Chapter 5
The Content of Education

In Hungary, the two-tier curriculum regulation was developed in the middle of the 1990s. At central level the content of education is regulated by: the National Core Curriculum (NAT) published by the government in 1995 and the frame-curricula issued by the Minister of Education in 2000. The central regulatory system of the content of public education was completed by the National Core Programme of Pre-school Education, and the Guidelines, published between 1997 and 1998, which are focused on the orientation of the educational activities of various segments of the public education subsystems (special needs education, education of ethnic and minority groups, bilingual education, primary art education). At the local level it is regulated by the local educational programme of schools including local curricula. Schools developed their NAT-compatible local curricula between 1995 and 1998. These had to be adjusted to the frame curricula by September 2001. Following the change of government in 2002, the new Minister of Education ordered for the review of the NAT, and consequently together with the NAT the local curricula are expected to be modified. Teaching staffs are authorized to make key decisions at their schools concerning the content of education from the selection of textbooks through the organization of the cultural domains of the NAT into actual school subjects as well as developing the plan of school educational programme (the latter requires consultation with the maintainer).

5.1. The central level of content regulation

5.1.1. The National Core Curriculum (NAT)

The implementation of the National Core Curriculum was the most influential event of the 1990s. Not only did the NAT transform the content of education, the role of teachers, and the inner world of schools, it also affected the process of educational policy-making and administration. The introduction and acceptance of the central core curriculum in the highly decentralized Hungarian educational system required policy-makers to adopt new strategies and tools. The development of local curricula on the basis of the NAT was a completely new challenge for Hungarian schools.

At the same time, the National Core Curriculum was also heavily strained by internal contradictions: despite being a core curriculum it provided an exceedingly detailed prescription of the individual items, it failed to significantly reduce the curriculum requirements, and break down the traditional segmentation of subjects, furthermore it meant a step backwards in the development of foreign language teaching. The implementation of the NAT was especially difficult due to lack of political consensus and to the fact that the core curriculum did not regulate the content of education until the end of public education (12th grade). Furthermore, the educational cycles of the NAT did not coincide with the dominant phases of school structure (8+4 grades). At most the approval of the maintainer of the educational programme did not mean an automatic provision of the necessary funds for its application, and, contrary to the intentions of the policy, the implementation of the NAT failed to facilitate the rationalization and planning of local education services. The responsiveness, flexibility and professional skills of the teachers and school heads were also misjudged, since the teaching profession had not been prepared for the simultaneous adoption of a wide range of drastic changes. For these reasons the implementation of the NAT produced diverse results, yet in the end, it involved the wide-range of educational stakeholders in an important learning process. A great number of schools had an opportunity to review their own situation for the first time, in trying to define their own objectives and accordingly adjust their educational programmes and activities.

5.1.2. Introduction of the frame curricula

Following the change of government in 1998, a fundamental change took place in the system of central content regulation. The 1999 Amendment to the Public Education Act introduced a new regulatory tool for all school types: the frame curricula. These were built on the National Core Curriculum as defined by law, yet in many ways, their logic contradicted the philosophy of the NAT. With the introduction of the frame curricula, the Ministry of Education intended to define a stricter framework for curricular freedom of schools, as well as enhancing the integration of the system, horizontal and vertical mobility within the system. The new regulation reverted to the traditional prescription of educational content along the lines of individual subjects, specified the compulsory number of lessons in each subject, and maximized the daily workload of students. It enhanced the teaching of the new cultural sub-domains of the NAT by introducing modular subjects in certain grades. In some fields the frame curricula restored the old conditions prior to the NAT, while in other aspects they presented a continuation of already started reforms. In order to ensure the operation of institutions with alternative programmes and a set of tried-and-tested local curricula, which may differ from the frame curricula, the new regulation established a system of curricular accreditation, which provided the opportunity for these institutions to preserve their educational programmes.

Schools were required to revise their local curricula by making them compatible with the frame curricula by the beginning of the 2001/2002 academic year. After the change of government in 2002, the new educational administration withdrew the adoption of the frame curricula and lesson numbers, in order to reduce over-regulation, and to restore the professional autonomy of schools and teachers. The system of curricular accreditation was also abolished.

