Hungary never to become an R+D country?

Technical schools are the most popular form of secondary education, with 55,000 eighth-graders (generally 14 year-olds) admitted there from September, a 10 percent uptick from last year, a ministry official said in a statement on Friday.

József Bódis, the state secretary responsible for higher education, innovation and vocational education, noted that the possibility of a technical education was launched in Hungary last September, offering vocational training alongside a school-leaving exam which allows the student the option of a university education later on.

The newly launched system accounts for

41 percent of all secondary students next year,

showing that the popularity of the new concept, Bódis said.

Technical colleges offer competitive knowledge and professional experience, Bodis said, noting that an increasing number of companies are participating in dual education, ensuring internships and wages for their trainees.

• It’s official! Hungary’s great reopening starts today
• Hungarian education to be reopened “carefully, gradually”