Subscribe to our social channels to get the latest news about Hungary!
Orbán cabinet: Education spending in Hungary above EU average
Change language:
The Hungarian government spent 4.9 percent of GDP, above the European Union average, on education this year, which was 645 billion forints (EUR 1.92m) more than in 2010, Human Resources Minister Miklós Kásler said on Tuesday.
Kásler told parliament’s cultural committee as part of his annual hearing that 323 billion forints was available for infrastructural development in education. Projects are under way in 800 institutions, with 174 billion forints of state resources being spent on building gyms and swimming pools, and on revamping and expanding schools. In addition, 149 billion forints of EU funds are being spent mainly on modernising buildings, he said.
The new draft national curriculum is in an advanced state and the government could put it on its agenda any time soon, he said. The draft was put up for professional and social debate last autumn and has attracted over 1,000 comments since then, he added.
Improving students’ language skills is a major target, Kásler said. Starting from next year, the government will enable students in their 9th and 11th grade to spend two weeks abroad each to study their language of choice. The government has allocated 34-35 billion forints for the purpose, he added.
As a result of an allocation of 11 billion forints, the government will enable students to get free textbooks from next year, further reducing families’ spending, he said.
Kásler rejected claims that the number of teachers was decreasing. As against 164,000 teachers working in 2010, there were 170,000 last year, he said. Teachers’ wages grew by 50 percent from 2013 and wage increase has become predictable thanks to a life career model put into practice, he added. At the same time, he said there was still room for improvement.
Read alsoTeachers to stage demonstration aimed at pay hikes
Hungary is among the top EU countries in terms of support for culture, with 1.7 percent of GDP spent on this area in 2017, Kásler said. Compared to 2010, spending on culture grew by 150 percent and this year’s allocation of 453 billion forints will grow to 578 billion forints next year, he added.