5.2. The local level of content regulation

Work at school is fundamentally determined by the curriculum used in individual schools. The temporary nature of content regulation is well illustrated by the current simultaneous introduction of two central curricular documents, the NAT and the frame curricula, gradually phased in from the bottom up. In the different grades teaching may be based on the old 1978 central curriculum, on a NAT-compatible local curriculum, and on a local curriculum adjusted to the frame curricula. This means that not only the content of education, but also the weekly number of lessons might be different in the same grade at individual schools, which makes the organization of learning more difficult and educational processes less transparent. Provided that no new central curriculum will be introduced, the content regulation of the system is expected to be unified from the 2004/2005 academic year.

The frame curricula were scheduled to be introduced from the bottom up in 2001. They were introduced, with a few exceptions, according to regulations in the 1st and 5th grades, just as the teaching in the 2nd and 4th grades is generally based on NAT-compatible local curricula, in compliance with the law. However, one third of the schools did not revert to the 1978 curriculum in the 7th and 8th grades, but continued with the NAT-based local curriculum. In 2001, the majority of secondary schools introduced the frame-curricula in the 9th grade. A group of general secondary schools, on the pretext of planned accreditation of their curriculum, refused to introduce the new frame curricula, with the consent of their maintainers. In the upper grades of secondary schools one fourth of general secondary schools and nearly one third of secondary vocational schools did not revert to the old (1978) curriculum. One of the reasons for this was that the curricula used before the introduction of the NAT became useless for vocational secondary schools because the beginning of vocational training programmes was prolonged after the 10th grade, and in many schools the professional training phases began following the secondary school-leaving examination (from 1998).

Figure 5.1.
Percentage of different central curricula used in each school grade in general and secondary schools, 2001/2002

Source: Local Curriculum Survey 2001/2002, OKI KK

5.3. Content changes in the public education system

5.3.1. Pre-primary education

Pre-primary education has recently received renewed attention from educational policy-makers, which is mainly a result of the key role it plays in the social integration of disadvantaged groups. In Hungary, similarly to most other European countries, the responsibilities related to early childhood education and care are shared by the Ministry of Health, Social and Family Affairs and the Ministry of Education. The division between early childhood education and childcare is at the age of three. The aims and activities of these two separated institutional systems have lately approached each other. The main functions of nursery care are: promoting healthy physical development; facilitating emotional development and socialization; and offering increased support for cognitive development. Using a similar perspective, the core programme for pre-school education emphasizes the protective, social, educative and developmental care functions of pre-school education. In local pre-school educational programmes, derived from the core programme, creating opportunities for children to play and learn from their own experiences receive special attention. The core programme for pre-school education has also been highly praised by pre-school heads, pre-school teachers, and maintainers.

One of the debated issues concerning the content of pre-primary education is the organization of various courses. Approximately two-thirds of pre-schools offer at least one teaching course for children, constituting up to 6% of an average pre-school day. The content and methodology of these courses, usually conducted by hired trainers or teachers without pre-primary teacher qualifications, is the source of much debate. Such courses are not harmonized with the principles of the core programme, and since the majority of them are paying courses, they may generate unequality of opportunities. Although pre-schools have a financial interest in such courses, they seem rather to increase the range of available courses with the purpose to meet the expectations of parents.

Figure 5.2.
Parental demand for pre-school courses and the actual supply of courses (%)

Source: Vágó, 2002; Török, 2001

5.3.2. General school education and secondary education

The implementation of the NAT and the frame curricula did not substantially reduce the requirements and lesson numbers of traditional core subjects. The schools attempted to build in the new cultural sub-domains, modules and content of additional local specificities into the curriculum by increasing the number of compulsory lessons. The everyday workload of students was first relieved by the previous educational administration, which limited the total number of daily – compulsory and optional – lessons. Furthermore, the new minister assuming office in 2002, reduced the weekly number of compulsory lessons in upper grades of education, and restricted the use of homework in general school education. Without reducing the requirements, teachers feel that it is impossible to teach the already oversized content and to prepare students to meet the requirements of the next educational level in the officially available time.

One of the most important findings of the 2002 School Subject Observation survey on the state of general school subjects was that the teaching practices were not adjusted to the social, economic and labour market changes. Teachers are aware of the importance of the development of key competencies, knowledge, and skills needed for lifelong learning, but their mastery by students nevertheless fails to reach the expected and desired level. The failure to renew the content and methodology of teaching is primarily a matter of attitudes. In the practice of schools there is a very strong emphasis on teaching, and providing factual information and theoretical knowledge as opposed to learning, skills development, and practical orientation. The difficulties of subject integration may partly be explained by resisting the inclusion of cross-curricular themes and up-to-date educational content, and partly the naturally emerging existential concern over the decreasing number of students, articulated by the various lobbies of subject teachers.

