Authority of first instance of public education institutions and performance of operational tasks in public education

Kindergarten

The maintenance and operating tasks are performed by the municipalities.

Public institutions

The Klebelsberg Centre ensures the success of the central and sectoral educational policy guidlelines in all maintenance centre of school districts. The Klebersberg Centre performs its duties of maintaining state insitutions through 60 deconcentrated maintenance centre of school districts.

The maintenance centre of school district maintains the duties of state-maintained pre-primary, lower secondary and upper-secondary education institutions. The maintenance centre of school district is a central budgetary body with an economic organization.

The maintenance centre of school district has no competence over institutions operated by nationality governments or by the church or private entities and over the kindergartens which are still operated by municipalities.

The maintenance centre of school district:

• proposes the establishment, reorganisment or closure of an institutions or changes of their scope of activity through the Klebelsberg Centre,
• sets the public education institution budget and controls its management,
• sets fees for activities subject to a fee,
• determines the number of classes that can be organised in a given school year,
• monitors the lawful operation and performance of public education institutions,
• validates and, by providing professional guidance, endorses the requirements of the regular and efficient managemen of resources in the activities of public education institutions,
• collects statistical data in its statutory tasks,
• prepares a development plan for the public education institutions in its maintenance,
• makes a proposal on the appointment of the head of the institution, and exercises the employer’s rights with regard to the head of the institution,
• monitors the pedagogical programme of the institution,
• organises secondary school leaving examination and entrance examination,
• appoints and dismisses teachers, decides about promotion and participation in in-service training,
• organises the substitution system for teachers.

In the case of vocational training, the Minister Responsible for Vocational Training and Adult Education shall establish and maintain budgetary bodies, called VET centres. These centres operate member institutions, which are responsible for the vocational training. 

The Minister responsible for vocational training and adult education may establish maximum 3 VET centres/county and maximum 10 centres in the capital. The member institution of the VET centre may operate on several sites.

The VET centre is managed and represented independently by the Director-General and the Chancellor.

The number one responsible manager and representative of the VET Center is the Director General. The Director-General is responsible for carrying out the basic vocational training tasks of the vocational training institutions operating as part of the VET center. The Director-General shall be assisted in the performance of his duties by a Deputy Director-General.

The Director-General

• is responsible for the planning, monitoring and evaluation of the basic tasks of vocational training, directs the activities of the head of the institution, and coordinates the work of the managerial employees of the VET center, over whom he/she exercises the rights of an employer,
• with the consent of the Chancellor - approves the professional programme, organizational and operational rules and policies of the vocational training institution. It creates the healthy and safe conditions necessary for the work of educators and teachers, organizes regular health examinations of students, and is also responsible for organizing and performing child and youth protection tasks,

• exercises the rights of the employer towards the teachers, trainers, non teaching staff and coordinators of the pedagogical work;

• exercises the rights of the sponsor in relation to the agency relationships.

The chancellor:

• is responsible for the economical, financial, controlling, accounting, employment, legal, administrative, IT, asset management, including technical facility utiliztaion, operational, logistical, procurement of the VET center;
• is responsible for the preparation of the necessary measures and proposals, and the Director-General needs his/her consent in decisions and measures concerning the financial management, the organization and the operation of the institution;
• ensures that the available resources at the VET centres are used for the fulfilment of the institutions’ basic tasks;
• exercises the ownership rights of the VET centres in those business associations and busniness organizations in which the VET centre has a shareholding;
• with the exception of teachers, trainers and those working directly in the field of education and teaching he/she exercises the rights of the employer over the employees of the VET centres, moreover he/she ensures the provision of the financial and professional competences as required by the law.

In the field of defense, law enforcement and agricultural training, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Law Enforcement and the Minister of Agriculture also ensures the operation and maintenance of the VET centres.

Private Institutions

In case of private schools, the private operator sets the rules of determining the amount of tuition fee or students’ contribution to the costs of education, the criteria for awarding scholarship, etc.

The headmaster of a private educational institution, or a multifunctional institution is entrusted by the maintainer of the institution (with the consent of the Minister Responsible for Education), and the maintainer exercises the employer’s rights. The Minister may only refuse his/her consent in the case of violating the law.

Institutional Autonomy in Public Education

The school head is responsible for the professional and lawful operation of the institution, the preparation of the pedagogical programme and other documents regulating operation, the implementation of prescribed activities and data supply, supporting the decision-making of the teaching staff and ensuring the implementation of their decisions, and for sufficient cooperation with the school board, the employee representative organisations, student unions, and parent organisations. The school head is responsible for creating a safe and healthy environment for the institution.

Pursuant to the provisions, the school heads of public institutions have lost their financial management competences (it was taken over by the school maintenance centres). The head does not have any employer’s rights, but he/she has the right to make proposals. The district authority determines the number of teachers and it also arranges for the substitution of teachers. The head of the institution  organises the working time of teachers.

The operation of schools (or other educational institutions, e.g. kindergartens, dormitories etc.) is regulated by documents obligatory to draft. The most important regulatory documents guiding day to day operation are the Organisational and Operational Regulations, the House Rules. The documents regulating the operation have to be made public. The main document of the professional performance of the institution is, in the case of kindergartens, the educational programme, and, in the case of schools, the pedagogical programme, which contains the local curriculum. The responsibility of preparing the documents obligatory to draft lies with the school head.

Institutional Autonomy in Higher Education

The Senate defines the training and research tasks of the HEI, is in charge of adopting an institutional development plan, adopts the strategy of research, development, and innovation, and determines the most significant rules and regulations and the overall budget.

The senate approves the training programme of the institution, the rules of operation, the doctorate rules, and its budget within the frameworks specified by the maintenance authority. Furthermore, the senate decides on the establishment of the scientific committee, on the election of its members and president, on the order of instructor, researcher and leader tenders, on the granting of titles and honours, the establishment or termination of doctorate schools, on launching doctorate training, as well as on initiating the launching or termination of trainings. The president of the senate is the rector.

The rector is the top head and representative of the HEI, who proceeds and decides in all issues that are not assigned to the competence of other persons or bodies by legal regulations, the operational rules, or the collective agreement. In state-maintained HEIs, the rector is responsible for the proper operation of the HEI in accordance with its basic activity, and within the frameworks of this, he exercises the employer’s rights over its instructors, researchers and teachers.

The financial manager, called chancellor in HEIs is responsible for the preparation of financial measures and proposals. The chancellor is responsible for the economic, financial, controlling, internal audit, accounting, labour, legal, administration, IT activities of the HEI, for the assets management of the institution, including technical, facility utilisation, operation, logistics, service, procurement and public procurement issues, controls operation in these areas, and exercises the owner’s rights in the companies and economic entities operating with the participation of the institutions.

In state-maintained HEIs, consistorium operates for the establishment of the institution’s strategic decisions, and for the professional support and control of the financial activity, the consistorium has five members, three members being delegated by the minister. The major organisations of the financial and economic environment of the HEI, the concerned HEI and the student union of the HEI make recommendations to the minister concerning the members. The rector and the chancellor are ex officio members of the consistorium.