Education and Training Monitor 2023

1. The teaching profession

Hungary faces increasing teacher shortages. Research shows that the most important factor in student performance is teacher quality. Yet, schools in many EU countries, including Hungary, are struggling to fill teaching positions. Teacher shortages in Hungary are most significant in disadvantaged areas, for mathematics, science subjects and foreign languages, and in vocational education and training (Varga, 2022). There is also a shortage of support staff, which further increases teachers’ workload: more than half of the schools do not have a school psychologist, youth and family welfare worker or social pedagogue (Lannert et al., 2021). Teaching is not an attractive career, and the prestige of the profession has plummeted. Only around 1 in 10 teachers in Hungary think that their profession is valued by society (TALIS 2018). In a recent survey, teachers cited low wages, high workload, lack of professional autonomy, the composition of the curriculum and administrative burden as the biggest problems (TÁRKI, 2023). The teaching force is ageing: in 2021, 29.5% of teachers were aged 55 or older (EU average: 24.5%). A system for forecasting teacher supply and demand, which could support planning, is lacking. The Graduate Career Tracking System of higher education informs on the number of teacher graduates employed in education 4 years after graduation. The country's fragmented school system increases the demand for teachers, as small schools need to maintain full teaching staff regardless of the number of children. The proportion of primary schools with fewer than 150 pupils is particularly high (49.5%) (Lannert et al., 2021). Unsatisfactory working conditions and limited possibility to strike prompted many teachers to practise civil disobedience, widely backed by independent student movements. In response, a regulation¹ issued in January 2023 allowed school districts to dismiss teachers 'breaching their work obligations' with retroactive effect until the end of the school year.

Figure 1: Initial teacher education applications and admissions in Hungary, 2018-2023

Initial teacher education cannot meet the demand for teachers. Applications for initial teacher education (ITE) started to drop already in 2016. They rose for the first time in 2023 following the lifting of several entry requirements to higher education. However, applications to lower and upper secondary ITE programmes remain low. Graduate tracking data show that the lower the ability – a proxy based on the level of difficulty of the given study programme - of a beginning teacher, the likelier they are to remain in a teaching job 1 year after graduation. The same applies to retention, i.e. 5-6 years after graduation (Varga, 2017). As of 2022/2023, ITE for lower and upper secondary teachers became a five-year programme while for primary school teachers it remains 4 years long. To increase practical experience, placements are now provided from the beginning of the programme, instead of only at the end. The standards and outcomes were adjusted to the 2020 national core curriculum, including expanded content on digital skills. An integrated science teacher training programme was also launched in 2022/2023 but attracted very few applicants.

The government announced a major salary reform with EU co-financing. Competitive salaries on par with those paid to people with similar educational levels working in comparable occupations could strengthen the ability of school systems to attract and retain teachers (European Commission, 2022). Teacher salaries in Hungary are the lowest among the EU countries that are OECD members. In 2020, they were only 57-66% of the salaries of other tertiary graduates, depending on the educational level (OECD, 2022), and even lower for starting teachers (51-55%). The government announced in February 2023 a major salary increase, co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), as part of a programme to increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession. The aim is to increase teachers’ salaries to 80% of the average wage level of other tertiary graduates by January 2025, with novice teachers’ salaries increasing even more. Teachers working in schools with a high share of disadvantaged pupils and applying inclusive methods should receive a salary top-up.

Hungary adopted a law replacing teachers’ public service contract with a new employment model. In March 2023, the Ministry of Interior published an over-100 page-long draft law for an eight-day public consultation. The legislation, which radically changes teachers’ employment status, was adopted in July and will enter into force as of January 2024. Both the shortness of the consultation period and the provisions of the law met with strong protests from teachers and stakeholders. The key issues raised included: (i) linking salaries to a performance evaluation system that mixes reward for quality work with compensation for extra work and (ii) allowing the employer to set the salary within a very wide range without transparent criteria, potentially leading to a 2.5x salary difference between teachers with the same educational level and years of experience; (iii) the possibility of placing teachers in other schools without their consent; (iv) transferring the right of adoption of all school regulatory documents from the teachers’ board to the school district; (v) the possibility of sanctioning teachers for ‘undermining trust in public education’; and (vi) the possibility of disciplinary sanctions, with a 20% reduction in salary for up to 6 months or dismissal. Teachers were notified about their new employment contract by 15 September and had 2 weeks to decide whether to accept it. Teachers who refused the new status within this period had their employment terminated. The severance pay of these teachers will be 1-3 month’s salary, significantly less than under the general conditions.

