Hungary has been a member state of the EU since 1 May 2004. In the EU, in addition to the free movement of goods, capital, services and persons, free knowledge flow has also become an important principle. An expressed sign of this is that the EU becomes more and more committed to the cross-border mobility of researchers, scientists, learners and teachers, students and educators, as well as to the modernisation of educational systems to help mobility, which is also reflected in the subsidy priorities of the EU.
Strategic Objectives and Policy Tools
The appreciation of the European dimension and international mobility as a community aim can be detected in the EU-level educational strategies and frameworks of the recent decades. As a direct consequence, the number of mobility actions at the level of the EU and member states is increasing.
The policy processes at national level are fundamentally defined by the Europe 2020 Strategy Program. The strategic program, like the previous Education and Training 2010 Strategy, provides common objectives, principles, effective and flexible working methods for national and European education policy. Within the framework of the Europe 2020 Strategic Program, the path to achieve EU-level education strategy goals is highlighted by the detailed Education and Training 2020 framework.
One of the main objectives of the strategic document, titled Education and Training 2020, is lifelong learning and mobility. In order to achieve this, lifelong learning strategies need to be implemented, national qualification frameworks and flexible learning tools (that are linked to the European Qualifications Framework) need to be developed. The document determines a European Reference Framework for mobility as well, which sets the aim that at least 20% of young graduates with a degree obtained in higher education, as well as at least 6% of the adults aged between 18 and 34 with a basic vocational qualification should have study or training experience obtained abroad by 2020. This means that in order to achieve strategic aims, mobility must be enhanced and the European Quality Charter for Mobility must be applied, with the help of which it can be ensured that participants of mobility programmes will have a positive experience both in the receiving countries and in their mother countries after they return.
The achievement of educational aims is basically funded by two widely available community development resources:
- community programmes based on an application system and
- the structural funds.
This means that several EU funds may be used at member state level to encourage mobility, as well as to establish and develop strategic partnerships and learning networks in compliance with the strategic aims of Europe 2020. The above community teaching tools are funded by the European Commission directly by the coordination of the national offices.
For the period of 2014-2020, the main funding tool of the EU in the fields of education, training, youth and sport is the Erasmus+ Programme coordinated by the European Commission. This programme combines several programmes run in the previous funding period, and its aim is to promote the development of skills and employability, as well as to help the modernisation of education, training and youth work. In order to achieve the above aims, the programme funds mobility, cooperation formations, and activities to encourage the implementation of political reform processes in the sectors of public education, higher education, VET, adult education, as well as youth policy and sport.
In the framework of the Erasmus+ program, teachers, education and training experts, professionals, and students in higher education and vocational training will be mobilized. As a new tool for promoting mobility, the Student Loan Guarantee has been introduced. With this, the aim is to provide a student loan cover for part of the cost of higher education for those who participate in a Master’s Degree programme in another country. In addition to mobility, the programme places great emphasis on professional dialogue between the world of higher education and the world of work, also between the vocational training and the world of work, moreover, it focuses on the development of strategic partnerships, associations and IT support platforms, innovation and the exchange of good practices.
The Erasmus+ will allow more than 4 million European citizens to study, participate in training, gain work experience, and carry out voluntary work abroad. In addition to the above, it will support 125 organisations to cooperate with partners in other countries in order to promote innovation and spreading modern methods in teaching and youth work. In the new programme 40% more EU funds are allocated for the above purposes than in the previous seven years, i.e. the Erasmus+ provides 14.7 billion € to strengthen European education, training, as well as vocations and sport of the youth, and an additional 1.68 billion € will be used to finance efforts with third countries (partner countries). In Hungary, the implementation of the programme is coordinated by the Tempus Public Foundation. In order to implement the educational and strategic aims of the Europe 2020, Hungary will mainly use EU supports (Erasmus+, European structural and investment funds) to improve teacher, instructor, educational and training expert, as well as learner, and student mobility, thus ensuring equal opportunities and enhancing access opportunities.
Additional strategic objectives include the strengthening of the international competitiveness of higher education as well as the increase of the number of foreign students. In order to achieve this aim, foreign language programmes will be assessed, developed and scholarship schemes will be created targeting foreign students. The Campus Mundi Scholarship Programme, which is co-funded by the European Union and the Hungarian state between 2016 and 2021, is also involved in this. The aim of the Campus Mundi program is to improve the quality of higher education, to encourage student mobility and to enhance the international recognition of Hungarian higher education institutions. The program is coordinated by the Tempus Public Foundation. The program's main activities are:
- Encouraging higher education mobility through student scholarships: this will support approximately 9,000 Hungarian students by providing opportunities for part-time training, apprenticeship training and short study tours to any country in the world.
- Internationalisation of higher education through participation in international student and institutional education fairs, workshops, PLA-type professional co-operation and training.
A further strategic objective is to promote cooperation with the neighbouring countries in the field of education, especially in minority education, since there is a high number of minorities living in Hungary and Hungarian minorities living in the neighbouring countries.
An additional important objective is to increase the European professional experience of teachers. In order to achieve this goal, it is important to link the recognised Hungarian qualifications in teacher training and in-service training programmes to similar European programmes.
In order to implement the European efforts for strengthening the international dimension of mobility and education, Hungary adopted a public education development strategy in autumn 2014 (Government Resolution 1603/2014. for public education development strategy), which foresees several interventions such as:
- Supporting the assessment and establishment of the preconditions for mobility (e.g.: language, cultural).
- For the professional development of teachers the accreditation and provision of additional training supporting mobility must be ensured.
- Implementing mobility schemes for teachers not teaching languages in order to expand their set of teaching methods and to familiarise themselves with best practices of public education;
- Supporting the employment of foreign language guest teachers in Hungarian schools.
- Establishment of infocommunication platforms promoting international relations as well the creation of relevant IT systems.
- Supporting visits to establish and enhance international cooperation and partnerships.
- Supporting participation in international events focusing on education.
- Supporting the international mobility of students of teacher training programmes and teachers.
In addition to the public education development strategy (Government Resolution 1603/2014), the Hungarian government adopted a framework strategy on lifelong learning in autumn 2014. In this document, objectives include the establishment and enhancement of education partnerships and networks as well as the continuous professional development of experts and trainers engaged in adult education.
The other two priority areas for strengthening the international dimension of education are language teaching and digital education. The Hungarian population is one of the least educated in foreign languages (number and quality of spoken languages) in the European area, thus a particularly important strategic element is the promotion of foreign language learning and the development of foreign language teaching at all levels of education. Therefore, from October 1, 2019, higher education students can apply for a student loan up to HUF 500,000 to obtain the required language exam certificate. In connection with the other priority area, digital education, the Hungarian Government adopted the Digital Education Strategy in 2016 (Government Resolution 1536/2016). The most important goals are: the development of the digital education environment, the availability of digital methodologies and digital curricula, the development of the educational administration, digital solutions in teacher training and the support of the exit to the international online education research.