Figure 5.3.
Views of general school teachers on the importance of key competencies and the preparedness of students, indicated on a five-point scale, 2002

Source: School Subject Observation, OKI PTK, 2002

5.3.3. Vocational education and training

As a result of the mobilization of considerable resources and careful strategic development, the structure and content of education in secondary vocational schools has been transformed since the early nineties. The regulation and development of the frame curricula in secondary vocational education was in harmony with the processes initiated in the previous decade, and may be considered to be their continuation. In the 9th and 10th grades there is currently pre-vocational education and vocational orientation in five lessons a week in all secondary vocational schools, and eight lessons a week in the 11th and 12th grades. The development and renewal of the content of post-secondary basic and advanced level vocational training programmes was funded by World Bank loans. There are two sets of frame curricula developed for vocational training schools which do not prepare students for the secondary school-leaving exam, type A and type B. Type A is for students needing remedial courses in order to gain entrance to vocational training programmes after the 10th grade, while type B is for better prepared students also preparing for the basic examination – which they may sit for following the 10th grade – in order to allow them to choose from a wider and more sophisticated range of trades. In the 2002/2003 academic year, 43% of vocational training school students were instructed according to a type A, while 57% where instructed on the basis of a type B frame curriculum. Until recently, apprenticeship training remained the stepchild of vocational training development. To initiate the development necessary for the successful pedagogical treatment of students in apprenticeship training, most of whom had faced earlier learning difficulties and failures, the Ministry initiated its Vocational Training School Development Programme in the spring of 2003. The Programme consisted of four components: (A) renewal of the content of education in general knowledge domain and pre-vocational strand; (B) development of the methodology of vocational training; (C) reintegration of disadvantaged students; and (D) reinforcing the self-development and quality improvement capacities of schools. The four components are supplemented with the following four thematic development projects: (1) foreign language teaching; (2) assessment and evaluation; (3) career guidance; and (4) information technology.

5.3.4. Students with special educational needs

The Public Education Act provides detailed regulations for the participation of students with special educational needs in early development and special remedial programmes organized in special educational institutions, groups or classes or inclusively, together with other students. Various committees of experts make proposals and decisions on the form of development to be used in the case of individual students. In September 2001, the institutions for students with special educational needs introduced the subject system, as well as requirements and weekly lesson numbers as prescribed by the guideline for the education of children with special needs, adjusted to the frame curriculum, in the 1st, 5th and 9th years. These changes affected the content of the education of students with slight mental deficiencies: life management and practical skills are taught in 2.5 lessons per week in every grade, information technology lessons are only taught in the 7th and 8th grades, and there is no foreign language teaching in general school education.

The range of alternative curricula, and programmes supporting the plans for the preservative and rehabilitative programmes of specific disabilities are listed in the database of the National Institute of Public Education (OKI). These may be utilised in the development of the local programmes of institutions where students are taught either separately or inclusively. There is, however, a low supply of textbooks and teaching aids which suit the special structure of the cognitive competences of these students. The Ministry of Education directly subsidizes the publication of textbooks for students with special educational needs, and has invited tenders since 2001 to update the range of available textbooks. According to a survey focused on the state of integrated education in 2001, the majority of educational institutions offering inclusive education was not aware or did not make use of the available range of special curricula and textbooks. Hardly a third of the institutions (32.7%) offered alternative curricula and personalized tutoring programmes for individual students. In almost half of the cases reviewed (48.1%), disabled students had to meet requirements identical to those of non-disabled students in all subjects, and only 14.7% of the schools had specified alternative requirements for such students in these subjects.

The qualified special education teachers employed in separate special educational institutions conduct high-quality developmental work. The problems appear in mainstream schools where students are educated in separate or fully integrated classes, with the lack of the necessary conditions. There has been a shortage of special education teachers in the special classes of small village schools, where special classes are almost exclusively formed by the merger of students from three or more grades. The service of travelling special education teachers is available in towns and their agglomerations, and is therefore unable to support schools with high rates of disadvantaged, Roma students. The rate of teachers with the appropriate special qualifications among teachers participating in the integrated education of special needs children is very low (4.9%).

