Chapter 7
Teachers

7.1. Number and employment of teachers

7.1.1. Number of teachers

Unlike most developed countries of the world, Hungary does not experience a shortage of teachers today, nor will it have to face a situation in the near future where the demand for teachers is higher than the available supply. A number of measures introduced recently indirectly prevent shortage of teachers, such as increasing the retirement age, increasing salaries, reducing the number of teaching-hours. At the same time, however, there are indications of a teachers’ shortage in certain underdeveloped regions of the country as well as in certain school subjects like computer science, foreign languages and music. In comparison with other countries, teachers represent a significant proportion of the total workforce in Hungary. In 1999, the total of school teachers in public education amounted to 3.6% of the total number of employees. Part-time employment of teachers is far below the level found in OECD countries.

Table 7.1.
Percentage of teachers of the total labour force in OECD-countries, 1999 based on headcounts

Country	Employment of general and secondary school teachers in percentage of the total labour force	Part-time teachers at all levels of education
Australia	2.3	N/A
Austria	2.6	23.9
Canada	1.7	23.3
Czech Republic	2.1	N/A
Denmark	2.8	22.9
Finland	2.4	6.0
Germany	1.9	42.5
Greece	N/A	19.2
Hungary	3.6	11.0
Ireland	2.8	17.2
Japan	1.5	25.0
Korea	1.4	17.4
Netherlands	2.8	N/A
Norway	3.7	30.8
Spain	2.7	13.7
Sweden	2.8	23.3
Switzerland	2.3	54.1
United Kingdom	2.4	26.8
United States	2.2	17.1
OECD average	2.6	22.8

Source: Education at a Glance, 2001

Due to low birth rates, the school-age population per teacher has been decreasing since the mid-1990s. While the number of teachers basically remained the same between 1990 and 2001, the number of students dropped by more than 10%. As a result of the structural changes in the school system, the number of teachers has changed also in various programmes.

Figure 7.1.
Changes in the number of teachers and students by programme type 1990/1991-2001/2002 (1990/1991=100%)

Source: Calculations by Erika Garami based on Education in Hungary 2000 and the statistical databases of OM

In relation to international standards, Hungary’s student per teacher ratio is relatively low. As far as primary and lower secondary (ISCED 1,2.) education is concerned, Hungary is at the second lowest rank, followed only by Denmark. In 2000, the number of students per teacher was 10.9, with an OECD average of 17.7. Hungary’s student per teacher ratio of 11.4 in secondary education (ISCED 3) is somewhat closer to the OECD average of 13.9. On the other hand, Hungary has an average position as far as the typical size of classes is concerned. In the first four grades of single structure school education, teachers on the average have 21 students per class, which approximates the OECD average of 21.9 students/class. However, there are certainly great deviations from the average, partly due to various groupings in certain school subjects and partly due to the size of schools in smaller settlements.

7.1.2. Employment of teachers

In the field of education, there are signs of over-employment, as well as a shortage of qualified teachers in certain subjects. This is a recurring phenomenon as the relative proportion of old and new cultural domains and school subjects in the curriculum are in a state of continuous change. According to a school-level survey in the academic year of 2001/2002, the majority of general schools had failed to create new teaching positions in the previous five years. As a result of expansion in the field of upper secondary education, the majority of secondary schools created new teaching positions, but at the same time, nearly one fifth of school heads – in primary, lower and upper secondary education – reported a loss of teaching positions. Still, there was a total of 5,376 unfilled positions in 2001. However, the number of vacant positions does not denote a shortage of teachers because in 2002 the national unemployment rate amongst teachers was 2%, with 3,658 teachers registered as unemployed. Lack of flexible employment and relatively low wages may be the cause of this phenomenon. There are instances when maintainers would not advertise vacant positions; rather the already employed teachers are paid for the extra teaching hours.

Job rotation is low amongst teachers, with relatively few new graduates starting a teaching career. In 2001, more than 4% of all teachers were employed after retirement and career-starters represented less than 2% of all teachers. According to a survey on new graduates entering the labour market, those in possession of primary school and secondary school teacher diploma are less likely to be unemployed than those with other degrees. Of all qualified teachers, university graduates have worse chances to find their first job than college graduates; on the other hand, a university degree is more likely to guarantee a permanent job or a long-term contract.

