Government to increase school manager, higher-ed funds by almost combined EUR 330m in 2017

Budapest, April 29 (MTI) – The government in 2017 will increase spending on the state school manager and higher education by 103 billion forints (EUR 330m) and 43 billion forints, respectively, the state secretary for education said on Friday.

László Palkovics told journalists that contrary to press reports, the government had no plans to cut spending on state school manager Klik, and pointed out that the institution had received 96 billion forints more this year than in 2015.

As regards the running of public schools, he said a proposal to split such responsibilities between the state and local governments would result in a flawed model.

In March, the government announced that Klik in its current form would be scrapped in the summer and replaced by a new, far less centralised system.

He noted that the government is considering introducing a new national curriculum in 2018. This would prescribe a “national minimum” of material that schools would be required to teach. They would, however, be free to add to the minimum curriculum, he added.

Klik chief Annamária Pölöskei said all of the government’s consultations on handling public education had led to the conclusion that it was best to keep the management of schools under one roof. She said the government was considering six different models for reforming Klik. The restructuring of Klik is expected to start on July 1 and the new system could begin functioning from January next year.

Photo: MTI

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