Hungary : secondary education and training

Abstract

While the educational system of Hungary has been well-established, particularly since the Austro-Hungarian Empire (reflected by the achievements of a number of Nobel Prize personalities in different fields), it was not elitist in its excellence, and, the secondary education legacy left by the communist period, was a system highly concentrated on vocational, and technical education, at the expense of the general education stream. The paper reviews the process educational quality, and learning the society is undergoing during the economic transition, revealing the significant part of the community whose expectations on education are outdated, and rather oriented to the former education system. However, and although equity of access to education has not been a major issue, it is suggested that secondary education may be becoming more stratified, so in some respects elitist, which may adversely affect basic education performance of those unable to make the transition. Hence, the impact of reform has raised issues of concern, i.e., decentralization as it concerns the efficacy of small, local authorities in school administration; discrimination, particularly towards the Roma community (or gypsy community), as decentralization may potentially introduce ethnic discrimination at the local level, an issue of concern given that European Union accession requires the absence of discrimination; and, elitism, if it adversely affects students falling behind basic education.