2. Early childhood education and care

Participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) surpasses the EU average. From the age of 3, 93.4% of children participate in ECEC (EU average: 92.5%), below the new EU-level target of 96% set for 2030. Regional coverage of kindergartens remains imbalanced: in 2021, 31% of settlements had no kindergarten (Varga, 2022). ECEC services are increasingly being taken over by churches and, to some extent, private providers, accounting for 8.8% and 7.4% of all kindergartens, respectively (KSH, 2022a). Participation of children under the age of 3 is low: in 2022, only 12.9% attended childcare (EU average: 35.7%). This is partly linked to the availability of a family allowance for parents staying at home with their children until the age of 3, and partly to the scarcity of nursery places. In 2022, more than 55 000 nursery care places were available for children below the age of 3. However, for almost 52 000 children (19%), no place could be provided in their own settlement (KSH, 2022b).

Experts warn about children’s deteriorating mental health. In November 2022, almost 300 school and pre-school psychologists issued a statement about problems in public education adversely impacting children’s mental health (ELTE, 2022). They claim that 'anxiety, behavioural and attention disorders in pre-primary schools, and depression, panic, self-harm and even more serious mental disorders in primary schools have become a regular occurrence'. In pre-school children, they consider that anxiety is linked with the high turnover of teachers. Setting the minimum age for compulsory schooling at 6 years-old in September 2019 and transferring the assessment of school readiness from pre-school teachers to the centralised services of the Education Authority also increases the risk of premature schooling. This may contribute to the high share of children who repeat their first grade (KSH, 2022c).

3. School education

Early school leaving increased in 2022. The rate of early leavers from education and training stood at 12.4% (Figure 2), against an improving EU average of 9.6% and the EU-level target of less than 9%. The rate is higher in the least developed districts and among Roma (62.7% vs 9.9% among non-Roma) (MNTFS, 2022). Data on participation in education shows that lowering the compulsory school age from 18 to 16 in 2012/2013 had a significant negative impact on school attendance. While the reform aimed to facilitate the labour market entry of young people wishing to leave secondary school early, it did not increase their employment prospects. Instead, the reform increased the probability of being neither in school nor in employment (NEET) for 16-18-year-old drop-outs by 4 percentage points (KRTK-KTI, 2021). However, the NEET rate for 20-24 years decreased from 23% in 2013 to 14% in 2022.

Figure 2: Early leavers from education and training (18-24-year-olds), 2009-2022

Performance gaps appear early and are strongly linked with pupils’ socio-economic background. In the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), measuring the reading competence of fifth-graders, the performance difference between children with a higher socio-economic status and those with a lower one was the highest in the EU at 120 points (EU average: 80). The rate of disadvantaged pupils in secondary education is extremely uneven across school types. According to available data, while this rate is 11.6% in primary and lower secondary education, it is only 0.9% in general upper secondary schools (gimnázium), suggesting that most disadvantaged pupils are oriented towards vocational education and training (OH, 2023). Evidence shows that tracking policies, either between tracks (academic, vocational) or between schools, reduce education equity and have mixed effects on efficiency (European Commission, 2022). The concentration of disadvantaged pupils in certain schools and school types and pressing teacher shortages make it difficult to retain pupils in education and give them the personalised support they need. In Hungary, the proportion of unqualified teachers at schools with a disadvantaged profile was 16% vs 5% at schools with a normal profile (Varga, 2022). The government intends to give teachers working with disadvantaged pupils and applying inclusive methodologies a 12.5% salary supplement with co-financing from the ESF+.

