education

Tenfold pay gap between teachers at Hungarian universities?

It is a great career choice to be a guest teacher in Hungary. While Hungarian teachers earn small amounts of money, some foreign educators can enjoy all types of benefits.

Foreign guest teachers can get as much as 10,000 euros as a stipend at Mathias Corvinus Collegium, an institution close to governing political party Fidesz. Younger educators under the age of 35 may get 5,000 euros, wrote Telex. Free travel, health insurance, visa, accommodation, an office, participation at conferences abroad, and some money to spend are included in the stipend. The stipend can be given for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of 4 years.

The stipend that foreign guest teachers get is considered an extremely large sum of money in comparison to the pay that a Hungarian teacher receives. A month ago, Telex reported that Urkom Aleksander, an assistant professor at ELTE, disclosed the information that

in Hungary, an assistant teacher with a PhD and obligations to do research and have publications earns as little as 542 euros a month at a university.

Read alsoTenfold pay gap between teachers at Hungarian universities?

In his Facebook post, he also posed some very serious questions. “I had to ask myself, why are most of my colleagues in a bad mood? Why are there any drop-outs at all when this [teaching] is already such a “glorified” profession? And why does an assistant professor in Hungary have to take on 3 part-time jobs to be able to make a living at all? Do you think this is the shame of university lecturers or the shame of the country? University education should finally be appreciated!” he wrote.

Recently, Sándor Dráviczki, the President of the Higher Education Workers’ Trade Union, spoke about the pay gap issue. A university assistant professor takes home a net of 538 euros, college assistant professors earn 481-510 euros, and teaching assistants earn 416 euros, wrote eduline.hu

The Hungarian government is planning to raise salaries in the field of education by 15% in September. Another 15% raise is planned for January 2022, but this second raise will not apply to everyone who works in education.

children
Read alsoWould you work at a children’s camp as a teacher for EUR 2 per hour?

Government to introduce obligatory PE at Hungarian universities?

debrecen university

PM Viktor Orbán talked to Nemzeti Sport, a Hungarian sports daily, about Hungary’s Olympic performance, saying that one of the conditions of providing grants for higher education will be the availability of physical education at universities.

About the universities that have been put in possession of private foundations, he said that one of the grant conditions would be to make physical education available. Furthermore, the government will provide extra funding “if they enter teams in certain conventional sports in university championships, such as basketball, volleyball, rowing, and pentathlon.”

According to hvg.hu, the government introduced everyday PE education in 2012, despite the lack of infrastructure. Since then, the administration has been improving that in the schools. In 2018, Zoltán Balog, the former Minister of Human Capacities, said at a V4 conference that Hungary would introduce obligatory PE in kindergartens, too. Regarding higher education, the idea popped up in 2013 first. However, what the PM said in his interview is new since

HVG thinks it means that the universities will have to provide everyday PE for their students if they want to receive enough money from the state.

It’s official: the majority of the Hungarian higher education in possession of private foundations

According to Nemzeti Sport, they asked the PM to speak about Hungary’s performance at the Olympic Games and whether it met his expectations. “A prime minister shouldn’t make assessments because that’s not his duty; it is the duty of the leaders of sports associations and the Olympic Committee,” Orbán replied. He added that the Hungarian team won “half of the events that we should win.” He expected a gold from Katinka Hosszú, but he defended her after she could not meet expectations, saying that “once a champion, always a champion.“

About the Olympic Games, he said that every nation would like to prove to the world that they are unique. Hungary has limited opportunities to do so in the economy, but “in talent, the sky is the limit. 

The Hungarian nation is one of the world’s most competitive,” 

he added. He also said that the Olympic team’s performance reveals something about the current state of the country.

He said that in the success of the male athletes, the pillar was the rebuilding of the army and the introduction of daily physical education in schools.

He said that the Hungarian people work extremely hard, so most of them do not spend their free time doing sports.

The government’s task is to provide conditions to make sports available for everybody.

