Péter Magyar, the prime minister, and Judit Lannert, the education minister, made a series of long-awaited and reassuring promises to pupils and teachers at the start of the new school year, setting out their vision for the future of Hungary’s schools, education system and its objectives.
Péter Magyar: schools must teach critical thinking, with pay rises on the way
“The most important task of a school is to teach pupils to think as well as possible — and to think critically,” the prime minister said on Monday at the national school-year opening ceremony at the Dr Mező Ferenc Grammar School in Nagykanizsa.
Alongside critical thinking, pupils should learn at school how to stand up for one another, work as a team and remain decent human beings in all circumstances, Magyar Péter said, according to MTI.
In his speech, the prime minister also stressed the priority that must be given to education and healthcare.
“We know exactly what our task is,” Péter Magyar said, listing the renovation of school buildings, the creation of new places in boarding schools, decent school meals, and support for teachers, teaching assistants and other education workers.
He added that the government had heard and understood the call for action, and had not forgotten its commitments. Pay rises in the sector would therefore be announced shortly, he said.
A genuine, predictable career path is needed
Péter Magyar also spoke specifically about the tens of thousands of teaching assistants who help classroom staff, saying that they could count on the Tisza government.
The timetable for the pay rises would be announced shortly, the prime minister indicated. He stressed, however, that the country needed a genuine career path rather than one-off increases — and conditions capable of attracting more young people and new recruits to both education and healthcare.
Péter Magyar also said that the government could not allow wages to be eroded by inflation again.
The government wants schools to provide a calm environment for development, give pupils room to express their creativity and become better places for everyone, Judit Lannert, the minister for education and children’s affairs, said on Monday, also in Nagykanizsa.
The government wants schools to become spaces for creativity for pupils and teachers alike, where steady development is possible and where children can discover the subjects and activities that interest them and bring them joy, the minister added.
Knowledge was important, she said, but perhaps even more important was sparking and sustaining curiosity and motivation. She identified the following objectives:
- strengthening professional and managerial autonomy;
- reducing administrative duties;
- introducing a more varied range of teaching materials;
- reducing the number of compulsory assessments.
According to Lannert, the school of the future must guarantee equal opportunities. While factual knowledge remained important, she said, so too were problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to different situations.
Emphasising the role of schools in helping, including and supporting children, the minister said that attention must also be paid to what happens in everyday school life — particularly in the case of children facing difficulties or struggling to fit in.
Starting school remains hugely expensive for Hungarian families
The start of the school year remains one of the largest household expenses of the year. A typical Hungarian household spends 107,539 forints on the new school year, while the average cost per child is 66,928 forints, according to fresh research by PwC.
Total school-start spending per child averages 70,055 forints for primary-school pupils in the lower years, 69,282 for those in the upper years, 62,532 for secondary-school pupils and 80,795 for students in higher education.
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Some 75.5 per cent of school-age children and higher-education students have a mobile phone, while 61.9 per cent have a laptop and 45.1 per cent a tablet. Desktop computers are owned by 31.5 per cent, printers by 33.6 per cent and smartwatches by 18.4 per cent.
How pupils use AI
Fifteen per cent of households use a paid AI service, while a further 48.6 per cent use solutions available free of charge. In 31.4 per cent of respondents’ households, AI tools are not used at all.
Children primarily use artificial intelligence to search for information, cited by 74.2 per cent of families that use AI. Some 52.2 per cent use it to explain school material, 46.6 per cent for brainstorming and 39.4 per cent to help with homework.
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