Hungary needs a consequent education policy that is stable in the medium term in order to improve students’ PISA results, Sándor Brassói, head of department at the Ministry of Human Resources said at a conference on Wednesday, adding that permanent changes undermine the results of the reforms.

The conference was organised by the Hungarian representatives of the EU Commission and attended by Austrian, Czech and Hungarian education policy experts as well as by officials from the EU and the Ministry of Human Resources.

Mr. Brassói said that Hungary was working very hard to improve PISA results, but a steady environment was needed for an improvement. He added that the latest survey showed a disappointing result in Hungarian students’ problem-solving skills.

He said better results can only be achieved through a complex set of measures, because continuous minor changes undermine the long-term effects of the education reform. A systemic improvement would require the state to set teaching goals and standards that are outside the control of education.

Mr. Brassói said it was unrealistic to expect education policy changes to show rapid improvement in such a large group. He said that the latest changes in education policy were probably not the reason behind the worsening results. He added, however, that economic circumstances in previous years had a negative impact on both the financing of education and on the background families provide.

(Ministry of Human Resources)