Curriculum, Subjects, Number of Hours

Since 2000, the content of teaching and learning at Hungarian schools has been determined by a system of three-tier curricular regulation as provided in the relevant act.

The highest level of content regulation is the National Core Curriculum which is compiled by a committee of education / curriculum experts and submitted to the Government after professional discussion. The Government Decree on the Issunce, Introduction and Implementation of the National Core Curriculum 110/2012. (VI. 4.)  is obligatory for all institutions and actors of public education. Together with its annexes, it is a comprehensive strategic document which, „in keeping with the tasks set out in the Fundamental Law of Hungary and in pursuit of its objectives, basically denotes the transmission and preservation of national culture, the culture of national minorities, the mediation of universal culture, the deepening of the moral sense and the mental-emotional receptivity”.

The National Core Curriculum in effect is made up of three structural units. Part I (Content regulation of public education and teaching and regulatory levels) determines the tasks and values of public education, and, within this, the common values affecting the whole teaching process (Developmental tasks – educational goals) and the fundamental principles of diversified organisation of learning adapted to the special needs of institutions and students under unified regulations. Part II (Competence development, transmission of learning, building knowledge) interprets the key competences recommended by the European Union, the development of which is a complex cross-curricular task. Moreover, it defines the educational phases (primary phase, lower secondary phase, upper secondary education) and their functions, as well as it gives recommendations on the time frames to be spent on each domain of learning. The most extensive part of the document describes the material of the ten learning domains in a consolidated structure (Fundamental principles and goals; Developmental tasks; General competences-related content elements). In compliance with its genre (core curriculum) and following from its role in content regulation, NCC specifies required developmental achievements and knowledge for the end of grades 4, 6, 8 and 12 broken down to the consecutive educational phases of the complete compulsory education process. The document thereby establishes the uniform content of public education.

The NCC was revised in 2020 and the changes in the content were published in the Government Decree 5/2020. (I. 31.) on the Amendment of the Government Decree 110/2012. (VI. 4.) on the Issuance, Introduction and Implementation of the National Core Curriculum. The amendments were introduced in a phasing-out system from 1 September 2020 in the grades 1, 5 and 9.

The medium level of the content regulation system are the framework curricula, which intend to transpose NCC requirements and spirit into everyday practice. The function of framework curricula is to operationalise the developmental tasks set by the NCC for each educational phase and to designate the public educational content to be learned. For each school type and educational phase, the framework curricula contain targets for teaching and educating children, as well as the system of subjects, the topics to be covered by the subjects, the content of each topic, the subject-related requirements for one or two grades, the tasks of developing fields of cross-curricular knowledge and skills, and the compulsory or recommended time frames available for meeting these requirements.

The Minister responsible for education issued and approved the framework curricula. The framework curriculum packages issued as the annex to the decree of the 51/2012. (XII. 21.) (Ministry of Human Capacities Decree on the Procedure of the Issuance and Aproval of Framework Curricula) were prepared by experts working in groupes separated by their fields of education.

The framework curricula cover all subjects of all school types and in case of some subjects they provide the schools with the possibility to choose from them. Separate framework curricula have been prepared for schools providing ethnic minority education, education of students with special needs, and bilingual education, which take into account the directives that apply to them. In addition, independent framework curricula were prepared for each type of school, pedagogical phase, subject, and for some specific public education tasks (e.g. advanced music education, homeland and peoples, chess/logic, learning methodology, school football, etc.). Schools have modified their local curricula based on the new framework curricula.. Within the framework curriculum regulation, the curriculum may be submitted by the school maintainer, religious community (based on the relevant law), network or organization representing the alternative school that maintains the institution for approval to the minister responsible for education.

In 2020 the NCC was revised, so the framework curricula were amended as well. They no longer appear in the form of a regulation, but have become professional recommendations.

Directives and basic programs

The published framework cirriculum correspond to the regulations included in the National Core Cirriculum (hereinafter: NCC 2020) which was introduced in a phasing-out system from 1 September 2020 (in grade 1. 5. 9 and in grade 7 of the six-grade secondary institutions). These must be applied in a phasing-out system in paralel with the introduction of NCC 2020.

From the 2020/2021 shool year the followings should be applied in a phasing-out system; the directives on ethnic minorities’ school education, the directives on the bilingual education in the bilingual schools, the directives on the  education of students with special needs in schools for students with special educational needs and the basic programs of the basic arts education in basic art schools. These content regulations are available on the website of the Educational Authority.

• Directive and framework curriculum for bilingual school education
• Directives on ethnic minorities’ education
• Directive on the education of children with special needs in kindergartens
• Directives on the education of students with special needs
• Requirements and curriculum for basic arts education
• National basic program of dormitory education
• The Arany János Dormitory Study Program
• The Arany János Dormitory Program – Upper Secondary School Program
• The dormitory activity and occupation system of the Arany János Talent Support Program

The local curriculum, forming the compulsory part of schools’ teaching programmes constitute the third level of content regulation. The local curriculum determines, in line with the tasks laid down in the school’s teaching programme, the framework curriculum selected by the school from the framework curricula issued by the minister responsible for education and stipulates the use of up to 10% of the time frame available for compulsory and optional curricular activities specified in the framework curriculum. Local curricula must meet the fundamental requirement of complying with the selected framework curriculum based on which they were prepared and they must organise the on average 10% free time frame provided for them with educational and teaching content and activities that reflect the local content and the school’s profile. The timely arrangement of requirements and curricula and the system of assigned tools fulfil the expectations and developmental plans of the traditional partners of the school, as laid down in its articles of association. Its local nature is ensured by gaining its legitimacy partly from the agreement of local stakeholders, the approving decision of the teaching staff, the supporting opinion of participants and partners, as well as the approving decision of the operator. A secondary, but nonetheless important characteristic of the local curriculum is that it also contains local cultural elements to a sufficient degree.