He also said that nations cannot be replaced, not even in sports. “The Olympics and sports are also a great help in passing our tried and tested values on to our children,” he added. PM Orbán stated that

an Olympiad can only be organised with national unity,

referring to the 2017 fiasco when a referendum initiative started by Momentum Movement killed the Olympic plans of the government.

“Since then, four years have passed, and now there are far more Hungarians who appreciate that the hotel development and road development projects that are necessary for an Olympiad have been completed regardless of the Olympics. Every year, we’re stronger, every year we’re better-prepared, every year the country looks better, every year, it’s increasingly evident that Hungary is worthy of hosting the Olympics,” he said.

Will Budapest host the Olympics in 2032?

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

Hungary teacher difficulty

A very high number of teachers commute between settlements and schools to cover unfilled positions. This system is an emergency solution and is disadvantageous both for the teachers and the institutions.

Teachers play a crucial role in everyone’s life. They spend long hours with our kids, educating them, motivating them, and opening up endless possibilities for the future through education. Unless they are too tired and not able to concentrate, due to travelling long distances between different schools in different cities.
Some of them simply decide to leave the profession and try their luck in something else. 

Obligatory vaccination makes Hungarian doctors leave healthcare?

That is, unfortunately, the sad truth in Hungary today. According to the Trade Union of Teachers,

about twelve thousand pedagogues are missing from the Hungarian educational system. If nothing changes in the next four or five years, it can knock out the country’s public education.

It is an everyday phenomenon that a teacher specialised in a particular subject that is only taught once or twice a week has to teach in more than one institution during a day. On many occasions, these schools are not even in the same city or town. These “travelling teachers” work in regions where there is a lack of specialised professionals.

The Klebelsberg Institution maintenance centre, a special ministerial agency, was set up to carry out tasks related to providing education. The centre is the employee of all pedagogical staff in the country. According to their standpoint quoted by hvg.hu,

“not every school needs to have a teacher specialised in certain subjects.”

Smaller schools, where there is only one class in each grade, can come together and jointly give the necessary hours for the full employment of a teacher.

Although the system provides a solution for small schools with fewer students, where the school cannot employ the teacher in a full-time position, it is far from ideal. These travelling teachers can not participate in meetings and be an integrated part of the school’s life. Apart from the fact that they have to run from one place to another, they have to use their own car, and they do not get extra support. Moreover, they are already very much underpaid for the classes they teach, and they are left out of the bonus system, as well.

The system offers a temporary solution, but the lack of twelve thousand teachers should change because this situation can not work forever. Already fewer people decide to choose this profession, many of them quit university, and a high percentage chooses to leave the profession one or two years into working. It will be even more complicated in the near future when a lot of elderly teachers retire.

The re-employment of these retired teachers can not solve the situation. Partly because they have maximum hours per week they can work, partly because they refuse to do so, due to the increased pressure and work.

Vice President of the Trade Union of Teachers Tamás Totyik says that

“the teachers are completely exhausted. The working schedule spent with actual teaching in Hungary is the highest in the European Union.”

We often forget that an educator’s job does not only consist of giving an actual class face-to-face to students. They have to prepare the material, be in contact with the parents, observe students, prepare follow-ups, and do administrational tasks.

In Hungary, an average teacher works 56 hours a week.

Most teachers missing from the system are experts in social sciences, IT, mathematics, and foreign languages. Still, quite a lot of kindergarten teachers and school psychologists would also be needed.

The problem exists in the capital, too, not only in the countryside. The Trade Union says that seven or eight years would be necessary to change it, but with these starting salaries, it is impossible.

A freshly graduated teacher earns around HUF 230 thousand gross (EUR 657 gross).

The salary is one thing, but the amount of work they have to do every week makes the profession very unappealing for anyone with the intention of having their own family one day. The environment of teachers in Hungary is in danger, says atv.hu. 

vaccine nurse
Read alsoNurse leaves Hungary due to fatigue – She is now more free in Germany

Government: Hungary is at the forefront of Europe in providing third jabs!

vaccine in hungary

Third vaccine shots are necessary due to the fast spread of new mutations such as the delta variant, especially when it comes to the elderly and people already suffering from an illness, a government official has said.

