education

Three atmospheric libraries in Budapest you should visit – VIDEO

budapest library

Budapest has many amazing libraries. Below, you can read about three of them which are stunning and also have a rich collection.

Szabó Ervin Library

The Szabó Ervin Library opened in 1904. The library received 33,000 books from the City Statistical Office library. The publications were social sciences books, mainly about demographics, statistics, public administration, and sociology. In 1910, the library was reorganised to become a public library. Since 1912, the management and enrichment of the Budapest Collection have become the task of a separate department. In 1925, the library became a general collection library.

In 1927, the capital city acquired Wenckheim Palace, and the library opened there in 1931. While the war took a toll on the building, the damage was less significant compared to other losses. After 1945, the library was functioning once again. Since 1955, the centre has been classified as the highest-level public library. Collections were enriched and services improved. Today, the library is a favourite place for many students and intellectuals.

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National Széchenyi Library

The library was founded thanks to Count Ferenc Széchényi, who searched for books abroad and made the collection. The founding document of the library dates back to 25 November 1802, and a day later, the king approved it. The library opened a year later. The collection consisted of 13,000 printed books, more than 1,200 manuscripts, hundreds of maps, pictures, illustrations, and coins. The Count added more items to the library until his death. Later, communities and persons offered items to enrich the library. Many items were bought as well. Today, the organised stock consists of 10 million units.

The library has been a favourite spot of researchers since its opening. A separate reading room, however, has only existed since 1866. In 1950, another room became the newspaper reading room. Nowadays, more reading rooms are available for the visitors of the library.

Best places to buy international books and magazines in Budapest

ELTE University Library and Archives

The atmospheric library was founded by Miklós Oláh, bishop of Esztergom, in 1561. It became a university collection in 1635 when the university at Nagyszombat was founded. The Royal Hungarian University moved to Buda along with the library in 1777, then to Pest in 1784.

  • elte library
  • elte library
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  • elte library

The building where the library operates today was designed by Antal Skalnitzky. The most beautiful room is the large reading room (Nagyolvasó). The Baroque-style room is decorated with frescos, and a good amount of natural light comes in through the glass ceiling and large windows. The glass ceiling broke during WW2, and many of the books were drained.  

Books, periodicals, 185 codices, 1,200 incunabula, manuscripts, 11,000 antiques from the 16th century, 15,000 Baroque books, and 75,000 volumes from the 18th century can be found in the library. This library is the third-largest in Hungary’s capital city.

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For the first time, Hungarian students receive compensation for discrimination in Romania

Hungary student school

The Bucharest Court of Appeals ordered the Romanian Ministry of National Education and the Kolozs (Cluj) County School Inspectorate to pay compensation for language discrimination against Hungarian children.

According to the final and binding ruling of the Bucharest Court of Appeals, 16 Hungarian children were discriminated against at Apáczai Csere János Secondary School in 2016 when the Cluj County School Inspectorate and the Ministry rejected their parents’ request to start a class with Hungarian as the language of instruction. This would have been the only Hungarian-language class in fine arts in the county, writes Krónika Online. The school inspectorate argued that the number of children did not reach the required minimum number.

The Bucharest Court of Appeals ordered the Ministry and the school inspectorate to pay compensation of RON 6,000 (~EUR 1,212) per person to the 10 students who took the case to court with the help of the Advocacy Group for Freedom of Identity.

Language discrimination

Originally, 16 children applied to the fine arts class. However, Valentin Cuibus, the then-chief school inspector of Cluj County, rejected their application and thus discriminated against the students.

Even the Secretary of State for Minorities, András Király, nominated by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, failed to remedy the refusal, writes Hello Magyar. In response to the complaints, the National Council for Combatting Discrimination (CNCD) declared that the Cluj County School Inspectorate discriminated against the students and condemned the school inspectorate in April 2017. The CNCD also called for an urgent solution.

A decision that can be ignored

Referring to the CNCD’s decision, the parents of 12 students repeatedly requested starting a Hungarian-language class in fine arts from the Romanian Ministry of National Education and the school inspectorate. However,

the chief school inspector told the parents and the representatives of the Advocacy Group for Freedom of Identity that the CNCD’s decision can be ignored.

The parents filed an action for damages, which they won at first and second instances. András Bethlendi, the representative of the Advocacy Group for Freedom of Identity, explained that

this was the first language discrimination case in Romania in which the final and binding ruling of the court awarded compensation to the parties who had been discriminated against.

Hungary is losing its best high school students to foreign universities!

Shocking numbers – Hungarian teachers’ salaries raise concerns

Palkovics: V4 to boost cooperation on higher education

The Visegrád Group (V4) countries last week signed a letter of intent on the mutual and automatic recognition of each other’s higher education degrees.

Addressing a V4 summit organised by the Széchenyi István University in Győr, in north-western Hungary, Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovics said that though cooperation between Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia on higher education was effective, there was still room for improvement. Hungary has therefore made it a goal to improve relations between the four countries’ universities during its V4 presidency, he added.

