European, Global and Intercultural Dimension in Curriculum Development
Significant changes have taken place in the labour market, as a result of this, there is an increasing need for non-routine cognitive and interpersonal skills. Higher education and the methods of teaching and learning have to prepare the students for this demand. This can be achieved by among others, increasing the quality of teaching and learning, which complements the renewal of the programmes, the restructuring of the programme and outcome requirements and the renewal of their content, in addition by making higher education more student-oriented.
The renewal of the programme and outcome requirements in higher education was addressed by two policy interventions starting in summer 2015. The first intervention started by reducing the number of degree programmes serving the purpose of closing the gap between the supply produced by education and the economic and labour market demand. The result of the Graduate Career Tracking System served as a basis for the reduction of the number of degree programmes. The other intervention was that according to the new governmental degree, not only are the higher education programmes and the requirements for starting them defined, but also the programme and outcome requirements of the programmes are set out and have to be described according to the descriptor categories of the Hungarian Qualifications Framework (knowledge, skill, attitude, autonomy and responsibility). The review of the programme and outcome requirements and the definition of the programmes’ learning outcomes in line with the Hungarian Qualifications Framework descriptors can be considered as an integral part of the implementation of the Hungarian Qualifications Framework System in higher education.
Hence, the content requirements of the programmes will be described in learning outcomes. As a result of a reconciliation process, the decree of the Ministry of Education modified the programme and outcome requirements in 2016, by which general features, competences were determined for the educational attainment levels of higher VET, bachelor programmes, master programmes and teacher training as well, in the fields of knowledge, skills, attitude, as well as autonomy and responsibility.
According to the governmental decree, the Hungarian Accreditation Committee will assess whether a request on launching a new higher educational programme is in line with the learning outcomes defined in the programme and outcome requirements concerning that given programme. With the review of the programme and outcome requirements, a centrally initiated, top-down, long-term transformation process has started shifting the approach towards learning outcomes. Linked to this, a number of higher education institutions have started the content development process. Trainings and consultations that support educators in the change of attitude have began as well.
In the higher educational concept in effect until 2030 the Hungarian government stressed the importance of the introduction and spreading of foreign language programmes in higher education and the introduction and implementation of dual trainings. In the case of foreign language programmes, students can have subjects in foreign languages adding up to 10% of their total mandatory credit, which provides a wide-range of specialised language skills.
Dual education is launched in higher education in the 2015/2016 school year, with the participation of approximately 700 students in the first year with the involvement of over 300 corporate partners. Since then, the number of training venues and partner organizations has increased considerably. In 27 higher education institutions, 900 partner organizations (including foreign companies operating in Hungary) are involved in training in the fields of agriculture, IT, economics, science and engineering. This latter area of education makes up more than half of the students of all fields. In the social sciences, there is also the possibility of dual training in the practice-oriented social work basic training programme. The coordination and quality assurance of this training type is carried out by the Dual Training Council.
Partnerships and Networks
The CEEPUS programme is a Central-European Higher Education Exchange Programme with the objective of supporting the establishment of long-term collaboration in the region. Accredited higher education institutions from Albania, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Kosovo, Poland, North-Macedonia, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia can participate in the programme. The CEEPUS III program phase lasted until 2018 and was extended for another seven years until 2025. The member states voted for the preparation of the new phase IV of the programme, starting in 2025.
For the academic year 2018/2019, 101 applications have arrived to the central office of the CEEPUS, of which 75 networks were accepted. Hungary coordinated five of them, and took part as a partner in another 55. Supported Hungarian applicants requested 3,057 scholarship months for the arriving students and teachers, whereas Hungary offered support of 650 months for the academic year 2018/2019. During the academic year, altogether 24 institutional CEEPUS support contracts were concluded.
The objective of the Erasmus+ Strategic partnership measure is to create an opportunity to increase the quality of education in higher education through the elaboration, dissemination and application of innovative practices and methodologies. In the framework of strategic partnership projects both small-scale cooperations and large-scale projects could be implemented for any topic that has relevance to higher education and is in line with the objectives of the measure. The application is conditional on the partnership of at least three different countries at least three institutions. The focus of the projects is the development of the institutions, the development of international cooperation and the convergence of higher education to the labour market. In 2019, eight projects were awarded support. A part of the projects focus on developing innovative tools, teaching materials and methods that can be directly used in higher education, another part is aimed to develop the skills of university students in different fields. All projects have undertaken innovative and comprehensive results, by developing higher education. Partnerships consists of eight partners, most of the projects (4 of them) are for 36 months, three of them lasts 32 months and one is 24 months.
The Campus Mundi programme which supports the internationalisation of higher education institutions has a special focus on the development of national services in addition to the available student scholarships. Campus Mundi also supports professional activities to help inward and outward mobility. Within the above activities, for the development of institutions, peer learning activity (PLA) type workshops are operated with the participation of international and national experts. Another priority aim is to support international visibility through the organising of fairs with a focus on the institutions and student recruitment.
The Stipendium Hungaricum programme, launched in 2013, also promotes the internationalisation of Hungarian higher education institutions, which is coordinated by the Tempus Public Foundation. The primary aim of the scholarship programme is to provide students from developing countries with training that can help them in their own country, and to improve the competitiveness of Hungarian higher education and improve relations with the cooperating countries. Hungarian higher education institutions apply for Stipendium Hungaricum scholarships with specific student capacities per training. Based on international agreements between the ministries responsible for education of Hungary and the partner countries, each partner country may nominate students for Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship for a definite number of quotas. The students participate in part-time or full-time programmes, in bachelor, master or doctoral level and in higher educational preparatory studies in the subject areas as specified in the agreement if they are admitted to the training of the concerned institution.
Whereas in 2015 altogether 36 partners participated in the programme with a total of 2,320 quotas, in 2016 the programme is operated with 3,600 places offered for 51 partners, in the 2018/19 academic year, there were already 5,500 applicants from 65 countries, and the next year from 66 countries. The partners participating in the programme actually cover the target areas of the opening to the East and South: the Western-Balkan, Eastern Europe, Asia, Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa and South America. The programme started with 68 students in 2013. 768 scholarship students studied in the programme in 2014, this number was 1,270 in 2015, 2,942 in 2016, 5,148 in 2017, 7,339 in 2018 and 9,140 in the autumn of 2019. Students from abroad mostly apply for IT, engineering and medical training. Students who come to Hungary with the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme are also supported by a mentoring programme.
The number and proportion of foreign students has been increasing in Hungary for years, rising from 5.2% to 13% between 2010 and 2019. The Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme also plays a role in growth, in 2019, 23,7% of the international students were members of the programme.
The establishment of an international alumni network has started recently, the aim of this is to encourage foreign students who studied in Hungary to promote the country and their higher education institution after their studies. In 2018, the IT development of theAlumni Network Hungaryportal was completed, and already about 3.000 alumni members had registered on this site. The portal is completed by the Alumni Network Hungary Facebook page, which promotes the portal and its content and gives space for various campaigns. The social media site currently has more than 6000 followers.