Public Education in the Nineties [antikvár]

Judit Lannert Public Education in the Nineties The goal of this study is to pubhsh the resuhs of the latest empirical investigations carried out on public education, most of which have not been published before. Three primary issues will be discussed in detail: (l) the quality and ejficiency of public education, (2) tendencies in studies after secondary school and (3) the prestige of the teacher's profession. This paper relies much on the data and analyses investigating the situation of pubhc education (Halász and Lannert 1998) made by the Research Centre of the National Institute for Public Education (OKI), on data and results of the Central Statistical Office (KSH) and the Ministry of Culture and Pubhc Education (MKM) and mostly on the data and results of the empirical studies made by the Research Centre of OKI'. Although owing to the size of this book it is not possible to show in detail the changes made in education in the nineties, tendencies that characterise public education in the decade are summarised shortly and briefly at the beginning of the study. Among areas of public financing education may be the one where the most remarkable changes may have been observed during the period since the transformation of the country. Education was also greatly affected by the changes of the control regulation frames, the economic recession and varying demographic waves. The act on local authorities passed in 1990 provides autonomy of a higher degree for villages and towns, and institutions of primary and secondary education were handed to them. (See Appendix for description of different schools types in Hungary.) The decentralisation of the Hungarian public education, the buds of which could already be seen in the eighties, became much more intense than was usual in developed European countries. In 1996-97, 2400 out of the 3168 local authorities maintained some kind of educational institutions (Halász and Lannert 1998). 1 Public opinion polls and surveying on education and other issues: (a) Maiketing Centre. September 1994; February 1995, June 1996, (b) OKI-Marketing Centre sample of 1000 persons representing the Hungarian adult population, May 1997 and October 1997; (c) OKI-Szocio-Reflex Kft.: sample of 1000 persons representing the Hungarian adult population, spring of 1990 and 1995; (d) Survey made by the local authority, Szocio-Reflex Kft., 1995. (e) Investigation on teachers (1997) Research database, sample of 2500 persons, Research Centre OKI (f) Investigation on schools (1997): Research database, sample of 1500 persons. Research Centre of OKI. (g) Aspirations for the choice of career among 13-year-old children (1997). Research database. Regional sample of 2500 children and parents. Research Centre of OKI, and Monitor investigations of OKI Evaluation Centre