Palkovics noted that

the Hungarian government in 2014 embarked on a programme to bring universities and colleges closer to market players.

Another aim, he said, had been for Hungarian higher education institutions to strengthen cooperation with their international partners. Since then, participation by Hungarian students in Erasmus programmes has increased by 65-70 percent and international students now make up at least 15 percent of all students at Hungarian universities and colleges, the minister said.

As a first step in its higher education reform, the government in 2014 transformed the university research system, with the second phase encompassing a restructuring of the country’s universities, Palkovics noted.

So far 21 Hungarian universities have shifted from being state-run to being operated by an asset management foundation, as modelled after private universities in Finland, Austria and other countries, he said, adding that six universities were still operated by the state.

Slovak education ministry official Marek Moska said the mutual recognition of V4 degrees would contribute to the establishment of a European Education Area by 2025.

Tibor Bial, the Czech Republic’s ambassador to Hungary, said the Czech education ministry was working on a plan to automate the recognition of European Union degrees.

Hungary Semmelweis university
Read alsoSemmelweis University Budapest is in the top 40 universities of the world!

18-year-old Hungarian high school student wins prestigious British essay competition

St Hugh's College

St Hugh’s College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford organises the Mary Renault Prize each year. It is a Classical reception essay prize for school or college sixth form pupils. Both domestic and international students can compete alike.

The Prize

The Mary Renault Prize is awarded by St Hugh’s College and is funded by the royalties from Mary Renault’s novels, the college’s website says.

“The Principal and Fellows of St Hugh’s College offer two or more Prizes, worth up to £300 each, for essays on classical reception or influence. The prizes are in memory of the author Mary Renault, who is best known for her historical novels set in ancient Greece.”

Mary Renault herself was a student at St Hugh’s College in the 1920s.

Hungarian winner

Eduline reported, that for the first time, a Hungarian student has won the prestigious essay competition. Olivér Csákány, an 18-year-old from Veszprém, graduate at László Lovassy High School and part of the Milestone Institute’s senior program.

Last year, Olivér won second place on OKTV in French. OKTV roughly translates to ‘National Secondary School Academic Competition’. It is a prestigious high-level competition in Hungary for 15-18-year-olds. He wants to compete again, this year.

Furthermore, Olivér Csákány already knows four languages and holds French lessons for his fellow students for free.

Hungary is losing its best high school students to foreign universities!

He said to Eduline, that in primary school, he wanted to become a mechanical engineer, but in high school, he became interested in languages. Olivér recalled that he started learning German and French in high school. He immediately fell in love with French so much he had already taken an international C2 language exam.

olivér csákány student st hughs college mary renault
Olivér Csákány Photo: facebook.com/msinst/

He later started studying Latin, but by the age of 18, he already had his C1 from that too. As he says, he is currently learning Russian and plans to have a language exam of that language before the end of this school year as well.

Olivér Csákány’s essay was on the reception of Theocritus in the 19-20th century, titled: ‘Uranian Literature and Pastoral Poetry; or, Edward Cracroft Lefroy’s Echoes from Theocritus’.

With this essay, he won first place, besting a student from Singapore, who became second and two English students, who both took third place in a draw.

Olivér is looking forward to studying abroad. He would like to go to the United Kingdom, preferably to Cambridge, but due to Brexit, the cost of education is too high. Olivér is hoping to get some sort of scholarship. He would also be happy to study in France, but the US is also a possibility. He added that he might want to come back to Hungary someday.

Another bright star

However, according to Telex, Olivér is not the only Hungarian students who won a British essay competition recently. The Milestone Institute said on their Facebook page that Simon Rózsa, a student at ELTE’s Radnóti Miklós training high school has won first place at the essay competition organised by University College London’s Department of Greek and Latin. Her 2,000 word winning essay was ‘The Light and Shadow of Xenophon’s Cyropaedia’.

Hungary Semmelweis university
Read alsoSemmelweis University Budapest is in the top 40 universities of the world!

Semmelweis University Budapest is in the top 40 universities of the world!

Hungary Semmelweis university

Compared to last year, Budapest’s Semmelweis University jumped 31 places and ranks 33rd in the Times Higher Education (THE) Emerging Economies Universities Rankings 2022.

The Times Higher Education Rankings assess the performance of universities all over the world to provide a resource for readers to understand the missions and successes of higher education institutions.

The rankings are based on 13 performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook. However, in the case of the Emerging Economies Universities Rankings, the weight of these factors are adjusted to the development priorities of universities in advanced emerging, secondary emerging, and frontier countries.

This list presents the developing institutions that are making the most progress and have the potential to challenge established universities.

Results

The 2022 Emerging rankings assess the performance of 698 institutions. The results show that China has reinforced its leading position. Altogether, there are 51 Chinese institutions in the top 200, and the top 5 only features universities in China. Peking University placed 1st, followed by Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Fudan University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Russia is also among the most prominent emerging countries in the 2022 Emerging rankings. With 17 universities ranking in the top 200, the country is among the most-represented nations in this section of the list. Lomonosov Moscow State University ranked 6th, and the last position in the top 10 is occupied by the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

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Hungary

The 2022 Emerging rankings feature 11 Hungarian institutions, with three universities in the top 200.

