"Two-hundred thousand people are taking part in the winter public work programme launched at the beginning of November, of whom one-hundred thousand are participating in further education", the Ministry of National Economy's Minister of State for Employment Policy announced on Tuesday in Ozora, Central Hungary.

The winter public work programme required a 19.7 billion forint supplement to the original budget of 154 billion, and 184 billion forints will be spent on public work programmes next year, Sándor Czomba said at a press conference held in the local public work programme's vegetable processing unit. The programme will run from 1 November until the end of April next year and training courses, which have been realised with the help of 24 billion forints in EU funding, will begin in the first week in December and end in late March, he added.

Twenty thousand people are taking part in state-accredited further education courses included in the National Training Registry, while training courses have been organised for a further 29 thousand people. An additional 48 thousand people with only elementary school education will take part in so-called basic competence development courses, four thousand will receive an opportunity to complete the 7th and 8th years of secondary school, while one thousand people involved in the public work programme will have a chance to acquire a valid heavy goody vehicle licence, the Minister of State continued. Out-of-work teachers will also be involved in the training and education programme; almost five thousand teachers are currently registered as unemployed, Mr. Czomba pointed out.

The Minister of State also indicated that never before had so many people been involved in the public work programme at the same time. According to Mr. Czomba, public opinion concerning public work has changed significantly over the past three years and more and more people are beginning to recognise that there is a need for it, especially in regions in which the private sector cannot be realistically expected to provide jobs for everyone in the upcoming years. The long-term goal is for the current public work system to evolve in the direction of social cooperatives and become a self-supporting system, Mr. Czomba stated.

Fidesz spokesman Róbert Zsigó spoke of the fact that people involved in the winter public work programme will be able to work primarily within model programmes and local government programmes, as well as at public companies, water boards and forestry commissions. Ozora is the first clear example of the fact that with the help of a suitably led local government, a settlement can achieve results, he said, adding that the town joined the value-creating public work programme last year.

At the time, the programme provided work for 82 people, but from December, the number of people performing public work in the Tolna County settlement will increase to 163. More and more towns and villages are succeeding in getting back on their feet thanks to the public work programme; job-seekers are receiving work and a salary instead of living off benefits, in addition to which the programme also reinforces local communities, the spokesperson said.

(Ministry for National Economy)