Bullying correlates with pupils’ performance. Student well-being at school, as well as good mental and physical health are fundamental to improving academic performance, as they are directly linked to learners’ motivation at school, their focus, their capacity to learn, retain and apply knowledge, and other behavioural and cognitive aspects (European Commission, 2021). According to the PIRLS 2021 Student Bullying Index, 29% of Hungarian children reported having experienced some form of bullying every month, and 21% experienced cyber-bullying over the year. The KiVa anti-bullying pilot programme was introduced in three schools in 2016-2018, but was discontinued after the licence expired (Jármi, 2019). A 30-hour continuing professional development programme - ENABLE (European Network Against Bullying in Learning and Leisure Environments) - is available for secondary school teachers. The programme is free but implementation at school is not professionally accompanied. A professional guide on bullying was sent out to schools in August 2023, outlining response options, programmes and training available to schools.

The government announced a new appraisal system for teachers. Teachers and school heads will have to undergo an annual internal evaluation, including meeting personalised performance targets defined for each school year. They will also have to demonstrate a number of competences set by the Ministry. Following a trial period in the spring semester of 2022/2023 involving 16 schools, a new pilot will take place during 2023/2024, when schools will be able to test the appraisal system without any financial or other consequences. The system will be adjusted in line with feedback and extended to all schools. Teachers’ unions expressed concerns (PSz-PDSz, 2023) about the fact that the government did not conduct a wider professional and social consultation on the new policy. In their view, the appraisal would not be based on objectively measurable criteria, rather, it would measure how loyal teachers are to their superiors.

4. Vocational education and training

Participation in initial vocational education and training (VET) is increasing and school-to-work transition is rapid, but a higher share of VET graduates are inactive than general upper secondary graduates. The share of upper secondary pupils participating in VET is higher than the EU average (49.7% vs 48.7% in 2021²) but rates differ significantly between developed and less developed regions (less than 40% in Central Hungary and above 50% in all other, less developed regions). Around 19% of all upper secondary pupils attend a VET programme not giving direct access to post-secondary and tertiary education³. In line with the high overall employment rate in Hungary (80.2%), the rate of recent VET graduates (ISCED 3-4) in employment is relatively high at 87.4% (EU average: 79.7%⁴). Nevertheless, the share of VET graduates not in employment, education or training was more than double that of general upper secondary graduates in the 20-24 age group (12.1% vs 5.6%⁵) in 2022.

Low basic skills levels endanger the long-term employability of secondary school VET graduates. The share of 15-year-old VET students who have low basic skills is higher than the national average (56% vs 25.6% in mathematics and 61% vs 25.3% in reading, as measured by the 2018 PISA survey; OH, 2019). The drop-out rate was also significantly higher in VET than in general secondary education in 2019, the latest available year (Varga, 2022). A recent study shows that the 2013 VET reform had a negative impact on the basic skills of secondary-level vocational students (Hermann et Horn, 2022) as it shortened the length of vocational training from 4 to 3 years, reducing the time spent on general subjects while keeping the time spent on vocational subjects. In the short term, the reform has decreased the probability of drop-out and increased the probability of completing secondary education. However, as lower basic skills decrease the employment prospects of VET graduates, the long-term effects of the reform are still to be seen. Low-achieving VET students have been receiving small group learning support through an ESF project (EDIOP-6.2.2) from 2020.

New investments aim to tackle the scarce opportunities for work-based learning. Participation in work-based learning remains low at 32.3% (EU average: 60.1%⁶). To boost the number of dual training places, Hungary has invested more than HUF 8 billion (~EUR 20.6 million), using ESF co-funding, to set up sectoral training centres. So far, 21 such training centres have been set up in sectors where the local economy needs more workers. Most centres specialise in the tourism sector (9) and mechanical engineering (6).