Compared to last year, Budapest’s Semmelweis University leapt from 64th to 33rd place. The University of Debrecen also managed to reach higher scores in the areas of citation, research, and industry income, thus rising four places and ranking 191st this year. Eötvös Loránd University ranked 150th,

writes Index. The University of Pécs and the University of Szeged placed in the 201−250 category. Óbuda University, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Corvinus University of Budapest, the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the University of Pannonia occupied a position in the 401−500 section.

Hungary Semmelweis university
Read alsoSemmelweis University among world’s 300 best!

Reasons why school education is better

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You probably have heard this – education is critical. But have you ever asked yourself the reasons why school education is considered the best? Many learners find school frustrating and annoying. Perhaps you have the feeling that school education wastes time or is just meant to help you get a better job. The truth is that school education offers more than just the ability to get a job or make your parents happy. It is an important tool everybody needs. Read on to learn a few reasons why school education is better than starting to work, found a business right away, or pursuing homeschooling, summarized in a handy guide by do essay for me experts. 

Top Reasons Why Education Is Better

Why does school education matter so much? Here are a few reasons:

  1. School Education Teaches Learners Social Skills

Every person needs social skills as they develop. Learning to socialize with others isn’t something you can teach your child from home – they need to learn it firsthand. The school setting is the first platform that offers the opportunity to develop the necessary social skills. 

Learners in a school environment meet and make friends. Making friends, listening to teachers, and working through problems help them develop the right social competencies. Such skills are critical foundational elements for the learners’ societal interactions.  

  1. It Helps Learners Build Confidence

Have your ever seen an individual with low self-esteem? The chances are high that their confidence wasn’t nurtured from a young age. Self-assurance and confidence are critical elements for solid self-esteem. Individuals with low confidence suffer from anxiety issues and are often taken advantage of by others. 

School education offers learners the platform to develop confidence early in their development. For instance, learning to read, write, solve problems, and lead teams boosts confidence in the schoolers’ abilities. Teachers are very instrumental in ensuring that learners are confident in themselves. 

  1. It Encourages Development of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a vital part of anybody’s life, whether young or old. For instance, whether a student is learning history, science, or literature, in a way, they are developing appropriate critical thinking skills. 

Critical thinking techniques help the learners absorb learning materials, develop ideas, and express themselves better in speaking and writing. Not only do learners need such skills, but adults also need them; they are useful in every aspect of life – from relationships to work settings to academia.

  1. It Introduces Empowerment

School education is essential in helping learners identify their strengths and weaknesses and learning from their weaknesses. With school education, learners have access to various tools and ways of understanding and resolving issues. 

When learners gain school education, they develop the mental agility necessary to make the right decisions and spring into action whenever necessary. For instance, educated women can overcome marital violence and gender bias because they gain advanced decision-making abilities.  

5. It Creates a Successful and Joyful Life

Education has long been seen as a source of dignity in the community. Individuals must study and find a well-paid profession to become successful and fulfilled. Thus, schooling also aids in the development of a good reputation and raises the likelihood of advancing up the professional path quicker and simpler. As a result, it gives sufficient income for a sustainable lifestyle, with more career opportunities open for people with a high level of education.  

6. It Aids in Making You Self-Sufficient

With regards to being self-sufficient, the significance of education is evident. Well-educated people know how to make independent decisions, achieve their ambitious goals, move on to the next target every time they succeed, and distinguish good and bad events in their lives. This knowledge creates self-reliant, successful people with all background knowledge for succeeding in any chosen path. 

7. Interleaved Practice Skill

Think about this; in mathematics, you have so many formulas to solve different issues. For instance, you have a formula for finding the area of a circle, and you will have a different one that solves the perimeter calculation problem. 

Understanding problems as they are gives you the chance to find better ways of addressing them. When you interleave an issue when studying, you create a platform to tell the problem apart, making it easy to establish a better solution. 

Final Thoughts

The proper study skills will get you through your college time with ease and success. It might be hard to try all of them at once, so identify one and work on perfecting it before moving to the next one. Once you master all of them, you will have a lighter learning load at school. 

 

Hungary is losing its best high school students to foreign universities!

hungary-school

In some of the country’s best secondary schools, half of the graduates continued their program at foreign universities this September. Many say that Hungary is losing their best students to top foreign universities, adding that the trend is bad news both for the country’s economy and its higher education.

These are the best high schools in Hungary

According to eduline.hu, in one of the best high schools in Budapest, every second graduate started university abroad this September. From the three best Hungarian secondary schools (Eötvös, Fazekas and Radnóti, all of them are in the capital), the rate of students continuing their studies abroad is significant. Furthermore,

they go to the top Dutch, French, American or British universities.