5.3.5. Minority education

In international comparison, the conditions for the access to minority language education may be considered as favourable in Hungary. For students of the six national minorities and the Roma minority, the institutional network of minority education provides access to national minority language education programmes as well as minority language learning as a subject at all levels of the public education system. The rate of minority mother tongue education has decreased, while the number of general schools offering bilingual education or, even more often, minority language teaching programmes has increased. Schools may request additional per student capita grant for non-Hungarian language and Roma ethnic education. The current system of financing is not favourable for the minority mother tongue education, since the institutions receive the same amount of per student capita grant as the bilingual education programmes. Experts believe that the decreasing demand for minority mother tongue education may be explained by the smaller range of secondary schools and by the lack of some programmes (vocational training, six-grade secondary, eight-grade secondary). Others warn that parents do not consider these types of programmes to be competitive enough, since there is less time devoted to the study of western foreign languages, which are usually more demanded on the labour market.

5.4. Improvements in priority areas

5.4.1. Foreign language learning

The ability to communicate in foreign languages became highly important for the Hungarian society in the 1990s, which is a natural need, if we take into consideration the sizeable gap between the language proficiency required for the intensified economic, political, cultural and private relations and the foreign language knowledge of the population. The view of the society on language competency is well illustrated by a 2002 opinion poll of adults. On a list of fifteen possible activities and functions of schools those questioned ranked foreign language teaching as the fourth/fifth most important. Due to an intensified social demand and parental pressure, and in spite of the almost complete lack of necessary conditions, teaching western foreign languages spread rapidly. The educational institutions enjoyed a fair degree of autonomy in shaping the supply of language programmes, by specifying the initial grade for language learning, determining lesson numbers and group sizes, and selecting the necessary textbooks and teaching aids. Schools struggling with a low number of students soon realized that the horizontal and vertical expansion of language education is an excellent tool for preserving teacher positions and for attracting well-socialized, gifted children to the school. In the competition amongst schools, ‘bids’ included various forms of higher-level language education (bilingual education, foreign language specialization); language education at an early age; providing for the education of two foreign languages; organizing smaller study groups; offering possibilities for practicing foreign language in native language environments through school partnerships; and the use of compulsory class time for language proficiency exam preparatory courses.

In the course of the uneven modernization of foreign language education, policy-makers and maintainers had only a limited role. The central policy in the nineties reduced early foreign language education in general (NAT), and selectively (through the frame curricula, with the exception of specialized classes), and also reduced the opportunities for second foreign language acquisition (NAT), yet this had little effect on the local level. At the same time, in 1998 language learning was extended to include the 9th and 10th grades of vocational education. A long awaited professional need was fulfilled in 2002, by elaborating the language education strategy, which besides providing for school based language education, also focuses on lifelong language learning. Additionally, the government uses tax allowances to encourage employers to maintain the language competency levels of their employees and to support foreign language learning. The 2003 Amendment to the Public Education Act significantly changed the system of language education in secondary schools, by providing an extra year for language education. According to this provision, general secondary and secondary vocational schools may be completed in the 13th year, if at least 40% of compulsory class time in the 9th grade is spent on intensive language training and another specified amount of time on information technology education.

The conditions for foreign language learning have significantly improved compared to earlier years. The shortage of language teachers has somewhat eased. In 2002, the employment of unqualified teachers was not merely characteristic in the field of language education (9% on national average), but noticeable in the case of other subjects (such as visual culture, and music) as well. Although in the case of the two most popular languages, English and German, the rate of unqualified teachers with intermediate level language certificate is still around 10%, the same ratio among Italian or French language teachers is only 1-2%. The conditions for language teachers have also improved: group sizes as well as the student per teacher ratio have decreased. An additional important type of foreign language learning is the advanced-level language learning programme. Such programmes offer better opportunities for mastering the target language by an increased number of lessons, and the inclusion of the best language teachers of the schools. By lessons per week there are three distinct groups of foreign language education: programmes offering fewer than three lessons a week; programmes that include 3 to 5 lessons a week; and language programmes in which there are more than five lessons per week, often conducted in the form of partial immersion.

Table 5.1.
Number of language teachers, and number of students per language teacher in all school types and on all educational levels, 1992/1993, 1998/1999, 2001/2002.

