into force in September, 2002. While the good news is that the number of students per teacher has improved both in primary and secondary schools, this rate in vocational training schools remains bad enough. The number of teacher trainees majoring in a western language per year has grown fivefold in ten years. Should all the graduates (3 000-4 000 a year) seek employment in public education in one single year, the poor supply of teachers would be instantly solved.

The peripheral conditions of effective language teaching (choice of textbooks; special classrooms for language learning; access to videos, computers and the Internet; domestic and international tender applications, etc.) have been partially realised in primary schools and practically completed in secondary schools.

Teaching ICT

ICT education started in Hungarian schools in the mid 1980s, mostly in the form of optional classes, with outdated, poor capacity equipment, based on faulty concepts of the subject. By 1992/93 over 100 000 students attended optional Information Science courses and a few experimental or alternative schools introduced Informational Science as an obligatory subject. The National Core Curriculum includes Informatics with upgraded contents as an independent cultural domain from the 5th year upwards, and recommends 0.5-1 or - from the 7th to the 10th year - 1-2 weekly classes. Observations show that school level local curricula devote even more time to ICT education and the institutions rearrange the teachers’ weekly hours and school funds, as much as possible, to support this new knowledge area. A 1999 international survey (SITES) found, that by the end of the 8th year every Hungarian child has learned the usage of computers, 90% have learned word processing, over 50% of them are familiar with data processing, the use of graphical programmes, and basic level programming as well. The use of ICT-related knowledge in other subjects as teaching aid tools, however, has still hardly taken place.

At the end of the nineties the Ministry of Education identified the infrastructure-related development of ICT in schools as a priority. In 1997/98 every secondary school, every independent secondary student dormitory and nearly 250 primary schools received local computer networks and full scale Internet service supported by the maintainers within the frame of the Internet Project for Secondary Schools. With this programme upper secondary education has approached the international forefront in a short while with respect to ICT provisions; lower grades of the education, however, are still lagging behind. In 1998 in Hungary the pupil per computer ratio was still as high as 30 in lower secondary education, which is over a double of the average of 13 developed countries, moreover, these statistics show large variation, so this rate differs greatly from one institution to another. This rate varies between 22 and 42 in 90% of the schools, however, in some schools of highly advantageous position only 16, in less prosperous ones a number of up to 60 children have to share one computer.

The central development project continued from June, 1998 with somewhat altered aims. While the number of computer laboratories has risen from 910 to over 1 700, the emphasis was placed on the improvement in the service of content, to teacher training and to the development of a two-way data flow and the establishment of an ICT system of public education. Though the pace of network development is slowing down, through the establishment of the approximately 200 planned laboratories, technical schools (and thus all institutions of secondary education) and ethnic Hungarians in neighbouring countries are to become connected. The appearance of the renewed (both in form and content) Írisz-SuliNet web-site on the Internet in September, 1999 marked a notable step in the efforts for content development.

Teachers insisting on traditional pedagogical roles first showed a long-lasting aversion towards the use of ICT. In the mid 1990s, for example, less than half of the teachers could use computers and had a substandard knowledge of information science. Teachers’ attitude has noticeably improved since that time. According to survey results, while in 1995 the proportion of those using ICT was about 10%,with another 10% completely refusing to do so, by 1998 the proportion of actual users rose above 17% and the proportion of those remaining entirely reserved diminished to a mere 3%. Two-thirds of teachers declared that they would be willing to use educational software, CDs and the Internet ’on certain conditions’. A representative survey, completed by the end of 1998, reveals that 56.3% of the teachers have attended continuing courses in information science and the expenses have been fully reimbursed by the school (in the case of 50% of the teachers) or partly reimbursed (for another 30%).

The in-class adoption of ICT has started to gain momentum amongst non-ICT teachers as well. Hungarian headmasters play a leading role in supporting the institutional and in-class employment of ICT even in international comparison.

Alternatives in Pedagogy

The 1985 Education Act provided opportunities for alternative educational approaches. The Act declared that teachers are free to apply the educational plans according to the local circumstances and to the students’ state of development. Education inspectors, who had formerly supervised the execution of curricular orders, were replaced by experts providing guidance. Henceforth new possibilities opened up for the innovators of education seeking new ways, and the road was cleared for the so-called alternative pedagogical systems; the development and testing of curricular, education managing and methodological alternatives. The reform-pedagogical efforts of foreign countries became widely known in this period. The first alternative schools, using special teaching material and methodology different from mass education, welcomed crowds of teachers as visitors, introduced themselves in conferences and made efforts to raise the standards of Hungarian educational culture.