For example, the medalists of the science Olympics in Hungary are already students in Cambridge.

The ranking of the best Hungarian secondary schools was published yesterday, and it is led by the three institutions mentioned above. Interestingly, in the top 10, there is only one school not located in Budapest. Meanwhile,

in the top 100, there are more schools from the country than from the capital.

The three medalist schools performed similarly in the different criteria. These include the results of the competence measures, school-leaving exams, or the rate of students continuing their studies.

50 pc go abroad

Based on the HVG, every third senior studied abroad from the Eötvös, Radnóti or Fazekas secondaries before. However, Brexit caused a significant drop in that rate. For example, from the Fazekas, “only” 23 pc of the students went abroad instead of the 30 pc the institution’s teachers got used to in the previous years.

In the case of the schools run by foundations, the Alternatív Közgazdasági Gimnázium (Alternative Secondary school of Economics, Budapest) ranked first.

There the rate of graduates moving abroad rose from 37 pc to 49 pc.

This number is 43 at the secondary school founded by the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The rate was exactly 50 pc in the school run by the Audi in Győr.

Hungarian secondary school students awarded at EU Contest for Young Scientists

 

The Fazekas secondary even appeared on a British school ranking published in summer. That is because the number of students going to Oxford and Cambridge was very high. The Hungarian institution precedes many Chinese, Greek, Lithuanian, Malaysian etc. schools.

The number of Hungarian high schools offering preparatory programs for international exams is increasing quickly.

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Dublin school to use Hungary-developed device to protect students

Ireland technology school
The use of Resysten, originally developed in Hungary to combat hospital-acquired infections, also saves valuable teaching time by eliminating the need to clean and disinfect in between classes  
 
St. Laurence College in Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin has become the first school in Ireland to use the revolutionary anti-Covid coating Resysten within its premises, taking a step forward in protecting students and staff in the latest drive to a safe return to normality for the current academic year. This unique anti-microbial coating stops the spread of harmful bacteria and viruses like Norovirus (winter vomiting bug), Influenza (common flu), E.coli, MRSA, Covid and its variants, and has a durability of up to one year from one single application, on any surface.
 
SurfaceGuard.ie, the Irish distributor of Resysten, undertook the process of applying the coating at the school, on common surfaces such as pupils’ desks, chairs and door handles.
 
Resysten’s formula uses a photocatalytic process (activated by either natural or artificial light) and
 
keeps surfaces protected for up to a year,
 
all from a single application. Keeping touch points at safe hygienic levels, it can’t be removed by standard cleaning methods, it is completely odourless and invisible once applied, as well as harmless to humans. This also means that Resysten saves the school highly valuable learning and teaching time, by removing the need to clean and disinfect classrooms in between lessons – a process which on average takes up to five minutes each time.
 
Resysten is already effectively used across Europe to keep public spaces protected
 
from dangerous pathogens, including hospitals, public transport networks, food supply chains, manufacturing, retail outlets, offices and leisure and hospitality facilities. Independent testing has shown an average minimum of 90% reduction in contamination levels within the first month of application, increasing to 95% after the second month. 
 
Shane FitzGerald, Principal at St. Laurence College in Loughlinstown, says: “At St. Laurence College
 
we pay particular attention to our students’ health and safety.
 
While evaluating our current sanitising practices, and thinking sustainably, we concluded that our protocols were both environmentally and financially wasteful. At St. Laurence College, in partnership with SurfaceGuard, we are utilising state-of-the-art research to keep our campus surfaces free from all bacteria and viruses. As Principal, I’m passionate about maximising our learning and teaching time, and working with SurfaceGuard we can now do so with confidence. ”
 
 
Colin Heather, SurfaceGuard’s CEO says: “No matter how much we clean, sanitise, or disinfect there’s always the window or gap for harmful bacteria and viruses to spread on our surfaces. Resysten now offers us a breakthrough ‘always on’ cleaning technology which combats this problem, bringing us permanent safe levels of surface cleanliness, without the constant wiping down. It’s a sustainable approach and very well received, and thanks to St. Laurence College in Loughlinstown we are now honoured to be taking the first step in bringing this protection to schools across Ireland.
 
We are thankful
 
to Principal Shane FitzGerald for his trust in our product and we look forward to extending this solution to other schools and educational institutions in the country as part of our drive to protect students, teachers and wider staff.”
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Opposition LMP calls for 70 pc wage increase for teachers

Opposition LMP said on Monday that teachers should get 65-70 percent wage increase in order to preserve the purchasing power of their wages.

Party lawmaker Kriszta Hohn told an online press conference that a planned 10 percent wage increase offered by the government was “even less than a weak apology” because it would not even compensate for inflation in the last five years. Additionally, the pay grade for public employees needs to be rationalised, she said.

Teachers’ wages are still calculated on the basis of the minimum wage from 2014, or 101,500 forints (EUR 283) which in many cases results in salaries below the minimum wage introduced for skilled workers, she said.

