Improving Access to Further and Higher Education for Young People in Public Care by Sonia Jackson Claire Cameron

Author:Sonia Jackson, Claire Cameron [Sonia Jackson, Claire Cameron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781849056397
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Kingsley, Jessica Publishers
Published: 2015-04-21T00:00:00+00:00

Hungarian education system

Education has been the focus of major policy reform since 1989. As with other European nations, education is seen as an essential tool for economic development, social cohesion and individual wellbeing. It is a capital asset in a knowledge-based economy. Total expenditure on education is 5.6 per cent of GDP, close to the EU average of 5.5 per cent. The main policy priorities are the improvement of quality, and ensuring equal opportunities for everyone through education.

In 1993, three Acts were passed, covering public education, higher education and vocational training. These Acts re-structured the education system and formulated the principles of education on all levels. Among the resulting modifications in the Public Education Act, some of the most important ones introduced in 2003 were the prohibition of all kinds of discrimination, and asserting the rights of children with SEN. These measures took some time to come into force: modifications to end segregation within schools were introduced in 2005, and the requirement to admit all children with special needs from their school district, and to give priority admission to children with multiple disadvantages from other areas, was effective from 2007.

At the time of the study, responsibilities for the Hungarian education system were shared. The Ministry of Education was responsible for public and higher education, whereas the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs was responsible for vocational training, the Ministry of Finance for financing, and, since local authorities come under the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, this Ministry was responsible for maintaining local schools. After the national elections in May 2010, there was a re-shuffle of ministries, but the division of responsibilities remained. Administrative control is decentralised, and the management responsibility is shared between central (national) and the local (and/or regional) levels.

Early childhood education and care is widely used in Hungary, and education is compulsory from age 5 to 18. Children attend a compulsory year of kindergarten at age five and then eight years of primary school until the age of 14, in two cycles. The first cycle is from age 6–10 and the second from 10–14 (International Standard Classification of Education [ISCED] 1 and 2). Then there is secondary school, from 14–18 (ISCED 2 and 3). There are about 1.4 million children of compulsory school age. At the time of the study, compulsory schooling lasted until the end of the school year in which the child became 18 years of age. As a result of changes brought about by a new Education Act, since September 2012 compulsory schooling ends at 16 (or 23 for special needs children).

There are three main types of secondary school: (i) gimnázium or academic secondary school, which is part of the normative pathway to tertiary education; (ii) szakközépiskola or vocational secondary school, which could also provide the school leaving certificate as well as a profession; and (iii) szakmunkásképző or vocational training school, which provides a vocational qualification but not a school leaving certificate. Given that to progress in education beyond secondary school young people

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