In 2001, 3% of all full-time teachers and 6.8% of subject-teachers were unqualified. The proportion of unqualified teachers was 3-4% among teachers of History, Mathematics and Hungarian Language and Literature, and 6% among teachers of Science. In foreign language teaching the proportion of unqualified teachers was 9-10% among teachers of the two most popular languages, German and English. The proportion of unqualified staff is the greatest in subjects like Music – nearly 13% and Arts and Crafts – 14.5%. The proportion of unqualified teachers is considerably higher in small settlements.

Table 7.2.
Number of teachers and the relative proportion of teachers without full qualification, by type of settlement, 2001/2002

Type of settlement	Number of teachers		Teachers with no appropriate qualifications
	N	%	N	%
Capital	31,565	16.0	721	2.3
County town	50,747	25.8	1282	5.7
Town	61,015	31.0	3624	5.9
Village	11,793	6.0	1271	10.8
Small village	41,712	21.2	6646	15.9
Total	196,832	100.0	13544	6.8

Source: Calculations by Erika Garami, based on the statistical databases of OM
Note: accumulation may be observed in the total number of teachers as well as in the number of teachers with no appropriate qualification, as one teacher may teach one or more subjects, with or without qualification

Working time of teachers

The Public Employee Act determines the number of working hours of full-time teachers. The working hours of teachers include both teaching hours and the time teachers spend on non-teaching activities such as preparing for lessons, marking tests, etc. either inside or outside educational institutions. In comparison with other OECD countries, teachers in Hungary have relatively few teaching hours. In 2000, teachers in lower and upper secondary education were required by law to teach an average of 555 teaching hours annually (converted into 60-minute classes). This figure does not include substitutions or optional afternoon sessions generally expected from teachers, which partly explains the difference between the Hungarian and OECD findings.

7.2. Composition and stratification of the profession

The average age of teachers and the proportion of women among teachers have both increased in the past decade. The average level of qualification, on the other hand, has decreased, as among young teachers the proportion of those having only a college degree has increased. The relative proportion of teachers under 30 years of age dropped from 17% to 12% between 1992 and 2000, while the proportion of teachers over 40 showed an increase. The age distribution of teachers is more favourable in non-local governmental schools than in schools maintained by local governments. There is a higher proportion of teachers under 40 years of age in denominational and foundation schools. According to statistics calculated in 2001, on the basis of all educational institutions, nearly 16% of publicly employed teachers were under 30 years of age, 30% were in their 30s, 33% aged 40-49, 18% between 50 and 60 and 2.6% were over sixty years of age (after retirement age). Secondary educational institutions showed the most balanced distribution in age cohorts, while primary school teachers showed the most favourable distribution, with nearly half of the primary school teachers less than 40 years of age. In comparison with the actively employed population, it is noteworthy that almost twice as many teachers work over 60 years of age (2.6%) as employees of other professions, which hinders the rejuvenation of the teaching profession. This percentage, however, shows no deviation from other white-collar professions, where the distribution of those over 40 years of age is quite similar.

Figure 7.2.
Age distribution of teachers on various levels of education in 2001 (%)

Source: Calculations by Erika Garami, based on the the statistical databases of OM

The age distribution of teachers in Hungary is more favourable than that of many Western European countries, but the gender composition is less advantageous. In Hungary, the relative proportion of women is higher than the OECD average (1999) at all educational levels. The most significant difference can be seen in lower secondary education, where the proportion of women is 85.5% in Hungary and 62.7% in OECD member states. In upper secondary education this proportion is 58.8% in Hungary and 48.9% in OECD-countries. In 1992, 75% of teachers were female at schools maintained by state or local governments; in 2000 this ratio was 82%. In general school education the ratio of women increased from 85.4% to 88%, in secondary education from 46.9% to 61.1%.

The expansion of employment in public education resulted in increasing the number of non-teaching positions most significantly. In the early 1990s, more than 67% of employees at schools maintained by state or local governments were in teaching positions, a proportion that fell to 59% by 2001. The number of leadership positions increased the most, almost fourfold, while the non-teaching service staff (kitchen staff, maintenance workers, drivers etc.) doubled in amount. Those directly assisting education (nannies, child and youth protection officers, special needs assistants, recreational organizers, teaching assistants, swimming instructors, etc.) amounted to 3.5% of all employees. Similarly to Western-European countries, the proportion of the support staff is expected to increase in Hungary. The 1999 Amendment to the Public Education Act requires the full-time employment of an organizer of recreational activities in schools with more than 300 students, as well as the employment of child and youth protection officers in general school dormitories. However, the need for these positions had emerged before a fully qualified workforce was readily available, therefore, schools were not required to fill the position of recreational organizers until 1 September 2003.