The shortage of teachers is already a great problem and the situation can be expected to deteriorate considering that only one out of every ten teachers is below 30 and half of teachers are aged above 50, she added.

A scholarship scheme and efforts to promote careers in education could help change the situation, she said.

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House Speaker inaugurates hall of residence for ethnic Hungarian students in Romania

Hall of Residence for Csángó Students Romania

Hungarian House Speaker László Kövér on Friday inaugurated a residence hall in Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) Romania, designed to house 56 Csángó students, members of an ethnic Hungarian group in Romania’s Moldavia region.

At the ceremony opening the residence hall constructed with a grant from the Hungarian government, Kövér said the Csángó minority, a 250,000-strong group of whom some 60,000 are estimated to still speak an archaic form of Hungarian, had been stripped of the “right and opportunity” to study and exercise their faith in their mother tongue.

By restoring that right, “the feeling of national identity and belonging can be raised again into consciousness,” Kövér said.

Hungary and Hungarians in Romania’s Transylvania region have a duty to “help restore the soul of their Csángó brothers,” Kövér said.

Viktor Orbán addresses Hungarian-Romanian ties at ethnic Hungarian party’s congress

The restoration of mother-tongue education started in the city of Csíkszereda in 1990 as Csángó students were integrated into Hungarian-speaking education there, Kövér said.

The House Speaker said he hoped that the residence hall would become a model institution and serve as inspiration for similar facilities in other cities.

Kövér also delivered five portable ventilators to the Harghita County emergency hospital in Csíkszereda, to be used while transporting coronavirus patients to the hospital.

Kövér called on the Szekler community to accept the vaccine. “There are risks to taking the vaccine, but they dwarf in comparison to the risks of not being vaccinated,” he said.

Read alsoRomania’s healthcare collapsed, patients to be treated in Hungary – VIDEO!

Shocking numbers – Hungarian teachers’ salaries raise concerns

Teacher Class Education

The situation of teachers in Hungary is still not improving, so it is not surprising that in the case of Natural Sciences (e.g. Physics, Chemistry, and Biology), the number of teachers who have retired over the past year is nine times as high as the number of graduates who have become specialised teachers.

Last month, we have already reported that teachers’ salaries are so low that they are likely to strike, and many of them have left their profession because of their low income. Based on the data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, the number of unoccupied positions in the education sector increased by 38% over the past year.

According to the data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, the gross average wages rose by 8.1% from a year earlier to HUF 433,700 (~EUR 1,209) in July 2021. The starting salary for graduates is twice as much as in the case of non-graduates, while the average graduate salary is 80% higher than the aggregate average salary. The average salary of teachers, however, even including the extras, is only 60% of the average salaries, writes Telex. This means that

currently, graduates who are not teachers earn on average three times as much as teachers with a university degree in Hungary.

Average salary in Hungary to reach EUR 1,415 by next year?!

A survey conducted by Pénzcentrum at the beginning of the year revealed that nurses, social workers, and teachers rank the highest on the list of the most underpaid professions. Although the coronavirus pandemic and the introduction of distance learning showed that, besides healthcare workers, teachers are arguably more important members of our society, who have the ability to shape children’s lives. Yet, according to the survey, their wages do not reflect their social value.

If we examine the career model of different professions, according to the current pay scale for doctors, a junior doctor earns more than a teacher at the end of the career model.

Financial Times: Corvinus Budapest in top 100 management schools of the world!

This shows a clear deviation from the teacher career model introduced in 2013. The root of the problem is that the projection base of the salaries of teachers with a university degree was set in 2014, taking into account the minimum wage in 2014, which is HUF 101,500 (~EUR 282). Currently, the minimum wage is HUF 167,000 (~EUR 464), which means that if the teachers’ salaries had been set to the current minimum wage, it would be 1.67 times higher.

Yesterday, PM Viktor Orbán announced on Kossuth Rádió that the government has decided to increase the wages of nurses by 21% and the wages of nursery workers and social workers by 20% in January.

Teachers can also expect a 10% salary increase next year, and a more serious raise may come in 2023,

writes Portfolio.

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PM Orbán: the EU gives money only if Hungary allows LGBTQ activists into schools

School-kindergarten-education

PM Viktor Orbán said in his today morning interview that the teachers’ unions were right to be demanding higher wages, given that they were the first sector to receive significant wage hikes around 2013-2014. However, taking inflation and the pay rises in other sectors into account, “they have now fallen down the order”. “This isn’t fair and the teachers are right to demand wage hikes,” he said.
Orbán said teachers could receive a wage hike of 10 percent next year and a more significant hike in January 2023 if the economy continues to perform as it has. The prime minister said that although the Hungarian economy was in good shape, the public debt-to-GDP ratio was between 75 and 80 percent. “When a country’s public debt is between 75 and 80 percent of GDP, then it’s on thin ice even if the economy is doing well,” he said. “We have to be very careful here, because a flawed economic policy decision or poor timing could cause that ice beneath us to break.”

