The Educational System in Hungary
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Citizenship Education in Hungary
Description of the educational system in Hungary
1. Education population and language of instruction
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The number of children of compulsory school age in the 2005/2006 school year
is cc. 1,300,000
The official language of education is Hungarian
A number of ethnic and national minorities (e.g. Germans, Romanians,
Slovenians, Slovakians, Serbs, Croatians, Polish) have minority educational
institutions
The task of education is in most cases the local government’s responsibility
2. Administrative control and extent of public-sector
funded education
 Local governments administer: pre-primary, primary and secondary
education
 Horizontally: Ministry of Education and other mininstries (that of
Employment and Social Affairs, Interior, Finance, etc.)
 State and private institutions receive funding according to the same criteria
3. Pre-primary education
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Family day-time care for aged 0-3 (under Ministry of Health, Social and Family
Affairs )
services include: baby-mother club, playgroup, toy rental, children supervision
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Kindergarten for aged 3-6-7: integrated part of the school system under the
supervision of the Ministry of Education
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Kindergarten attendance is compulsory from the age of 5
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Public –sector institutions may only charge for services additional to ther basic
tasks (eg. Extra –curricular activities, meals, excursions, etc.)
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The attendance rate of 3-5 age groups is 86%.
4. Compulsory full-time education
(a) Phases (Education is compulsory up to the age of 18)
Pre-primary – 1 preparatory year, compulsory
(óvoda)
Age 5-6/7
Primary-lower primary and uper primary
(általános iskola)
Age 6/7-14 (1st cycle 610, 2nd10-14)
General lower and upper secondary
(gimnázium)
Age 10/12/14-18/19
Vocational secondary school (szakközépiskola) Age 14-18/19/20
(generally 4 years)
Vocational training school (volt szakmukásképző)
Age 14-18 years (2 ears
general studies+2 voc.)
Remedial + vocational training school
(felzárkóztató szakiskola)
Age 15/16-18/19 (1-2+2
years)
Post secondary vocational course
(Szakiskola kiegészítő szakképzése)
Age 18-19/20 (1-2 years)
(b) Admissions criteria
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Free compulsory education by Law
Private-sector schools may charge fees
A declaration of school-readiness is required
Addmisson to upper secondary school –guidelines set up by Ministry of
Education
(c) Length of the school day/week/year
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School year: 185 days of teaching from1st September to 15th June
School breaks: autumn, winter, spring (1-1 week), summer: 10-11 week
5 working days/week45 minutes/teaching lessons
(d) Class size/student grouping
Maximum class size determined by law: grades 1-4: 26; grades 5-8: 30;
grades 9-13: 35
(e) Curricular control and content
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3 level: National Core Curriculum (1995), Frame Curricula (2000) and local
curricula (institutional level) – provide a regulatory framework for teachers to
develop syllabi
The National Core Curriculum is being revised: emphasis on the improvement
of skills and abilities
(f) Assesment, progression, and qualification
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Assessment by written and oral tests
In grade one – pupils cannot be made repeat the schoolyear
Since 2004 all pupils have had to be assessed in written, individual analysis,
expanding the traditional numeric marking framework
During the first 3 years pupils only repeat a year with the the parents’
agreement and no numeric marking is done
5. Higher education
(a) Types of institutions
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Public and private/denominational universities and colleges accredited and
formally recognised by the state
A reform being carried out: „Bologna process”
the restructuring of higher
education
(b) Access
Secondary school leaving certificate is required
Two-level school leaving exam (O=normal, A=advanced level)
Additional criteria may be required (eg. a certificate in forein languages, a
specialisation, a qualification, etc.)
(c) Qualifications
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Bachelor education:
3 years course (basic)
Master education: +2-3 years course (master)
Higher vocational qualification: 2 years courses – non university – to pass
higher professional examinations
Citizenship education in Hungary I
 A complementary subject taught
at primary schools year 8, term 2, as part of History subject
grammar schools: years 10-11, 1 period per week
trade/vocational schools: year 11, 1 period per week
 Generally no further teacher qualification than that of History required.
Extension courses for teachers available, e.g. ELTE University,
Budapest, 5 terms, graduation with special qualification
 Subject taught on the basis of pedagogical programme and National
Core Curriculum + teacher’s intension of what (s)he wants to teach
 In case of extra studying the subject can be chosen a maturity exam.
(in addition to Hungarian, Maths, History, a language)
 Teacher’s emphasis on teaching of ideas and concepts (e.g. tolerance,
etc.)
 A separate form of citizenship education for those asking for
registration: a prerqusite is a successful exam in citizenship education
Citizenship education in Hungary II
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Problem at grammar schools: the text-book. Concepts contained but no
sources (e.g. from the Constitution)
Vocational school text-books better.
The present text-books are dry, lack colour, therefore necessary motivation
Problem locally solved: occasional video films, curriculum completed with
pairwork and practice of managing everday affairs at public institutions
Ramification at higher education
- law
-political sciences
- sociology
- psychology
- environmental protection (geography
globalization)
- military sciences
Citizenship education in Hungary III
 A complementary subject to the complementary subject: Rudiments of
Morals (grammar schools, year 11, 1 peroid per week) followed by
Phylosophy in year 12. Contents of the subject:
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Ethics in ancient societies, the Middle Ages, the contents of ethics in artistic
representation, ethics in our time, ethics and transcendency: India, ancient
China, the Islam, Chistianity
 A subject Hungarian studies being nationally planned
an overall, interdisciplanry subject with the basic aim of
- teaching national identity using up of whatever is
relevant for that purpose in Hungarian literature, History,
Geography, Sociology, etc.
- emphasizing tolerance and anti-racism in the
multinational country
Citizenship education in Hungary IV
 Programmes of the subject
Grammar school, year 10
Introduction to political systems, political culture, political socialoization, the
political system in Hungary, forms of state troughout history, democratic states,
constitution, parliament, elections, government, jurisdiction, security poliicy,
foreign policy, local government, civil society, religions and churches, church
and state
Grammar school, year 11
family, social stucture changing, culture and community, identity
consciousness, ways of living and social position, social conflicts and tensions
and managing them, settlements and their communities, ethnic groups,
deviancies deviation), social righteousness, enterprises, the social role of
labour, national economy, world economy, Hungary and the EU, problems of
globalization, the new economic and social world order, affluent society, IT
society, the media, the place of education in IT society