7.3. Employment conditions and wages

Due to low salaries in the field of education, teachers were losing prestige. In international comparison, in 2002 the salaries of Hungarian teachers were far below the OECD average. Hungary had the second lowest annual salary for teachers, followed only by the Czech Republic, in proportion of the per capita GDP. Calculating salary on purchasing power parity, Hungary had the lowest salary-level of all teachers. In 2000, first job-holder lower secondary school teachers had an annual income of USD 6,086, which is roughly one third of the OECD average. Theachers in the same position in the Czech Republic earned USD 7,043. The fact that the teachers of the Czech Republic earned more based on purchasing power parity than their colleagues in Hungary while at the same time this order is reversed in the salaries of teachers in proportion to the per capita GDP shows, on one hand that Hungary – considering its economic strength – spends more on teachers’ salaries than the Czech Republic, while on the other that the low student per teacher ratio and relatively low workload of teachers in Hungary indicate cost-effectiveness problems.

7.3.1. Income trends

The growth rate of real income in public education differed from that of the national economy. Before 1995, real income in the whole of the national economy decreased by a lesser degree than in public education. Due to various changes in waging in 1997 and 1999, the growth of real income in public education was greater than the national average, yet by the end of the period under review, the relative position of salaries in public education deteriorated. In 1992, the average gross income of those employed in public education was 8% lower than the national economy average, whilst in 2001 this percentage was 21% lower than this rate. When wages on the national level are compared to those in public education, broken down by the level of education attained, it is clearly shown by the data that employees working in public education earned less than the national average. The greatest difference was noticeable among those with university degrees. The pay rise of public employees at the end of 2002 is likely to compensate these differences to some extent.

Table 7.3.
Average income of those employed in public education in percentage of the national average according to the level of education attained, 1992–2000

	1992		1997		1999		2000
	Gross average income (HUF)	In per- centage of national average	Gross average income (HUF)	In per- centage of national average	Gross average income (HUF)	In per- centage of national average	Gross average income (HUF)	In per- centage of national average
8 grades of general school or less	12,089	74.2	28,009	73.4	36,210	75.7	39,609	87.1
Apprenticeship training school or vocational training school	16,074	85.1	32,094	69.3	40,793	68.6	45,023	80.4
Vocational secondary school	–	–	40,656	70.4	48,518	64.8	52,912	75.0
General secondary school	17,756*	73.2*	41,398	72.6	46,150	61.3	51,135	70.7
College	–	–	57,856	73.0	78,623	74.8	83,603	87.6
University	24,951**	68.4**	71,505	56.5	100,449	58.9	109,291	71.6
Total in public education	21,033	95.4	48,876	84.2	67,218	87.0	72,768	86.1

Source: Varga, 2002
^* Secondary level qualification (general secondary school and vocational secondary school) in total.
^** Tertiary qualification (college and university) in total.

7.3.2. Teachers’ salaries

The average first job-holder with a university degree earns twice as much as teachers with university degrees in their first job. After approximately 10 years of employment (around the age of 35) this difference is approximately threefold. Due to the regulations governing the income of civil servants, this margin is slowly diminishing with the increase in the duration of employment. Women with a college degree employed as teachers with over ten years of experience suffer the smallest loss, if the benefits of teaching positions such as job security, longer summer holidays and benefits for public employees are taken into consideration.

Between 1992 and 2001 the respective salaries of secondary teachers and teachers working in general school converged. The difference dropped from 27% to 10%. At the same time, wage differences increased between pre-school teachers and non-qualified teachers and primary school teachers and lower secondary school teachers employed in general school (this difference increased from 5.5% to 16%, and from 0.4% to 18%, respectively). In this period, differences in salaries remained the same amongst teachers according to the size of the settlement maintaining the school. Teachers employed in the capital earned approximately 7% more than teachers in county seat towns, and 15% more than teachers in villages.

In addition to their basic salary, teachers receive various bonuses and additional payments. The basic salaries of teachers amount to three quarters of their total income. The amount of bonuses increases in proportion with the terms of employment and higher qualifications.