Orbán said the wage hikes and revenues resulting from the economy’s strong performance needed to be used in a way that allowed the government to reduce the public debt and bring it back to around 50 percent.


On another subject, Orbán said Hungary had still not received the funds it was entitled to from the EU’s post-pandemic recovery package. “This isn’t fair and it means that it’s not a level playing field,” he added.

He said the

EU was making the transfer of funds conditional on Hungary allowing LGBTQ activists into schools.

“Fortunately the Hungarian economy is performing well, and we don’t want to accept the money at the cost of ceding our right to our children’s sex education,” Orbán said. “We are entitled to this money, it’s just that this disagreement is causing a delay in the transfers.” Meanwhile, Orbán said he will receive his Covid booster jab next week and advised Hungarians to also get their third jab. Given that the coronavirus is still new, no one knows anything certain about it, but several variants of it have already been identified and more are likely to emerge, he said.

“But what all doctors are certain of is that the vaccine works and it’s preferable to get a booster shot,” Orbán added. He said that despite not having received a Nobel Prize for her work with mRNA technology, Hungarian biochemist

Katalin Karikó “is our hero and she saved millions of lives”.

“This may not be deserving of a Nobel Prize, but she has done heroic work and we are very proud of her,” Orban said.

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Read alsoPM Orbán: the EU gives money only if Hungary allows LGBTQ activists into schools

LIBE delegation head: Reservations from 2018 against Hungary still persist

Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield LIBE

Reservations made in terms of Hungary in 2018 mostly persist, the head of a fact-finding delegation of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) said on Friday.

Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, of the Greens-European Free Alliance group, told a press conference that some of the people the delegation met during its three-day visit to Hungary said that certain aspects of the rule of law had deteriorated in the country over the recent period. The pieces of information collected in Hungary, however, have to be assessed in detail and incorporated into a report to be submitted for a vote by the EP, she said. The report will become the EP’s own once the body has approved it, she added.

The members of the LIBE delegation held consultations with over a hundred people, and heard many opinions and political views, Delbos-Corfield said.

She said that all seven groups of the EP were represented in the delegation in order to guarantee diversity in line with EP regulations.

Hungarian FM Péter Szijjártó: Monopolising democracy is ‘antidemocratic’

Delbos-Corfield said that the visit had been planned since 2019 but postponed last spring because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In response to a question, she said the main areas of review included the independence of the judiciary, media diversity, the enforcement of fundamental rights, freedom of education and the proper operation of parliament.

During the visit, the delegation met representatives of the judiciary, media, civil organisations, science, culture and opposition parties, the mayor of Budapest, as well as the ministers of justice and the interior, she said.

European Union Hungary Flag
Read alsoTwo LIBE delegation members call for stopping ‘witch-hunt’ against Hungary

What’s new for Hungarian students in 2021-22 study year

Property Budapest

Hungary is little but extremely beautiful. It promotes a safe environment and is student-friendly. Although it’s not as well-known as other European countries, Hungary has seen quite an expansion during the last years. Hungarian cities are developing and restructuring, and universities are now welcoming students from around the globe.

Bad News for Hungary 2021-22

The latest news for students in Hungary doesn’t look that good. Most Hungarian municipalities have high rates of covid, where infected students are not capable of attending school for now. On top of that, most Hungarians teachers flee their jobs and apply to work abroad, since the education sector is not well-paid. The number of unoccupied teacher positions in Hungary is extremely high and still rising.

Great News for Hungary 2021-22

But let’s forget about problems for a second and focus on the positive aspects of studying in Hungary. According to a recent study, the Hungarian educational system performed outstandingly during this pandemic. They’ve managed to curb the effects of the disease and educated a large number of students in the virtual world. On top of that, the Eastern-European country was one of the few that held inoculation campaigns for teachers and educated them on the subject matter.

Due to the latest scholarship program called Stipendium Hungaricum, international students now have the opportunity to study in this beautiful country. The application for this scholarship opens in October or November this year (2021), so students can start preparing their essays. You can write a paper on any given topic, so check the scholarship’s website for more details. If you’re a student in need of help, you can always contact an international writer and have them prepare an application essay for you. Getting student help is easy today when technology expands at such a quick pace. You should search for “write me an assignment” on your favorite engine and start from there. Instead of spending time putting words together, you could study for the entrance exam at the university of your choice. 

Continuing the great news, the Hungarian government has promised to spend somewhere around eight billion euros to restructure universities and help them develop. This is, on average, twice the money other European universities usually spend on similar projects. According to the Daily News Hungary, the Hungarian higher-education system has reached a turning point and is quickly expanding. The universities will be operating under new systems that facilitate learning.

What Should Students Know Before Studying in Hungary

With so many advantages to studying abroad in this beautiful country, how could you say no? Not only will you live in an amazing country, but you will also have the chance to speak a new language and develop new communication abilities. However, you should be aware of the following things before your departure.