Language	Number of teachers*			Students per language teacher
	1992/1993**	1998/1999	2001/2002	1992/1993	1998/1999	2001/2002
English	3083	6015	8464	128.2	98.6	76.2
German	3010	6262	7901	157.6	97.1	66.3
French	655	748	756	63.4	49.7	71.7
Russian	8796	536	315	22.1	27.4	27.2
Other	478	679	2020	61.8	52.1	21.0

Source: Calculations by Irén Vágó, based on the data of KSH and OM. The data for 2002/2001 were calculated by Erika Garami, based on the Educational Yearbook 2001/2002, OM, 2002
^* Theachers were taken as many times as many languages they taught.
^** There were no statistical data on language teachers in apprenticeship training schools in the early 1990s.

5.4.2. ICT in the public education system

In Hungary, the development of basic ICT skills is a top priority, in order to facilitate the progression of students in the information society, their entry to the labour market, and their participation in lifelong learning. In 2002, The Minister of Education revealed the government’s educational ICT strategy, Schoolnet Express (Sulinet Expressz). The main objectives of the strategy are the following: providing internet access for all schools by 2005; achieving better student per computer ratio (1 computer for every 5 secondary, and every 10 general school students); the initiation of ICT education in the 5th grade; free computer skills examination (ECDL) for final grade students of secondary schools and teachers; and the promotion of digital content and curriculum development. The PHARE-funded E-learning (Internet-based education) programme also serves this latter goal. The programme consists of tenders for general schools requesting the transformation of existing teaching content into e-learning materials, or the adaptation of educational software for use on Internet etc. The government has taken further measures to narrow the information gap between different social classes. Customs fees for ICT equipment have been reduced and households with school-aged children may apply for an annual HUF 60,000 tax benefit when purchasing computer equipment as of 2003. In spite of all these efforts, no successful solutions have been found so far to provide for cheap access to the Internet.

ICT equipment supply

Through the expansion of tendering opportunities, the quality and quantity of ICT equipment have considerably improved on all levels of public education. Even in international comparison, the ratio of 9 students per computer in secondary education is outstanding, 30% above the OECD average. While smaller settlements lag far behind concerning several indicators of the educational infrastructure, the differences are insignificant, which in the provision of computer equipment in secondary education is a favourable development. However, the situation is far less impressive at lower levels of education. While in 1999, there were freely accessible computers in one third of all secondary schools, the same ratio amongst general schools was only 6%.

Table 5.2.
Differences between general and secondary schools by some key indicators in the provision of ICT equipment and their educational use, 2002

Average	General school	Secondary school
Number of full-time ICT teachers	1.6	3.3
Available system administrator (%)	26	80
.... % of teachers not able to use computers	50	32
.... % of teachers using computers for educational purposes	40	58
.... % of teachers using the Internet for educational purposes	23	44
.... % of teachers using e-mail services for educational purposes	19	38
.... % of students using computers for educational purposes	55	77
.... % of students using the Internet for educational purposes	31	64
.... % of students using e-mails for educational purposes	23	54

Source: Calculations by Irén Vágó, based on School-level empirical survey 2001/2002, OKI KK

Educational application of ICT

The introduction of ICT skills in general and academic education as a cultural domain of competency dates back to the 1995 publication of the National Core Curriculum (NAT). The NAT provides a small number of lessons for the development of ICT competencies in each educational cycle. The frame curricula have determined the initial phase of ICT education to commence in lower-secondary school grades. General schools often use their free class time credits to begin the introduction of ICT at the initial stage of education, yet in the majority of institutions there is a shortage of qualified teachers or equipment, therefore information technology lessons only begin in the 7th grade, as regulated in the frame curriculum. Children without computers at home will have suffered irrecoverable disadvantages compared to others by this time. Half of the students interviewed in a 1999 survey claimed they could operate a computer on their own at the end of the 4th grade. By the 7th grade, the time identified in the frame curricula for the introduction of basic ICT skills, 77% of students already considered themselves to be independent users.

In spite of the fact that secondary schools may be considered to have built up computerized learning environments, the potentials of this development are mostly exploited in the course of ICT lessons, and recently in data provision and administration services. There was some progress from 1999 to 2002 concerning the use of computers for teaching various subjects and for communication.