Hungary is at the forefront of Europe in providing third jabs, and this process is running smoothly, István György, the state secretary for domestic administration of the Prime Minister’s Office, said in an interview to Friday’s issue of Magyar Nemzet.

GPs and vaccination sites in 78 hospitals around the country

are administering the shots, he noted, adding that experts believed that no health risks were associated with a third jab.

People who previously received an mRNA vaccine will now receive a vector vaccine and vice-versa, though individuals can deviate from the norm based on medical advice, he said.

So far, close to 83,000 have registered for a third jab and 75,000 have received it.

Addressing the issue of the administration of Sinopharm to the elderly, he said the rate of development of immunity was not vaccine-dependent and no vaccine was fully effective. But after a third dose, the likelihood of developing a serious illness can be minimised, György added.

Meanwhile, he said the start of

the school year in September would not present a danger

as Hungary enjoyed one of the highest rates of vaccinations among students in Europe. Almost 200,000 12-17 year-olds have already registered to be inoculated and over 80 percent have received a shot. An additional vaccine drive for this age group is soon being launched, he added.

Budapest listed among the world’s best cities to study in!

BCE Corvinus University Budapest Hungary 2020

The Hungarian capital made it to the list of the world’s best cities to study in while at university.

Budapest is one of the best destinations you could choose for your holidays. It is cheap (especially when it comes to beers), crowded but not to a suffocating extent, has a vibrant nightlife all week long, and, most importantly, it is absolutely stunning.

Cheapest Budapest district for renting an apartment

Quacquarelli Symonds, a British company specialising in the analysis of higher education institutions around the world, just gave us another reason as to why you should come and check out the Hungarian capital.

Budapest was chosen as one of the Best Student Cities 2022 in the world.

The city occupies the honourable 58th position out of 200 cities ranked based on several factors.

From the region, only Vienna and Prague acquired a better ranking.
The list made public on Wednesday is again led by London, Munich, Seoul, and Tokyo. From the Eastern European region, Vienna had the best scores, where the universities attract more and more Hungarian students year by year.

There are 35 higher education institutions operating in Budapest, among which three are included in the Top Universities in the World 2022 list

(ELTE, BME, and Corvinus). Moreover, many universities offer the possibility of studying in a foreign language, usually in English, French, or German.

Even though the 58th position is an amazing achievement both for the city and the country, it is a bit bitter. During the past years, the Hungarian capital used to rank somewhere between the 43rd and 56th positions.

This drop can be the outcome of the sudden increase in prices over the past year. Nevertheless,

Budapest is still the 8th cheapest student city in the world,

which was one of the deciding factors when drawing up the list, highlights eduline.hu.
The average yearly tuition fee at a Budapest university is around 3,600 dollars (3,000 euros). According to QS’s calculations, an average student can live on 600 dollars a month, without including rent. The creators of the list did thorough research, as Sziget Festival, ruin bars, museums, and thermal baths were all used as appealing factors.

Why is Budapest the only Hungarian city ranked by the company when the country has several famous universities in many cities educating future generations? First of all, QS only considers cities where the population exceeds 250 thousand. Second, the city needs to have at least two universities that made it to QS’s latest world ranking.
Debrecen was very close with its 200 thousand inhabitants, however, no city other than the capital could comply with the second criterion. Almost all big cities went through an integration process in the early 2000s, which resulted in the setting up of one big institution in most of these cities.

Many factors were taken into consideration when drawing up the final list: the world ranking of institutions operating in the given city, the “mix of students” (the proportion of foreign students, for instance), employment activity, affordability, or even general circumstances, such as public security or the level of air pollution. The company even considered the corruption index of Transparency International.

citadella
Read alsoCitadella of Budapest to become the gem of the city – VIDEO

Hungarian students becoming more competitive? School final exams to be revamped

Hungary student school

Budapest, July 16 (MTI) – The government has revamped the national core curriculum and school final exam requirements.

In the 2023/2024 academic year, exams taking place in May-June will include new subjects – such as digital culture and civic studies – as well as a renewed focus in others, while testing students on their independent and creative problem-solving abilities, the Ministry of Human Resources (Emmi) said in a statement on Friday.

