No. of language exams halved thanks to coronavirus and the abolition of language requirements for receiving diplomas

The coronavirus lockdown this spring took its toll, among many others, on the language assessment institutions. Moreover, as the government abolished the language requirements for receiving diplomas, many opted out of the exams they already paid and applied for.

On the one hand, they experienced many difficulties with switching to online examinations, which they had very little time for and had to pay for the whole new system themselves, Magyar Nemzet reports. They did not have time to properly test the system before actual exams took place.

Several learners requested a refund as they did not want to partake in an online exam due to technical difficulties.

Moreover, one of the government’s first action in the name of financial protection was to issue their diplomas to students who had not received them yet due to the lack of obligatory language requirements. (In several fields of study, students must pass one or sometimes two B2 level foreign language exams in order to receive their degrees.) Therefore,

a lot of people requested a refund simply because they no longer needed to take the exam to receive their diplomas.

Read alsoStudents protest against language exam requirement for higher education entry

There was a significant drop nation-wide.

So far, 56.428 people took a language exam this year. The numbers were twice as much both in 2019 (124.000) and in 2018 (120.000).

42,000 people took an English language exam, while 10,000 people took German language exams this year, which is less than half of last year’s numbers, 94.000 and 22.000, respectively.

One of the most significant language assessment centres in Hungary is ELTE Origó Language Centre, a company of Eötvös Loránd University Budapest (ELTE) with an extensive network of accredited test centres, offering certified examinations in approximately 30 languages at 62 locations all over Hungary. There has been a 30% drop in the no. of examinees by September 2020 compared to September 2019.

ELTE Origó Language Centre suffered a financial loss of 556,300 Euros this year. Unfortunately, this resulted in a 25% collective layoff.

Read alsoHungarian government spent 6 million Euros on language exams

Source: www.magyarnemzet.hu