In recent years, educational policy-makers in Hungary took major steps to increase teacher salaries. In 2002, there was a 50% pay rise of public employees, aimed at improving the rewarding of teachers. There are only forecasts and estimates available on how this increase of basic salaries affected the total income of teachers. According to these estimates, women possessing a college degree employed in public education will experience the greatest advantages. After 9-10 years of employment their income will exceed even the income of their similarly qualified peers employed in other fields. Men possessing university degrees will only be able to earn twice as much – as opposed to three times as much – in fields other than public education. Yet still the youngest group of women with university degrees and men with college degrees suffer the greatest loss by working in public education instead of seeking employment elsewhere, although this difference is less than before. This simulation thus shows that women with college degrees and over 10 years of experience gain the most from this rise in salaries, whilst women with university degrees and 15-20 years of experience suffer the smallest loss. Considering the relative waging position, a teaching career has failed to become an attractive alternative for young men and women, especially for those with university degrees. All in all, the pay rise of teachers in September 2002 is unlikely to halt the unfavourable trends among teachers by gender, age group and qualification.

7.4. Public opinion on teachers

In 2002, 31% of the Hungarian population thought teachers would determine and 48% thought teachers would greatly influence Hungary’s future in the decades to come. At the same time, outstanding student performance was primarily attributed to the abilities of students and their families, whilst outstanding teachers were only listed as the third source of such achievements. Recently, more people consider a teaching career to be an attractive alternative, and fewer consider it to be unattractive for young people. The pay rise of public employees in 2002 must be one of the reasons why teaching careers became generally more attractive. A further indication is that fewer people think the rewarding of teachers is lower than it need be. In 2002, over 40% of the adult population thought teachers earned what they deserved. Those with higher qualifications tend to believe that teachers are underpaid and that educational standards are falling.

7.5. Teacher training and continous development of teachers

7.5.1. Changes in initial teacher training

Number of students in initial teacher training

The interest in teacher training is an indirect sign of the prestige of the teaching profession. The expansion of higher education in the early nineties affected teacher training to a similar extent. The increase halted in the late nineties and since then the number of teacher trainees has continuously decreased. In 1990/1991, 35% of all higher education students were teacher trainees; in 2002/2003 less than one fifth (19%) of the total number of students participated in such programmes. The ratio of teacher trainees is still exceedingly high in international comparison. In 2000, 18.2% of all higher education students were teacher trainees in OECD countries, with a higher ratio of 24.4% in Hungary. The internal proportions of teacher training by different branches in Hungary reveal a decrease in the ‘less convertible’ fields of the profession (pre-school teacher training, primary school teacher training), while university-level teacher training continuously increased. Today one half of all teacher trainees are university students, of which 40% continue their studies at a faculty of humanities intending to receive a degree with teacher’s qualification.

Figure 7.3.
Teacher trainees by type of training, 1990/1991–2002/2003 (thousand students)

Source: Calculations by Emőke Máriás-Csécsi based on Education in Hungary 2000 and the databases of OM

Institutional changes

The most important change affecting higher education, and teacher training itself, was the merging of higher education institutions in the late 1990s. In the academic year of 2002/2003, 33 of the 65 Hungarian higher education institutions were involved in teacher training – with a total of 68 faculties and 444 graduate programmes. This heterogeneous structure and diverse content was unified and regulated by a government decree. There are separate decrees regulating the requirements of teachers’ professional training according to programme type (liberal arts, science, fine arts, physical education), the training requirements of vocational subject teachers (agriculture, health, economics and technology) and teachers of children with special needs, as well as primary school teachers and pre-school teachers. The structure of training programmes for vocational subject teachers differs from that of traditional teacher training (concurrent model). Education takes place in four major fields, i.e. agriculture, health, economics and technology and professional training is mostly based on a consecutive model.

Training programmes, institutions and qualification requirements are all of a highly diverse nature. Teacher training involves the contribution of many independent units with different functions, i.e. different branches, methodology units, practice schools. However, the conditions necessary for financing this co-operation are not provided. Actors involved in training programmes receive various per student capita grants, which differ from one institution to the next. There is no assigned responsible body for co-ordinating the whole process and making decisions including the details of teacher training. We may find various institutional solutions in organizing teacher training, for example, in the form of teacher training centres associated with several faculties, teacher training integrated into a faculty, independent teacher-training faculties, etc.