Project work in all science subjects will also be incorporated into the exam structure.

The current compulsory exam subjects will remain the same, however. Freedom will be given to schools to set aside lessons for exam preparation in grades 11 and 12, the ministry said.

The new requirements have been drawn up with the input of practicing teachers and experts who have broad experience in setting examinations, and the preliminary draft was put to a wide-ranging professional and social consultation before the final document was adopted, the statement said.

Hungarian schools listed among the most successful in the world!

European Citizen’s Prize goes to Freeszfe

szfe

The European Parliament has awarded Hungarian civil rights group Freeszfe for its Emergency Exit programme with this year’s European Citizen’s Prize, according to a Tuesday announcement.

Emergency Exit is a cooperation between the students of Budapest’s University of Theatre and Film Arts (SZFE) and those of five other universities in Europe. The cooperation promotes respect for European values and their practical implementation, the EP said in a statement.

Lívia Járóka, MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, said in a statement that the recipient had been selected in an “unsportsmanlike” procedure.

She insisted that while the Hungarian jury had nominated four candidates for the prize, the EP’s jury in Brussels excluded the other three candidates citing administrative reasons.

Járóka said that excluding Hungarian health professionals fighting against the coronavirus pandemic was “unfair”, adding that she had proposed a special prize to honour health staff and their union.

The European Citizens’ Prize has been awarded each year, since 2008, to European organisations or individuals who have given exceptional service in the service of greater European integration and understanding between citizens and member states.

Members of the European Parliament have the right to submit nominations – one per Member each year.

Read also: Budapest man jailed for knifing supporter of student protest movement

freeszfe demo
Read alsoBudapest man jailed for knifing supporter of student protest movement

Jobbik accuses Fidesz of exercising ‘monopoly’ over German minority Budapest school

grassalkovich german school

A lawmaker of the opposition Jobbik party on Thursday accused ruling Fidesz of exercising a “monopoly” over the ownership and operation of a bilingual Hungarian-German primary school in Budapest.

Speaking at a press conference in front of the Grassalkovich Antal Primary School, Koloman Brenner called it an “outrageous” and “unacceptable” decision by the human resources minister to “disallow” the German national self-government to take over the school’s operation.

He said Miklós Kásler had not supported the school’s headmaster in keeping her post either.

“It is apparent that Fidesz’s one-party supremacy has reached the circles of Hungary’s national minorities,” said Brenner, who also serves as a deputy speaker of parliament.

He called on the minister to revisit his decisions, underlining the German national minority’s contributions “to the common Hungarian homeland” through their loyalty, diligence and talent.

Brenner expressed regret that Imre Ritter, the speaker representing the German minority in the Hungarian parliament, had remained silent over the matter. He said Ritter “in the wider public is no longer representing the German community in Hungary, but has become a guardian of Fidesz’s two-thirds majority”.

Read alsoGovernment accuses German news agency DPA of spreading fake news on Hungary

Secretary: Hungary now has a much better relationship with its neighbours

Hungary Romania inauguration
A Catholic kindergarten expanded with funding of 32 million forints from the Hungarian state was inaugurated in Gheorgheni (Gyergószentmiklós), Romania, on Saturday.
 
The kindergarten, which provides day-care and meals for twenty children, was consecrated by Gergely Kovács, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Alba Iulia.

Speaking at the ceremony, state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office for churches, minorities and civil affairs Miklós Soltész said even a small kindergarten group has an important role in ensuring that
young families will stay in the neighbourhood, decide to have children and raise them to keep and pass on their Hungarian identity and Catholic faith.
After ten years of the government’s introducing national policies, Soltész said, Hungary now has a much better relationship with its neighbours, and this is also because the funding provided does not only enrich the ethnic Hungarians living there but the neighbouring states as well.

The state secretary said the Fogarasy Mihaly Technical School in the centre of Gheorgheni will also be renovated from Hungarian state funds.
 