The principles relating to the selection of textbooks and teaching aids, the forms of realisation of uniformity and differentiation, measures for equal opportunities for students, as well as the principles applied in the assessment of students and their form of realisation must be included in the local curriculum.

Teaching Methods and Materials

Schools and teachers enjoy total freedom in respect of the methods applied in the process of teaching and education, and no central documents are used to set the scope of applicable procedures. However, the pedagogy programme of a school clearly defines the basic pedagogical principles, goals and tasks of teaching and educational work at school, as well as it designates appropriate tools and procedures therefor. Key legal instruments regulating public education give both methodological diversity and teaching-learning strategies focused on the development of competences high priority. The Act on Public Education provides, already from 2003, for an opportunity to change traditional frameworks of organized learning. The Public Education Act, effective as of September 1, 2012, defines, among other things, the duty of the teacher to impart knowledge in an objective, versatile and varied manner, to conduct his/her teaching work at annual and class level, and control the learning activites of pupils. The Ministry of Human Capacities Decree 20/2012 states that: “Based on the decision of the board and the head of the institution, the pedagogical program shall include specific pedagogical methods used in the school, including project teaching. In project education, the processing of subject units and the solution of the task are based on the interest of the students, the joint activity and cooperation of the students and the teachers by solving the problem and exploring the connections.”

The Fundamental Law, the Equal Opportunities Act and the Public Education Act provide the legal framework for the co-education of students with special educational needs in majority schools (integrated education) and talent development. However, the direction in which classroom practice is moving is significantly influenced by development programs related to current professional priorities, to which schools and teachers may be invited to apply. Previously the integrated education of students with special educational needs has drawn attention to the importance of differentiated individual development, more recently the importance of talent education. Although schools and educators today are overwhelmingly committed to providing extra-curricular engagement for students different from the average, they also increasingly targeting the use of diagnostic, personal development and adaptive learning, primarily in connection with different development programs.

Thanks to former years’ major education development programmes dedicated to the practical implementation of competence-based education, teachers’ methodological repertoire has significantly widened. However, frontal teaching still dominates daily routines in the application of various methods. Amendment of the National Core Curriculum in 2007 has drawn the attention to the use of ICT in the learning of general education subjects. Prompted by the subsequent education development programmes and tool development projects implemented by the co-financing of EU, computer-aided learning is getting more and more common across the school system. As a concomitant requirement of tool development (typically procurement of interactive boards and provision of Internet access), these programmes have specified for teachers to take part in accredited further training courses on the use of ICT tools in the support of learning. Partly due to this, more and more schools have living and continuously updated websites and web2 technologies, mobile phones, digital cameras or dictaphones in the implementation of the new methodologies of organizing learning (project, epocha, thematic week, etc.) are used in an increasing number of schools. The use of electronic curricula is supported by a national online educational portal, ’Sulinet’ Digital Knowledge Base.

Learning organization based on individual student activity (paired and group work, thematic curriculum processing, project-based teaching, the use of drama pedagogical methods), the use of differentiating methods and organized learning outside the school (e.g. forest school) are slowly spreading. Educational governance specifically encourages schools to organize thematic weeks (e.g. in the 2020/2021 academic year, the scedule of the school year identified 3 areas: Digital, Financial and Entreprenership, Sustainability Awareness thematic weeks). The educational institution may participate in the programs related to the thematic weeks in the manner specified in its work plan, and may organize lessons and workshops prescribed in the curriculum in the framework of the thematic week.

Textbooks are still the most common teaching aids with a rich choice available to teachers. An important objective of the education reform process has launched with the adoption of the Public Education Act.  Schools shall develop local curricula based on the centrally state-regulated curricula enforcing their own needs, and then selecting textbooks from government-published books and registered textbooks from other publishers.

Pursuant to the Public Education Act, from the school year 2013/2014, every student, who enrolled for first grade and, from that point on, every student can get textbooks free of charge. Free textbooks are also provided in ethnic minority and SEN education. The aim of the change is to select and order textbooks purely on the basis of educational and professional aspects, and to increase the transparency of textbook purchasing, and to reduce the cost of textbooks for parents and the related expenditures of the central budget.

Those books can be published in printed or electronic forms as ’textbooks’ which have been declared as textbooks in a specific procedure, or which have been selected by the Minister, or, based on his initiative, the book that was developed as a pilot textbook and added to the textbook registry list. The textbook registry list may contain a maximum of two textbooks per NCC-approved framework curriculum subject for any subject in any grade.

According to the Public Education Act, it is the right of teachers to choose certain content, and methods of education and education on the basis of the pedagogical program, and to select textbooks, study aids and teaching aids based on the local curriculum.

 The Educational Authority draws up an official list of textbooks and teacher manuals for a given school year and sends it to the Minister at least thirty days before the deadline of ordering for publication on the website of the Ministry responsible for education. The school textbook order, with the agreement of the maintainer, is placed by the school head after attaining the opinion of the professional working community.

In Hungary, teachers consider the homework given to students and their regular monitoring as an important tool for successful learning. Therefore, an essential part of the lessons are the students' correspondence and/or test writing. The Public Education Act requires that the school's pedagogical program shall specify the procedures for written, oral and practical correspondances by the school, the assessment of knowledge, and the principles and limits for defining written and oral assignments for home, daycare, and classroom preparation.