Elementary school system and National Core Curriculum reforms coming

According to Index.hu, new elementary school system of nine years is to be introduced in 2019 in Hungary. Also, the National Core Curriculum would be seriously reconsidered, László Palkovics, Minister for Education announced during a round-table discussion.

In the last few months, the Ministry for Education and the participants of the public education round-table discussion have analysed Hungary’s disastrous Programme for International Student Assessment results; its Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study results; and the conclusion of the Hungarian assessment. The Ministry reported the outcomes to the Hungarian government, and the new Hungarian educational strategy has been prepared based on that report, Index.hu noted.

According to the plans, the extra year would be spent on bridging the gap between nursery school and elementary school. This time would be spent on preparing the child for effective learning, Index.hu told. The new education system would be introduced as soon as in 2019, provided that all the necessary circumstances are successfully ready by then. Schools will need new classrooms, they will have to expand their area, and they will need more teachers. All these mean massive expenditures. Another important question is how the changes will affect the 16 years of compulsory education, the tertiary education and the labour market.

Index.hu reported that, based on international assessments, children are the most easy to improve between the age of 3 and 12. This is the most sensitive age, when they are able to acquire the basic competences for learning later. This is the period of time when skills in reading, writing and numeracy are needed to be deepen, which is the very basis of learning. A psychology professor told that the plus year at the end of the elementary school has no use, because those who have not learnt to read write and count will not succeed at the end of the elementary school. She also told Index.hu that children can be the most successfully familiarized with the notions of numeracy, the basis of writing, at the first extra year of elementary school, this is the period when their intellectual, emotional, memory and social skills, all necessary for learning, can be improved.