It’s official: the majority of the Hungarian higher education in possession of private foundations

debrecen university

Hungary’s university reforms have reached a new stage with the registration of nine public trust foundations this week, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. István Stumpf, the government commissioner for reforming higher education, said in the statement that the foundations would put the country’s competitiveness “on a new footing”.

The process transforming the sector will continue as the foundations’ trustees and university senates work together to turn opportunities arising from the model change into tangible results, he added.

Foundations will be able to rise above administrative constraints,

create their own strategies, and run performance-focused operations, the statement said.

The foundations are public trust funds with a public function, providing

guarantees for the state and the universities,

since they must stick to designated goals and use their assets exclusively in the public service, it added. Following a Constitutional Court ruling, the new model must guarantee the sustainability of the higher education system and its institutions as well as their autonomy, the statement said.

When it comes to the day-to-day application of the legislation, interventions by trustees regarding issues such as an institution’s budget, annual report, organisational and operational rules, asset management plan and business arrangements must allow sufficient time for the university’s senate to form an opinion and a substantive proposal while making sure decision-making is transparent, it said.

This week,

seven of the nine foundations have been fully registered,

while the courts have requested additional information in two cases, Stumpf said.

Further fresh information on the model change can be found at modellvaltas.kormany.hu – MTI said.

House speaker meets Azeri counterpart

hungary azerbaijan

House speaker László Kövér on Wednesday met Azeri counterpart Sahiba Gafarova, who is paying an official visit to Hungary, parliament’s press chief said.

Zoltán Szilágyi cited in a statement Kövér as saying that Azerbaijan was a major strategic partner of Hungary in developing its eastern relations.

“The Turkic linguistic and cultural relations provide a strong and reliable basis for efforts to further strengthen relations between Azeri and Hungarian people,” he added.

“We consider it important to strengthen inter-parliamentary cooperation,” Kövér said, adding that “it is our mutual interest that economic relations should reflect the level of political ties.”

Hungary sees opportunities for tighter project-based cooperation in areas including agriculture, water management, renewable energy, health industry and the IT sector, he said.

Azerbaijan could play a special role in Europe’s energy security because of the Southern Gas Corridor project, Kövér said.

“In order to diversify energy imports, connection to the Southern Gas Corridor is a priority for Hungary and we would welcome Azeri gas in our energy mix from 2023,” he said.

Commenting on expanding relations in education, science and culture, Kover said Azerbaijan was one of the greatest beneficiaries of the Hungarian government’s Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship scheme. The Hungarian government offers 200 Azeri students the opportunity to start higher education in Hungary, he added.

pipeline
Read alsoHungary to complete pipeline for Azeri gas by October

Justice minister: EU not interested in Hungary’s position on sex education law

Hungary Orbán von der Leyen

The Hungarian government was “mistaken” when it thought the European Union would be interested in its position on Hungary’s new sex education law, Justice Minister Judit Varga said in a blog post on abouthungary.hu on Friday.

The minister posted an op-ed on Hungary’s new law which she said Brussels-based news outlet Politico had refused to publish.

In the op-ed, the minister said that “no one” in the international press cared that a joint statement issued by several European countries expressing concern over the law “contains false allegations and falsifies the merit of the Hungarian law by suppressing essential parts thereof”.

“No one cares to notice that the focus of the law is the protection of children from any kind of sexuality – hence it cannot, by definition, be discriminatory,” Varga added.

She said the signatory member states had not even bothered to ask the government for an official explanation of the law before issuing their statement. “Criticisms instead have generated an artificial conflict between the rights of children and the rights of LGBT. Is this really the embodiment of the loyal cooperation enshrined in the Treaties?”

Varga said the new law was about guaranteeing the rights or parents and “guaranteeing the rights of parents and protecting minors from accessing content that may contradict the educational principles their parents chose to teach them until they become adults themselves”.

The minister also cited the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union as stating that “the right of parents to ensure the education and teaching of their children in conformity with their religious, philosophical and pedagogical convictions” must be respected.

The minister added that sexual orientation and gender identity fell under strict constitutional protection in Hungary.