Table 5.3.
Computer use in Hungarian schools by school type, 1999 and 2002 (%)

Type of use	General School		General Secondary School		Vocational training and education
	1999	2002	1999	2002	1999	2002
Teaching subjects with the use of ICT tools	44	44	63	71	59	79
Administration and management	89	85	95	100	98	99
Keeping records and statistics	76	88	89	97	89	99
Preparing lesson plans and classroom schedules	30	35	54	70	50	73
Internal communication (intranet)	1	16	18	40	17	32
School website development	10	20	53	85	41	75
E-mail system (external communication) usage	19	56	63	91	65	96
Use in library	40	44	68	81	63	82
Use in subject interest groups	92	76	89	76	89	79
By students by permission	26	75	39	93	44	95

Source: Tót, 2001; The 2002 data are taken from School-level empirical survey 2001/2002, OKI KK (calculations by Irén Vágó)

5.5. The infrastructure of education

5.5.1. The physical environment of education

The buildings used for education in Hungary are extremely heterogeneous. As a result of the demographic decline, there were hardly any public educational institutions constructed at the millennium. Most of the buildings require renovation, 40% of these were built before World War II, another 42% between 1946 and 1979. Barely more than half of the nearly 14 thousand buildings used in public education are in a satisfactory technical state. Due to the decreasing amounts of capital expenditure, 9.2% of pre-school and school buildings require urgent renovation, while 40% require modernization in the near future. The most immediate task, apart from the renovation and preservation of school buildings, is the construction of the premises specified in the Ministerial decree on compulsory teaching aids and equipment of educational institutions required by all pre-schools and schools. According to surveys, nearly two thirds of the institutions lack the necessary premises. When the Ministry of Education recognised the impossibility presented by the deadline of 1 September 2003, a certain group of institutions were given an extension until 2008 for major investments.

Based on the results of the PEB programme of the OECD, the Ministry announced a large-scale loan programme for the reconstruction of school buildings and modernization: ‘Schools of the 21st century’. Simultaneously, the EU-funded PHARE programme ‘Information technology in general schools’ was launched with a HUF 6.5 billion budget. The framework of the programme allows for the renovation of approximately one hundred educational buildings.

Figure 5.4.
Availability of compulsory premises determined by Ministerial decree in the opinion of school heads, 2002 (percentage of positive answers)

Source: Horn, 2003
Question asked: “Do you have the following premises in your school?”

5.5.2. Textbooks

In contrast to developed European countries, in which new educational equipment are beginning to play a key role in education and learning through the dissemination of work methods based on student activity, in Hungary, textbooks still perform the leading role in the presentation of educational content. There is an increasing number of teachers and textbook publishers expecting the importance and role of textbooks to change with the widespread use of ICT tools, yet according to the latest studies, only 58% of teachers believe the time students spend searching for information on the web is not wasted. International experience suggests that the importance of textbooks offering a similar pace for all students will not be diminished by the use of ICT, but rather by student-centred educational approaches replacing curriculum-oriented teaching – a shift of paradigm, which has yet to present itself in the system of Hungarian public education.

The textbook market

Despite significant financial support following the abolishment of the state monopoly on textbook publishing, the market of textbook evolved in the field of educational publications related to all but vocational education. In the field of vocational training the state still assumes full responsibility for the supply of textbooks, similarly to other smaller segments of public education (special needs and minority education). The smaller, private publishers with weak financial positions only began to accumulate capital by satisfying the need for the large volumes of textbooks for general school students. Recently, some publishers are involved in impressive developments, by designing and publishing complete series and groups of textbooks covering school grades (offering supplementary materials such as workbooks, practice books, collection of tests, etc.). Others focus their activity on the currently preferred fields of educational policy or on various ministerial tenders (textbooks for special educational needs, for example). The steadily increasing textbook demand of public education, worth approximately HUF 10 billion, had been distributed for years between 10 to 12 publishers. The market of general school textbooks is practically shared between two market-leading companies, the state-owned National Textbook Publisher, and the private Apáczai Publishing Ltd.

Textbook allowance, accreditation and selection of textbook

As a consequence of the increasing educational expenditure of families, there are recurring debates over textbook prices at the beginning of every school year. According to a public opinion poll conducted at the end of 2002, 63% of families reported a considerable increase in their education-related expenses, 26% sensed a small increase in prices, and only 11% of those questioned considered these burdens to have lessened. Despite such opinions, facts indicate that the textbook-expenditure of the majority of families has considerably decreased in the past five years. The educational administration seeks to reduce the level of textbook expenditure by depreciating prices and by supporting additional forms of textbook allowances.