  • Currency in Hungary is called forint. That being said, you must exchange your dollars/euros for them before hitting the airport or getting into the city. Some places might accept euros but it’s better to have forints with you. One euro is somewhere around 300 ft, so you can see the difference.
  • You can create a student identity card since you’re studying abroad internationally. This will help you save big time – you will benefit from discounts on public transportation, cinema tickets, and sports venues. You could apply for such a card at your university!
  • Don’t even think about driving in Hungary. Public transportation runs very well so you should do that. Learn more about Budapest Transport Limited, the Hungarian Railways, and Volan here.
  • Finding a place to stay in Hungary is not at all complicated. Your first choice should be student dorm rooms – if that doesn’t work out, you should join an Erasmus Facebook group and ask about accommodation options. If that doesn’t work out either, use Booking.com or Airbnb.
  • Don’t forget about health insurance. Having it is highly important since it can secure your health. Some colleges in Hungary have their own doctors, but don’t rely on that. Buy international health insurance and stick to that for now. If you decide to apply for a long-stay visa, then you could think about using other options.
  • If you decide to enroll in college, finish assignments and perform well in class. You cannot have a poor GPA once you return from school in Hungary. It would be unfair to both schools, actually.

What are the Best Universities for International Students in Hungary?

Here are some of the most popular options among international students. As an international student, you won’t have any problems choosing an English program at one of the schools below.

  • University of Szeged, hosting about 4,000 international students per year
  • University of Debrecen, hosting about 3,500 international students per year
  • Eotvos Lorand University, hosting 4,000 international students per year
  • University of Pecs – 4,500 international students per year
  • Corvinus University of Budapest – 3,600 international students per year
  • Budapest University of Technology and Economics – 1,000 international students per year
  • Semmelweis University – 3,500 international students per year

Wrapping Up

There are so many reasons to study abroad, the list would be too long to include here. Studying abroad in Hungary is a great place to start, since the educational system here is affordable and student-friendly. Try it out, see if you like it. Good luck, friend!

Hungary’s leading university has established a space science centre

space astronaut

The Center of Astrophysics and Space Science was established by the Faculty of Science of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) on 1 June 2021, and it aims to coordinate research in astrophysics, astronomy and space science.

According to the university’s website, the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Science of Eötvös Loránd University decided to establish the Centre of Astrophysics and Space Science as a non-independent interinstitutional centre at its meeting in February to coordinate the research work in the field of space science and astrophysics. Up until now, experiments related to astrophysics, astronomy and space research have been conducted in three different institutes: the ELTE Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, the ELTE Institute of Physics and the ELTE Institute of Chemistry.

The centre will enable scientists to conduct research in astrophysics, astronomy and astrochemistry, and it will also allow more effective astrophysical observations of space.

The members of the new space centre are full-time researchers working in different institutes of the faculty

and the administrative tasks are also performed by the staff of the participating institutes, explained Zsolt Frei, astrophysicist and the director of the space centre.

The development of research conditionality, the strengthening of research and innovation focus and the support of the joint research are mainly financed by the Astro- and Particle Physics Excellence Program.

The university’s Excellence Programs also qualify for the participation in research at an international level; for example, Hungarian researchers could participate in large international collaborations and the best astrophysics and particle physics programs in the world as part of the Materials Science Excellence Program and the Astro and Particle Physics Excellence Program.

The Excellence Programs provide opportunities for masters and doctoral students at Eötvös Loránd University that have so far only been given to students of American and Western European elite universities.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is also committed to supporting Hungarian physics training, especially in the case of the space industry, so that it will develop a university space science training together with the Ministry of Innovation and Technology and with the participation of 16 Hungarian universities, writes HellóMagyar.

Space science is related to many disciplines, and it has transformed numerous aspects of our everyday life, for example, in the field of communication and economy. It is therefore important to launch a complex university program that includes both social and natural sciences.

Hungarian FM in NYC: “the sex education of children must be an exclusive right for parents,”

Ensuring protection for families supporting children is “especially important these days” in view of recent crises in the world, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in New York on Wednesday.
 
According to a statement from the foreign ministry, Szijjártó will address a conference on violence against children held within the 76th General Assembly of the United Nations later in the day. Szijjártó noted the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and the
 
“double burden” on parents, who needed to look after their children and do their jobs simultaneously,
 
adding that the government was planning to reimburse the personal income tax paid by families with children in 2021 if Hungary’s full-year GDP growth rate reached 5.5 percent.

The minister also said that the pandemic restricted most life to the internet, and “a great number of inexperienced users could be an easy target for cyber criminals”.
 
Minors must be protected not only against fraudsters but extreme ideologies and sexual propaganda,
 
he said, and called for globally applied regulations.

Concerning Hungary’s recent, contested child protection law, Szijjártó said that during his talks
 
“many” congratulated him on the legislation
 
“even if they don’t dare do that publicly for fear of political attacks”. Arguing for the law, he said that “parents know their children most and it is quite certain that they can explain what is necessary and they will know what is the best time to do so”. “The sex education of children must be an exclusive right for parents,” he added.
 