“In Hungary, everybody is free to express their sexual identity as they see fit, as Hungarian legislation guarantees fundamental rights to the full extent for each minority,” she said.

orbán grandson
Read alsoPM Orbán: Anti-paedophile law about protecting children, parents

Hungarian schools listed among the most successful in the world!

fazekas high school

Two Hungarian schools got on the list that includes the institutions from which most foreign students enter the courses of the two most renowned British universities.

According to Eduline, the Fazekas Mihály Secondary School and the Milestone Institute have both been listed by the Telegraph among the 20 institutions from where the most foreign students can enter the top British universities, Oxford and Cambridge. Three Singaporean schools topped the list, followed by many schools in China, Greece, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Malaysia, Gibraltar, and Lithuania.

György Greskovits, Head of Education at the Milestone Institute, told Eduline that Hungarian students used to major in subjects like Mathematics, Computer Science or Physics, but more and more apply to Oxford or Cambridge to study Geography, Philosophy, History, and Economics. The Telegraph highlighted the Milestone Institute because, since its 2010 start, 162 of its students have been accepted to British universities.

Brexit, however, affects the opportunities of many Hungarian students.

Eduline claims first-year students from EU countries starting this September will no longer receive tuition reductions and will not be able to take out British student loans. Therefore, the number of EU students applying to Cambridge or Oxford has fallen. According to Index, this year, 58% fewer Hungarian students applied to British universities by the January deadline.

Greskovits says there were many students this year who could not go due to financial reasons, so Milestone students had to change tactics: they applied to top universities in Europe, America, and England and will enrol where they receive a favourable scholarship as well.

The Milestone teaching system is somewhat similar to the two British universities.

They both put emphasis on debating and autonomous thinking. According to Greskovics, Hungarian students are used to frontal education, so they are usually surprised when they first come to the institution. Another important factor to their success is that students at Milestone compile their own curriculum.

Hungarian students are unfamiliar with interactive, debating courses, and it is not characteristic for schools to give the students any freedom regarding their timetable and curriculum. According to the Head of Education at Milestone, there are plenty of talented students, but the Hungarian education system is quite simply “wasteful of human resources”.

He says that the fact that they, a relatively new educational-pedagogical workshop, got on the Telegraph’s list proves that Hungary’s education could be more successful if they thought of education as a major resource-producing sector.

university-education-school-class
Read alsoHungary higher education becoming more competitive, says audit office

Gödöllő University to undergo 509-566 million euros enlargement

SZIE gödöllő Szent István University agriculture hungary picture

The University of Agriculture and Life Science in Gödöllő will benefit from an enlargement project starting next year and using a budget of 180-200 billion forints (EUR 509-566m), dean Csaba Gyuricza told daily Világgazdaság on Tuesday.

Gyuricza highlighted the benefits of the university recently shifting to a foundation-based operation model, and insisted that its earlier autonomy would be maintained.

“The primary guarantee for autonomy is that the university has a functional senate, it has the power to select its teachers and researchers, to prepare a development strategy and define research areas,” he insisted.

“The university calls for change,” he said, and argued that agriculture was now heavily influenced by IT, and the sector “requires completely different labour than 30 years ago”.

Concerning the upgrade, Gyuricza said that while the main buildings would be renewed, a new sports complex, laboratories, libraries, and student accommodation would be built. He added that

the current number of students could be doubled and reach 10,000.

Here is why several Hungarian students apply to foreign universities

student_abroad_library

From September, dozens of Hungarian students plan to start their university studies abroad. Furthermore, the proportion of applicants for Hungarian higher education has decreased significantly this year that can generate labour shortage in specific sectors later on. But what is the reason for the mass emigration of students and which are the most popular destinations?

According to the latest data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, the number of applicants for higher education in Hungary has drastically decreased this year. Numerically, it means 91,400 students in 2021, which is about 20,000 less than a year before.

Furthermore, there has not been such a low number of applicants since 2001.