The Ministry of Education provides for a registry of public education textbooks on a yearly basis, including only those textbooks which do not exceed the prescribed price limit, and which have undergone accreditation procedures for quality assurance. Yet publishers are allowed to freely distribute and recommend to schools textbooks which are not included in the registry, and teachers are also allowed to make use of such teaching aids. Teachers have nearly unlimited rights in the choice of textbooks. The 2003 Amendment to the Public Education Act partly limits this right by requiring teachers to carefully consider the financial background of families making decisions affecting their expenditure, forbidding them to change textbooks in the course of the school year, and allows for school boards to impose restrictions in issues related to the costs of textbooks, school equipment, clothing and other equipment.

The prices of Hungarian textbooks are fairly low in an international comparison, which is partly due to state subsidies. In EU-countries, the average cost of a student’s textbook package is 1.5% of the annual gross average income. Since the average annual income in Hungary is above HUF 1 million, a normal textbook package, taking the same ratio into account, should be approximately HUF 15,000. Publisher prices are far below this level, and if we also consider the amount of textbook allowances, it is clear that Hungarian parents only pay half or one third of this amount on average.

5.6. Programmes and funds for development

The development funds and programmes of the EU and Hungary play a vital role in the renewal of the content of public education, and in the promotion of learning, adaptation, and development activities, as well as in supporting efforts to obtain the equipment required in a modern educational environment.

County public foundations for the development of public education

The 1996 Amendment to the Public Education Act called for the establishment of county public foundations with the aim to support the local, regional, and national level development of public education. Since 2000, the budgetary law has specified the amount of earmarked grants for such support as well as the prescribed expenditure for each target group, expressed in the percentage of available funds. In 2001, the law prescribed 50% of this amount for purchases based on the national school equipment register, 20% for the support of educational counselling services, and 30% for the cost of the development tasks of the public foundations. Although the earmarked allocation of funds limited the financial scope of action for the county public foundations to 30%, both the amount of available funds and the amounts for handling regional problems show a modest annual increase.

The Public Foundation for the Modernization of School Education

All the objectives specified in the foundation charter of the Public Foundation for the Modernization of School Education (KOMA) are related to the promotion of the modernization of educational content in different fields. The KOMA promotes to explore and disseminate modern knowledge and products developed in professional co-operations, the initiation of innovations in accordance with central content regulations, as well as the encouragement of research and innovation concerning the development of public education. Following the publication of the frame curricula, the activity of the KOMA was dominated by developments related to their implementation. Other new activities included active participation in a series of events focused on different fields of education (‘European Year of Languages’, ‘Year of Reading’, etc.), and the establishment of tenders in co-operation with other Ministries, such as ‘Co-operation of the family and the school’ (with the Ministry of Health, Social and Family Affairs), or ‘Promotion of sports for the disabled I., II.’ (with the Ministry of Children, Youth and Sports), or ‘Better health for schoolchildren’ (with the Ministry of Health, Social and Family Affairs).

The Soros Foundation

The Soros Foundation had essentially discontinued its involvement in the development of Hungarian public education by the end of the decade. Important exceptions to this were the programmes for the improvement of the educational opportunities of Roma students. The Soros Foundation is currently trying to convince the educational administration to continue with their well-tried models developed and tested in the course of the years and to promote the dissemination of their experiences. The PHARE funds have established favourable conditions for the state to adopt the previously experienced Roma programmes of the Soros Foundation. In 2002, the self-developing school programme¹, incorporating a significant group of Roma self-developing schools², was successfully handed over to the Ministry of Education.

Programmes of the European Union

The Socrates and Leonardo programmes of the European Union play an essential role in the field of professional co-operation and development. Hungary has participated in both of these programmes since 1997. In the framework of the PHARE programme, the EU provided substantial support for Hungarian educational development, primarily to promote the social integration of disadvantaged groups. These programmes play an indispensable role in the preparation for the EU integration in Hungary, in the harmonization of national and European educational and developmental priorities, in connecting local schools to international networks, in the acquisition of competencies required to compete for international funds and to successfully manage the related projects, and in the development of foreign language skills – thus maintaining the competitiveness of Hungarian public education.