5. Higher education

The number of tertiary graduates cannot meet the growing demand for a highly skilled workforce. At 31.9%, Hungary has one of the lowest rates of people aged 25-34 with a tertiary degree (against an EU average of 42.0% and the EU-level target of 45%). The employment rate of recent tertiary graduates aged 20-34 (94.5%) exceeds the EU average (86.7%). In 2022/2023, the number of full-time higher education students stood at 207 400 (KSH, 2023a). A growing number of them (~36 000 or 19%) are international students (KSH, 2023b). This is a significant increase compared to the 23,200 international students in 2013. For the 2023/2024 academic year, the number of higher education applicants stands at 143 905, 33% more than in 2022/2023. The increase is probably linked to the removal of previous barriers to higher education, such as the advanced level secondary education leaving exam and central admission requirements. As of 2022, the government abolished the central admission requirements and transferred this competence to the universities, who have developed more favourable entry requirements than before although the rules vary considerably between them. The government spent HUF 40 billion (EUR 106.38 million) on scholarships for foreign students in 2022. Under the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship scheme, a foreign student received on average three times more funding a year (HUF 1.8 million; EUR 4 787) than a Hungarian student (HUF 0.5 million; EUR 1 330). 95% of the bursaries of the Stipendium Hungaricum programme come from African and Asian countries.

University administration was reformed in certain areas. In December 2022, the Higher Education Act was amended to enable universities having the right to launch a bachelor’s programme to automatically start a master’s programme in the same field of study, upon consent of the funder of the university, avoiding the lengthy programme accreditation procedure. The amendment also introduces micro-credentials, which higher education institutions will be obliged to issue for any single course or module at the request of students. Finally, the December 2022 amendment of the Act on Recognitions of Foreign Certificates and Degrees provides for the automatic recognition of diplomas obtained in the European Economic Area to enable participation in further studies in Hungary.

Academic freedom has declined compared to other countries. According to the updated Academic Freedom Index (Afi, 2023) of March 2023, academic freedom has declined significantly in Hungary in recent years. Hungary ranks in the bottom quarter of the overall list. Hungary was not included in the European University Association’s comparative study (EUA, 2023), which analyses the situation of university autonomy in 35 countries. The EUA considers that Hungary has developed a governance model that cannot be compared to any other European system with the established research methodology. In their analysis, the distribution of decision-making powers at the universities maintained by public interest trusts and the characteristics of their boards of trustees, as set by the law of IX/2021, restricts institutional autonomy.

Hungarian higher education fell in international rankings. Only one university, the Semmelweis University, has improved its position in the TIMES Higher Education ranking since 2019 and is now ranked among the 201-250 best universities (THE, 2023). A total of 11 Hungarian universities were included in the ranking, with one in the top 601-800, four in the top 1001-1200, four in the top 1201-1500 and one in the top 1501+. This result places Hungarian universities at the bottom of the European average. The role of Hungarian universities in the region is declining. While in 2009, Hungarian HEIs accounted for 6.9% of the region’s universities in the global top ranking, in 2022 this figure had fallen to 3.9%⁷.

6. Adult learning

Hungary faces shortcomings in adults’ skills levels and participation in learning. Educational attainment and socio-economic background affect adults’ basic skills more heavily in Hungary than in most other OECD countries (Lannert et Holb, 2021). The share of people with at least basic digital skills stood at 49% in 2021 (EU average: 54%) (DESI, 2022). The shares are significantly lower among people with a low educational level, the unemployed and those aged above 55. The participation rate of adults aged 25-64 who had participated in training in the last 4 weeks reached 7.9% in 2022, the highest rate in the past ten years (EU average: 10.8%). Participation in learning is significantly lower among low-skilled and unemployed people. Unemployed adults also lack sufficient support to access relevant training, and upskilling opportunities for low-skilled and disadvantaged people are scarce. The adult learning framework needs improving if the country is to meet its target of 60% of adults participating in training every year by 2030 as per the National Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan.

The 2022 amendment of the Adult Training Law Prepares the ground for further major structural changes. New legal provisions⁸ were introduced to provide standards and accreditation rules for online learning and to facilitate and incentivise employers to support re- and upskilling of their staff. The law also creates a dedicated Adult Training Fund as of January 2025, which will serve to finance the development and management of the adult training system and the support of individuals participating in training, as well as the coordination between VET, higher education, employment and adult education measures. It is not yet clear where the revenues for the fund will come from.

‘Workshop schools’ will be extended to adults with lower secondary education or below. Workshop schools (műhelyiskola) were launched as part of the 2019 VET reform to prevent early school leaving. They offer practical training opportunities and in a flexible study structure. Adults successfully completing a workshop school obtain a partial professional qualification, which allows them to practice certain tasks/jobs of a profession. The necessary legal changes are still to be implemented.