The purpose of the unstoppable emigration is partly working, partly studying abroad. As the world has changed a lot in the last twenty years, younger generations have different demands than before. Those students who start their studies abroad or even graduate at a foreign university are less likely to return to Hungary. Speaking languages ​​with a high level of expertise behind them, they work for higher wages and experience a better standard of living abroad; therefore, only a very few of them decide to return to their homeland.

According to the Hungarian news portal Pénzcentrum, the low domestic income in Hungary compared to the EU wage level continuously encourages Hungarian emigration.

In addition to large wage differences, expectations about the future, dissatisfaction with the situation in their home country and high domestic unemployment in the past are the main drivers of students’ emigration.

Ten Hungarian universities have been ranked among the best in the world

Surveys have shown that the process of migration is not one-way: some emigrants return home and then go abroad again. It depends whether the individuals, based on their experiences abroad, manage to claim higher wage demands at home and realise their expectations.

Several demographic studies highlight that the increasing tendency of students’ emigration is a serious threat to Hungary that can cause labour shortage in several sectors. This is the age group that will pay taxes and contributions within a few years, as well as give birth within a decade; however, those who emigrate will realise all these far from Hungary.

Half of Hungarians have an acquaintance who has left their homeland.

With the level of education, the proportion of those who know emigrants increases: among those with up to 8 grades, it is 40%, and among graduates, it is 63%. The news portal also examined the reasons behind it by asking five students from Hungary, studying abroad.

Read also: Education Abroad: 5 Promising Countries

Based on the answers, the main reason why several Hungarian students choose the Netherlands as their destination is that tuition fees are relatively low compared to other countries; meanwhile, the quality of education is exceptionally high. In addition, people are friendly, and they speak English well, making it easier to find a job. Furthermore, sustainability is also an important aspect in which the Netherlands is at the forefront.

Among the positive experiences, one of the students highlighted the good standard of living in the country. Someone with a low salary gets a discount or has completely free health insurance.

The state provides a free Dutch course for everyone and has a word at work and school, both as an employee or student. People have a much more positive worldview than in Hungary. However, she also has negative experiences. Accordingly, taxes and public utilities are high, including water charges, garbage collection charges etc. The most serious problem she has to face is that people in the Netherlands look down on those from Eastern Europe that she had not expected before she moved out. And of course, as a Hungarian, it is difficult to get used to the grey, windy and cold weather, which is typical for most of the year.

Another student chose a university in Osaka where tuition is entirely free (except for the books) as a Japanese state scholarship funds it. The student also receives a monthly living stipend.

Which countries do most Hungarians decide to move back home from?

The university studies were preceded by a year of preparation at the University of Foreign Languages ​​in Tokyo for all state scholarship foreign students, which was also free of charge. According to Fanny, she is experiencing a culture shock right now. She has many positive and negative experiences as well, out of which the most negative is the expectation of gender differences between women and men. After college, Fanny wants to go back to Europe and study languages.

Among students applying for foreign universities, there is a common desire to try themselves abroad, travel, see the world and become independent in another country.

Three of the five girls interviewed work alongside their studies, each speaking two to three foreign languages.

They feel lucky to be able to make their dreams come true with the support of their families and are completely satisfied with their current situation; however, they do not want to give the impression that everyday life is easier abroad than in Hungary.

Some of the emigrating students plan to return to Hungary after finishing their studies, just like Zóra studying law in Maastricht. “I can’t comment on my future location because regardless of its disadvantages, Hungary will always be my country and will always be the centre of my heart.”

university, QS ranking, szeged
Read alsoMore than ten thousand foreign students learn with state-funded scholarships in Hungary

Hungary built a vocational training centre in Lebanon

Hungary Lebanon building

Tristan Azbej, Hungary’s state secretary in charge of aiding persecuted Christians, and Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, inaugurated a cultural and vocational training centre built in part from funds contributed by the Hungarian government in Lebanon on Friday.

The Hungarian government contributed 2.2 billion dollars to the construction of the cultural and vocational training centre that will serve the “revival” of the local Christian community, Azbej told MTI by phone. In addition to supporting the Middle Eastern and Lebanese Christian community, the project also serves Hungary’s political interests, the state secretary said.