One group of alternative schools includes institutions involved in the great European alternative pedagogy (such as the Montessori Education Centre, the Rogers Personality-Oriented School or the Waldorf Schools). Others include uniquely Hungarian initiatives. Schools like the ‘Kincskereső’, ‘Burattino’, Humanistic Cooperative School or - on the secondary level - the ‘Alternatív Közgazdasági Gimnázium’ and the ‘Belvárosi Tanoda’ are still working in isolation at the turn of the millennium. Those schools, however, which have adopted pedagogical models by József Zsolnai and László Gáspár, two distinguished names of the ‘reform elite generation’, function in school networks, much like the most significant alternative forms of education known abroad. The application of a distinctively new pedagogical paradigm has helped these two great alternative initiatives to gain ground: the complete revision of the entire structure of school activities; curricula planned for the whole period of compulsory school attendance (primary and secondary education); textbooks and the operation of their very own continuing education system for teachers.

Parallel to the decentralisation process of the management and the extension of local autonomy, interest in alternative pedagogical systems has decreased. Alternative schools today tend to meet more and more specific demands. Many of them perform integrated or compensatory education and deal with children with special needs, or fulfil the requirements of the most demanding parents on the other pole. Foundational and private schools are present in this circle in great numbers, but other maintainers operate alternative schools as well. Training for alternative education in full-time teacher training is taking place exclusively in the form of optional courses.

5.3 The Mediators of the Changes in the Teaching Content

Textbooks

A well-regulated - and lately somewhat crowded - market for public education textbooks has been functioning for a decade in Hungary. Of all registered publishers 10% are engaged in publishing textbooks and teaching aids, and every year more and more companies want to get a share of the 7 thousand million textbook market, providing a modest but safe profit. A prerequisite for the admission to the textbook market is an official textbook qualification. The related licensing process is regulated by the Minister of Education. The Ministry of Education issues a list of the approved textbooks and aids every year, which is mailed to the schools in printed and electronic (floppy disc, CD, Internet) forms. (The list consists of approximately 5 000 publications.) The Ministry also has showrooms for textbooks at so-called service points where the teachers have an opportunity to have a close look at the whole range of choices. The Decree on Textbooks compels the publishers to automatically send copies of new books to the 38 showrooms.

The National Textbook Association organises fairs where new textbooks are presented and a week-long series of events titled Hungarodidact for the exhibition of textbooks as well as school equipment.

The Market of Textbooks

Teachers have the right - after consultations with the body of teachers teaching the same subject in their school - to select textbooks, teaching aids and school equipment. During the planning process of the pedagogical programmes harmonisation demands have gained strength. Decisions of the teaching staff are often reached to unify the usage of textbooks in each subject at the school level. The actual sponsors, i.e. the parents and the users, namely the students, however, are not involved in this process.

A school usually orders the necessary textbooks from approximately 8-15 publishers. The textbook packages for the students consist of these textbooks and reference books. According to relevant statistics, one student had to obtain an average of 11.2 books for the scholastic year of 1999/2000. Most textbooks have been replaced since the change of regime. Having tried a whole range of new products, teachers seem to have become tired of innovation by the end of the past decade and remained loyal to old, well-established books.

Competition amongst publishers has become increasingly fierce in the 1990s. Although a total of 17 million copies of textbooks are published by 183 publishers, merely 12 of them gained at least a 1% share of the profit in the market. These are the companies which publish 95.9% of public education textbooks; with a market share of 91.6% in 1999 in publishing textbooks and reference books used in teaching.

Textbook Prices, Funding

In 1999, nearly 17 million books sold in public education, for a total of approximately 6.7 billion HUF. Over a third of this amount (2.4 billion HUF) was financed by the state through a textbook allowance given to every student. There is no available data on textbook allowance given by local governments, nevertheless, this form of support affects a surprisingly high proportion of students, though sometimes only through symbolic amounts. The greatest portion of book bills is paid by the parents. 25% of the subsidies has to be spent on so-called long life books remaining at the school, with the remainder being equally distributed among the children, or the schools purchase the entire book package for those most in need from this amount. Parents were to expect roughly 5 000-10 000 HUF expenses per year, while the average price of textbooks was 620 HUF in 1999. 88% of ordered books are selected from books of low or reasonable price. A ministerial directive greatly influenced the regulation of the prices as well, the decree practically placed a maximum limit to the textbook prices within the guidelines initially set forth by the 1998 Decree on Textbooks. Publishers, however, keep reducing their prices due to competitors rather than the Ministry.

School Equipment

The market for school equipment is far less regulated than that of the textbooks. A system of measurement, a qualifying procedure similar to the endorsement of textbooks and the limitation on products’ prices have not been established. Neither is there a dominant governmental equipment producer present on the market aside from foreign and domestic private companies.

The temporary recession of school equipment production after the change of regime stopped by the end of the 1990s, yet on the whole, market supplies could be considered to be sufficient. The real problem is the lack of solvent buyers.