 
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will sign a joint declaration with the heads of state and government attending the 4th Budapest Demographic Summit starting on Thursday, the minister in charge of family affairs told a press conference on Wednesday. The declaration will be the “signatories’ testimony that they see families as the solution to demographic problems”, Katalin Novák said.

The summit will be held on September 23-24 in Budapest’s Várkert Bazár and will focus on the connections between demographics and sustainability, featuring some 70 speakers from 18 countries, Novák said. Some 500 attendees are expected, including state and religious leaders, scientists and NGOs, she said.
Bible
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Chaos in Hungarian schools? – COVID-19 seems to grow rampant

children school

Many students got the coronavirus in Hungary. Classes went into quarantine, yet there is no official information regarding this matter.

Hvg wrote about the issue based on parents’ stories and opinions, but they also asked members of the teachers’ union. The situation is no cause for panic, but it is not an effective measure in fighting the virus if people find out about ill students only from rumours.

“There are no municipalities where infected students and teachers are unheard of.”

Tests are not done, and everything should be done according to the letter from the ministry, which states that no educational measures will be taken in the case of students over the age of 12. The teachers’ union, however, does not see a reason to panic.

1.5 m coronavirus tests ‘locked away from public’?

Schools, on the other hand, cannot do much. They can use thermometers, disinfectant, or ask students to wear masks. In the past, school principals could order school breaks in case it was necessary, but now, the order has to come from the Office of Education, and quarantines can only be ordered by the centre of public health.

A paradox in this issue is that without tests, students cannot be sent to quarantine, but there are no tests done at schools.

Schools cannot switch to digital education when it comes to teaching children of an age who can already be vaccinated, which means that in Hungary, every child over 12 years old (who are usually in 6th grade) will have to attend school, even if there are fellow students who got the virus. Parents could exempt their kids from going to school only if there is a serious reason for it, but the school principal has to approve the absence.

Unacceptable! Most Hungarian teachers live in poverty

However, Covid-19 is not considered a valid reason for parents to keep their children at home, and many kids are sent to school even if they got the virus.

Another issue is not having official information; parents and teachers alike find out about new cases and quarantined classes from rumours and from each other. A source told Portfolio that a doctor sent a student back into the community instead of asking for a test. The parent told the school about this, but there was no measure or precaution they could have taken for lack of an official PCR test result.

In another institution, parents got tests done, and that was how they found out that the vast majority of students got the virus. Only two classes remained in school, the rest of them were sent to quarantine.

Portfolio writes that students will have the chance to take the vaccine at schools again. 228,000 students aged 12-17 were vaccinated, and 61% of people aged 18-19 are also vaccinated. In the first round of vaccinating at schools, 47,000 students got the vaccine at more than 2,000 venues. Online registration for vaccines remains open as well.

Hungarian teachers flee their jobs! – Wages are outrageously low

Hungarian teachers flee their jobs! – Wages are outrageously low

teacher

The situation of teachers in Hungary continues to worsen. They are likely to strike, and many of them have straight up left their profession because of low income, not to mention that many of them can only make a living thanks to their partners.

Even though the Hungarian Ministry of Human Resources said a couple of days ago that there is no labour shortage in the educational sector, the latest data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office implies the opposite, 444 wrote.

The problem has multiple layers, and the reality is that it will take several years to solve it at its roots. One of the main issues is that the wage of educators and teachers in Hungary is very low. The root of this problem is that their salary is set taking into account the minimum wage of the year 2014. But this adds up.

Nowadays, they lose hundreds of thousands of forints (~ €300) every month, and in the past few years, they lost approximately 3-5 million forints (€ 8,630-14,383) each year because of this.

Unacceptable! Most Hungarian teachers live in poverty

The harsh reality and life of Hungarian teachers – system to “collapse”?

Some of the other reasons for the labour shortage in the sector include unpaid overtime, overworking, centralised decisions, and a complex issue that comes from all of the above: the fact that the new generation of teachers lacks in number. The combination of the mentioned issues has made the teacher’s and educator’s profession very unpopular, says Portfolio.

Unoccupied positions in the education sector
Source: Hungarian Central Statistical Office

According to the latest findings of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, there were a total of 6,600 unoccupied positions in the education sector all around Hungary in the second quarter of 2021.

Higher wages in Romania attract an increasing number of Hungarian workers

Compared to last year’s data of the same period, the number of unoccupied positions has increased by 38%, suggesting that the problem is escalating.

This level of labour shortage poses great risks. In some places, there are not enough teachers to properly prepare students for high school graduation from certain, optional subjects (Mathematics, Hungarian, and History are mandatory). In other places, there are no Chemistry teachers, and schools have to employ freelancers to teach the subject to children, Portfolio reports.

In many elementary schools, it is almost normal practice to pool together classes during daycare as there are not enough educators, and if a teacher gets ill or is incapable to work for any time, it puts schools into difficult situations. Despite these reports, the government says that there are fewer children per teacher than before.