Lebanon is caring for some 2 million refugees, Azbej said, adding that if the humanitarian crisis there were to deepen, the refugees would likely flee the country, thereby increasing the flow of illegal migrants towards Europe.

He said it was therefore in Hungary’s strategic interest to support and strengthen the local community and protect the region’s Christian heritage.

The government’s Hungary Helps aid programme is aimed at both helping persecuted Christians in the Middle East and stemming the flow of migrants to Europe, he noted.

The newly inaugurated vocational training centre will contribute to the education of Christian youth and women,

allowing them to find jobs and make a living in their homeland,

Azbej said.

The Hungarian delegation is in Beirut at the invitation of Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, Azbej said. He said the patriarch had conveyed his thanks to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian people for their solidarity.

Azbej said the patriarch had described to him the effects of the coronavirus crisis on Lebanon’s education system. Many schools have had to close and students cannot afford to pay their tuition, the state secretary said. In light of Friday’s talks, the Hungarian government will look into ways it can support Lebanon’s Christian education system, he added.

Featured image: Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, after an anti-government protest on June 17.

Parliament founded Chinese Fudan’s Budapest campus

Fudan-Corvinus Double Degree MBA

Lawmakers on Tuesday gave the government a mandate to establish a foundation to run a local campus of China’s Fudan University. The legislation on the mandate and on the transfer of real estate for the campus to the foundation was approved with a vote of 132 for, 25 against and no abstentions.

A last-minute modification to the legislation requires the government to report to lawmakers on preparations related to establishing Fudan Hungary University and the planned budget for its implementation by December 31, 2022, at the latest.

The government has said it backs a referendum on establishing the campus in the capital, but only in 2023, after the conditions for the investment become clear.

Moreover, parliament elected Zoltán Márki as a Constitutional Court judge in a secret vote on Tuesday. Márki, who has served as the head of the penal college of the Kuria, Hungary’s supreme court, was elected with 136 votes in favour, 2 against and 3 abstentions. There were 15 invalid ballots cast in the vote.

The post of Constitutional Court judge had remained vacant after András Zs Varga was appointed head of the Kúria. Márki will take up his post on June 22.

Materials about gender change, promoting homosexuality forbidden in schools

Hungary school homosexual
A new law will create a register of paedophile offenders while preventing paedophiles from working in contexts involving children. It is forbidden to carry content targeting youth below the age of 18 which has pornographic content, portraying themselves in a sexual manner, or doing anything to promote homosexuality or a gender identity at variance with gender at birth.
 
The law passed on Tuesday with 157 votes in favour and 1 against. An electronic searchable database will contain names in the register for parents and other relatives to query once a legitimate request has been made. The database which also contains a list of one-time felons may only be used in the service of protecting children.

Meanwhile, the penal code has been changed to ensure that perpetrators of certain types of child pornography receive a prison sentence of 20 years without the possibility of parole. One such example is
violence used against a person below the age of 12.
Others include child sex abuse, harassment or violence committed by officials or recidivists.

In cases of serious paedophile crimes, the statute of limitation no longer applies. In milder cases, however, the statute of limitations applies in cases in which the victim is 21 or above instead of the current age of 18.
 

The employment ban for paedophiles in health or education is being expanded to include leisure-related jobs involving visits by minors, such as beaches, amusement parks, zoos and sports associations.

Also paedophiles will be banned from government or political leadership posts.
Regarding sex education in schools, materials must not contain anything aimed at changing gender or promoting homosexuality. Besides teachers of the school, only people or organisations included in an official, continually updated register can hold sex education classes.

Also,
the right of a child to identify according to his or her sex at birth is guarded by the law under the aegis of the child protection system.
It is forbidden to carry content targeting youth below the age of 18 which has pornographic content, portraying themselves in a sexual manner, or doing anything to promote homosexuality or a gender identity at variance with gender at birth. The same applies to advertisements.

Television stations will be obliged carry an 18 certificate for films and programming with content which deviates from the law’s restrictions, while Hungary’s media authority will be required to seek remedial action by the member state under whose jurisdiction any infringements take place.