With the interests of children and families at the forefront, the Government has improved the quality of public education through a comprehensive renewal. It has opened rather than closed schools, and instead of laying off teachers it has introduced wage increases that have resulted in one million forints (EUR 3,200) per year in additional income for a family where both parents are teachers.

The 2011 Public Education Act serves as the basis for this renewal, with legislation that places emphasis on emotional, intellectual and moral education as being among a school’s duties in addition to conveying knowledge and teaching. The law states that education is a public service, not a profit-oriented service governed by the markets.

The improvements resulting from a more active state involvement became evident within the first year. A unified professional guidance, secure financing and better equipment all contributed to negating the differences between children based on their background and to provide all schoolchildren with equal opportunities. But good schools need good teachers too. The Government has improved teacher training and further education, and the Klebelsberg scholarship scheme prompts more students to become teachers, especially in disciplines with a shortage of staff. The Government has also enhanced the professional independence of schools, allowing school leaders to concentrate on their professional tasks rather than administrative ones.

The new promotion system has also given professional careers a clear path. Introducing a new accounting system for working hours, a modern qualification system, a school inspection system that has proven itself across Europe and a network of counsellors available to all were all geared towards creating a more effective public education system.

The teachers’ wage increase system introduced last year, and which will continue over the next four years and is guaranteed by law, is perhaps the most important financial change in the field of education since 1990. Security has become evident in the education system and wages are on the rise and are maintaining their real value.

In the 2002-2010 period, the closing and merging of schools and kindergartens reduced the number of such institutions by 2,181. During the past four years the current government has reversed the trend and by reopening kindergartens and building many new ones; the number of working kindergartens has risen by 784.

Since schools came under direct state supervision in 2013, no school has been closed without a successor. Every settlement with at least eight children of school age can have its own elementary school. While during the previous two government cycles the number of teachers laid off was 17,448, in the current cycle the number of teachers has been stabilised, with the reduction smaller than the number of teachers going into retirement.
The Government regards public education as an investment in the future and accordingly it is spending some 200 billion forints (EUR 642 million) more on education than its predecessors.

(Ministry of Human Resources)