Student loans set to be expanded to cover funding for vocational training

The economic cabinet has proposed expanding student loans offered by the state-owned provider to cover funding for vocational training and adult education starting from the spring semester of the next academic year, Finance Minister Mihály Varga said on Thursday.

The measure would help finance the studies of 57,000 people participating in adult education programmes and 220,000 students enrolled in vocational training programmes, Varga said after a meeting of the cabinet.

Students in the programmes could be eligible for a monthly general-purpose loan of up to 150,000 forints (EUR 429), Varga said, adding that they would have ten years to repay the loan after graduation.

Besides preventing an upsurge of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the government’s most important task is to reboot the economy and provide assistance to the sectors hit hardest by the epidemic so that new jobs could be created, the minister said.

Read alsoTeacher union protests against vocational training changes in Hungary

Introducing student loans for vocational training programmes would help boost the country’s competitiveness and support employees in acquiring up-to-date and marketable knowledge, he added.