The organization of institutions involved in teacher training does not allow for a common strategy. The Rectors’ Conference and the Director Generals’ Conference (representing universities and colleges, respectively) are structured according to the faculties, therefore an overall responsibility for teacher training may not manifest itself, only incidentally.

Changes in content

The standardization of Hungarian teacher training has been ongoing since the mid-1990s. The unified qualification requirements of teacher training have greatly strengthened the professional character of the teaching profession. The requirements for a practice-oriented approach are, however, often missing. Although the regulations of such an approach are clear, the weak ties, and the lack of co-ordination between public and higher education hinder the implementation. The flow of the workforce is practically unidirectional, from higher education to public education. It is only in exceptional cases that a university career allows for one to return to higher education after gaining a few years of experience in public education. Teachers employed in public education cannot be enlisted in higher education without the risk of losing their jobs. In certain areas of professional training future teachers are only taught by lecturers who began their career as researchers without having teaching experience in schools. This presents an educational paradox – although these lecturers may be highly qualified experts in their respective fields of research, from the point of view of the teaching profession, they are considered to be unqualified. Profession and pedagogy do not represent an integral unity in academic thinking. New training content appears mainly in the form of in-service training programmes, which appear as market-oriented services, responding to the changing needs of public education and teachers in schools.

7.5.2. Transition to the teaching profession

Recently, there has been an increasing interest to introduce an induction phase facilitating the transition to the profession of career starters. Educational policymakers in the government of 1998–2002 unveiled their ‘Teachers’ career model’ in 2001, which envisioned the induction of beginning teachers to be conducted by so-called ‘mentor teachers’ in the actual educational institutions. Additionally, the status of the mentor was designed to be a way of raising the prestige of outstanding teachers. The career-life model was removed from the agenda by the new government and a new concept redesigning the practical training of teachers through integrating the career start into initial teacher training has been developed.

7.5.3. In-service teacher training

In the late 1990s, a new, coherent system of in-service training was introduced. Aside from passing necessary regulations and developing a financial scheme, an institution responsible for providing professional support was established (Methodology and Information Centre for In-service Teacher Training – PTMIK), along with a professional body responsible for quality assurance (Accreditation Board of In-Service Training). The educational administration became responsible for the continuous monitoring of the system of in-service teacher training required by the law. The Amendment to the Public Education Act 1999 modified the financing of in-service training programmes. Previously 3% of the educational budget had been earmarked for this purpose, whilst according to the new regulation the amount for in-service training per teacher is determined by budget negotiations. The real value of earmarked funds available for schools decreased in the period between 1999–2002.

Demand and supply

The introduction of a new in-service training system created a supply market. Higher education institutions and educational service-providers offer almost 60% of all properly licensed and accredited in-service training programmes. The relative proportion of accredited programmes offered by higher education institutions was 35.6% in 2001. More than half of the accredited programmes are of short duration – comprising of 30-40 contact hours. Unlike other training programmes, 30% of those offered by higher education institutions are of 120 or more contact hours. Two fifths of the accredited programmes may be classified as being school subject-oriented (or pertaining to the methodology of teaching a school subject). 56% of the programmes offered by higher education institutions are of such nature.

Licensing of programmes is conducted in two steps. In order to be listed in the register of in-service training programmes, all programmes must be fully accredited. By the end of 2001 1,905 programmes had been accredited. The number of school subject-oriented and subject methodology-oriented programmes dropped in the past three years. The number of ‘school development’ programmes increased the most. These are mostly quality assurance ones and their popularity may be explained by the fact that the Ministry of Education covers the total costs of participation in such programmes.

The first overall survey of the system of in-service training took place in 1999. The conclusion was that the content of the offer is not in line with the demand. The demand for school subject-oriented courses, subject methodology-oriented courses and courses preparing teachers for post-graduate examination was well below what could be expected on the basis of the supply of such programmes, which is another indication of the lack of dialogue between higher education and public education.

Table 7.4.
Proportion of in-service teacher training programmes by type of training provider and content of programme, 1998-2001

Source: Polinszky, 2003

In the 2000/2001 academic year nearly 68 thousand teachers enrolled in some sort of in-service training programme¹, with 14% of the teachers receiving a certificate or a further qualification. According to a representative national survey in spring 2003, 65% of teachers fulfilled their obligation of in-service training participation required every 7 years, 13% were participating in such training at the time and 10% were exempt, due to their age. In summary, approximately 10% of the surveyed teachers failed to fulfil their legal obligation of in-service training.