From 1998 the Decree on the Compulsory (Minimal) Equipment Supplies for Educational Institutions has played a key role in regulating and improving the school equipment provision of public education institutions. It named the necessary premises, furniture, educational aids and equipment for the school education of the handicapped, nursery schools, and dormitories; and defined the exact numbers needed by each institute, site, group or child. According to the current Public Education Act, maintainers are compelled to prepare a schedule by 31, July, 2001 in order to implement the decree. The 1999 Amendment to the Public Education Act declares that all items included in the Register of Compulsory School Equipment should be applied for after 5 years in the case of functioning public education institutions and immediately at the initiation of new ones. In addition to forming a legal framework, the improvement of equipment provisions for schools and nursery schools also needs central financial resources for the development.

Traditional School Equipment

In all likelihood, public education institutions set only a minimal percentage of their budget on replacing their stocks and purchasing new, up-to-date equipment in the recession period of the 1990s. Only after the indispensable computer acquisitions could the renewal and purchase of school equipment take place, financed mainly by the private revenues of the schools or by parental support. In lack of available central funds, considerable differences have appeared among schools concerning school equipment provisions. The results of a representative 1996/97 survey revealed that only the traditional audio-visual equipment supplies were completely covered. Due to the major developments of the late 1990s, Hungarian secondary schools are well equipped with computers even in international comparison. However, in the field of equipment major discrepancies show among the schools according to their size. While the supplies of classical school equipment are fairly unified, the more modern the items are, the more noticeable the drawbacks of small schools become.

Foundations and Programmes for Professional Development

Several development funds and programmes providing financial support for all kinds of initiatives in educational innovations play a role in the renewal of the content of public education. Support is usually distributed via open tenders thus being available for all innovative workshops.

The Public Foundation for the Modernisation of School Education (KOMA), founded in 1995, contributes to the performance of developmental duties of the Minister of Education defined in the Public Education Act. Objectives of the Foundation include responsibilities like financial assistance to the enhancement and development of optional curricula and educational programmes on the grounds of the National Core Curriculum and the National Requirements for Secondary School-leaving Examination (including the curricula and programmes of ethnic schools); and to the institution level improvement of nation-wide examinations (secondary school-leaving exam and the basic exam). Furthermore, KOMA assists the development of an information system for public education, supports pedagogical studies aiming at the improvement of public education and projects that strengthen the relations between the schools and their social environment (school maintainers, students and private associations of parents). A board of 17 trustees of KOMA annually invites project proposals for the accomplishment of improvement aims, the amount of which may be reduced or increased by the board, depending on the standard of the proposal.

Public foundations for the county level development of public education belong to the newest improvement resources of public education. Most of them were founded in the beginning of 1997. Their roles and responsibilities are largely related to local interests, their financial means can be rapidly and effectively attached to the current local interests. The decisive body of a public endowment is a board of trustees in all cases. Reports on their activities and tenders are generally published through local channels. These tenders, among others, promote personality- and community-building programmes, spare-time activity groups in student dormitories, sport clubs and student councils; and provide an opportunity to participate in pedagogical research for schools that are otherwise unable to join pedagogical studies for financial reasons. The tenders also help the preservation and proliferation of local values, history and traditions as well as the establishment of active local patriotism.

In the second half of the 1990s the Soros Foundation contributed to the improvement of Hungarian public education with over 1 billion HUF per year. The Programme for the Development of Public Education, launched in 1994, played a key role in making public education more dynamic. It operated 35 programme divisions in 1998, each with funds for tenders between 1 million and 200 million HUF. The supporting strategies of the fund were based on the following principles:

• support for the education and schooling of underprivileged groups, especially underprivileged minorities;

• special support for associations and initiatives aiding teachers’ work;

• support for the distribution of new equipment (especially of ICT).

The foundation did not take on funding the day-today operation of institutions and generally refused to support building, renovation and maintenance works.

Participation in the Educational Programmes of the European Union

From the scholastic year of 1997/98 Hungary has been participating in the Socrates Programme (Comenius, Lingua, Arion). 588 163 Euro was allocated to public education institutions through tenders applied for in 1999. Out of the available 420 000 Euro for the aims of the Comenius 1 campaign (the establishment of international, multilateral school associations), a total of 416 450 Euro was applied for, which denotes a 99.15% utilisation rate. The 140 000 Euro of the campaigns entitled Comenius 2 and 3 (promotion of innovative initiatives; multicultural education; the education of children from special social backgrounds: Gypsies, immigrants and immigrant workers; the improvement of standards in teachers’ in-service education) was applied for by institutions to the extent of approximately 120 000 Euro which shows an 80% utilisation of the programme.

Since September 1st, 1997 Hungary has been a full scale participant in the Leonardo da Vinci Programme which concerns the entirety of vocational education. In Hungary the Coordination Council serves as the decisive body of the programme. Within the scope of the Leonardo Programme, in 1997 Hungary coordinated 14 experimental projects, 57 Hungarian participants took part in experimental projects abroad and 23 Hungarian institutions were awarded with transfer support with the result of 231 individuals visiting 10 European countries. In 1998 14 projects took place under Hungarian control, 82 Hungarian institutions participated in foreign experimental projects and 37 of them won support for study trips abroad (311 individuals travelled to 9 countries of Europe).