Government pledge: No school without internet in Hungary by 2016

Budapest, November 5 (MTI) – No school in Hungary will lack an internet connection at the end of 2016, the state secretary in charge of infocommunications at the National Development Ministry told a conference in Balatonfüred, in western Hungary, on Thursday.

Ákos Kara said the government would ensure that all schools have access to a broadband connection of 50 megabits per second. Another goal is that broadband internet should reach another one million households by the end of 2018. The state secretary said this is a bold pledge even in European terms, and the government and market players have agreed to make this possible in equal measure.

Surveys show some 40 percent of the Hungarian population aged 15 and above did not have adequate digital skills in 2014, Kara said, adding that in order to improve on these results the government must also offer training.

Next year the government would make it a goal to support corporate IT developments, to keep jobs and create new ones in the IT sector and to take steps against the shortage of engineers. He noted that after the retail sector, the infocommunication sector is the second largest employer in the country.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters