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The Ombudsman's Report
Report edited by Lajos Aáry-Tamás
Source: Report by the Ombudsman in Charge of Minority Affairs
Regarding the Comprehensive Survey of the Education of Minorities
in Hungary, 1998
'The language, material and intellectual culture, the historical
traditions of national and ethnic minorities living in the area
of the Republic of Hungary with a Hungarian citizenship, as
well as all other particularities related to their minority
existence are a part of the individual and communal identity.
All
these represent a special value and their protection, sustenance
and enrichment is not only a basic right of national and ethnic
minorities but represents a vested interest for the Hungarian
nation and, ultimately, for the international community.'
(Preamble
to Act LXXVII of 1993 on the rights of national and ethnic minorities)
LAUNCHING THE SURVEY
It
has become evident on the basis of the experiences of the last
two years that the content and quality of minority education
is of special importance for members of Hungary's national and
ethnic minorities. This is proved by the complaints submitted
to the ombudsman in charge of national and ethnic minority rights
in which teachers, parents and minority representatives report
on abuses occurring in minority education and request remedies
for these malpractices. The office has received almost a hundred
letters in which plaintiffs itemise offences against minority
rights related to minority education. The majority of plaintiffs
complain about omissions and breaches of law by municipal governments
but several complaints also refer to shortcomings in, or to
the complete lack of, legal regulation in certain areas. Many
of the complaints request my opinion regarding the interpretation
of the law or the form in which it is to be enforced.
As
ombudsman in charge of the rights of national and ethnic minorities,
I have always paid special attention to the handling of complaints
regarding the education of minorities since, through §
68 (2) of the Constitution, the Republic of Hungary ensures
members of national and ethnic minorities the right to an education
in the mother tongue. § 43 (2) of Act LXXVII of 1993 on
the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities (henceforth: Act.n.e.m.)
leaves it to the child's parent or career to decide whether
the child is going to participate in national or Hungarian education
and the parent or career must not be limited in practicing this
right. Act.n.e.m. devotes a separate chapter to the cultural
and educational self-management of ethnic and national minorities.
The free choice and retention of identity may be significantly
furthered if the person belonging to the minority is acquainted
with the culture and language of their minority group. In Hungary
entire generations of minorities have lost their mother tongue
in consequence of the assimilation process. To put an end to
the process of assimilation or, in a positive approach, to help
the retention of minority identity, is one of the prime objectives
of the Act on minorities. Schools and nursery schools, which
are perhaps the most important means of attaining this objective,
may help children as well as their parents in finding and retaining
their identity and in stopping the process of assimilation.
The
Hungarian system of general education is in a state of transition.
The amendments to Act LXXIX. of 1993 on General Education (henceforth:
Act.gen.ed) came into force as of September 1st 1996 and after
September 1st 1998 the new National Base Curriculum is being
progressively introduced. Minority education is an organic part
of the Hungarian education system - the changes to this system,
which will determine the education and upbringing of their children
for decades to come is not indifferent to members of national
and ethnic minorities. I consider the reform of the education
system a timely and necessary process and I agree with its basic
objectives. Yet, even at this early stage in the transformation
process there have emerged shortcomings of legislation and the
application of the law which it is not too late to remedy. For
this reason I have ordered ex officio a national comprehensive
survey in order to detect abuses of legislation and the application
of the law in the area of the education of minorities.
THE AIM OF THE SURVEY
In
the process of the survey we were seeking to answer the question
as to whether the legal regulation of education is in harmony
with the regulations defined in the Constitution and in the
Act defining the rights of national and ethnic minorities. It
was also the aim of the investigation to determine whether in
the course of the application of the law the rights of national
and ethnic minorities to cultural and educational self-management
were being enforced in accordance with the pertaining legal
regulations. It was a separate objective within the survey to
detect whether negative discrimination against minorities was
being practiced in the course of education.
The aim of the survey was not to find scapegoats but to unveil
abuses in the area of education and formulate suggestions and
initiatives for their eradication in order to create an institutional
system which could properly ensure the rights of Hungary's national
and ethnic minorities.
METHODS OF THE INVESTIGATION
Hungary's
minorities live scattered throughout the country and consequently
institutions of minority education can be found in almost all
counties. Thus it would have been an impossible target for the
office to examine all schools and nursery schools where members
of national and ethnic minorities are being educated. The amendments
to the Act of General Education only came into force as of September
1st 1996 and the National Base Curriculum is only being introduced
since September 1998. Thus there has not accumulated enough
practical experience on the basis of which empirical examinations
could be conducted. In spite of this fact the ombudsman in charge
of the rights of national and ethnic minorities has received
a steady flow of indications according to which abuses occur
in the legislation or the application of the law in the area
of minority education. For this reason, beside handling complaints
submitted to the Ombudsman's office, we also organized 'Open
Days' and professional forums in Pest, Baranya, Békés
and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén counties. At the 'Open
Days' the Ombudsman in charge of the rights of national and
ethnic minorities listened personally to the complaints of people
while professional forums were organized with the participation
of teachers, parents, minority representatives and the representatives
of local municipal governments. The aim of these latter was
to give the users and providers of general education services
to make their complaints, worries and observations known to
the ombudsman in charge of the rights of national and ethnic
minorities. Beside the personal participation, several written
complaints were also submitted on these occasions. Meetings
have also been organized with the representatives of offices
of public administration. Institutions of minority education
have been visited.
Questions
regarding the financing of minority education have been submitted
in a circular to the heads of county administration offices
and the answers have been incorporated in the survey.
We
involved members of the National Minorities Committee in professional
discussions. This committee is the advisory body assisting the
Minister of Culture and Education and consists of one delegate
from each of the central minority self-governments of this country.
In the area of minority education we made use of the results
of several surveys and research projects. Commissioned by the
Ombudsman in charge of the rights of national and ethnic minorities,
leading experts have carried out further research projects the
results of which we also made use of in the survey.
Experts
of the Ombudsman's office have analyzed Hungarian and international
legislation regarding minority education.
The
present, rather unusual survey, so far as its genre is concerned,
on the education of national and ethnic minorities was compiled
using the information that was collected in the above described
fashion. It contains the analysis and evaluation of problems
that emerge and the initiatives or suggestions regarding the
solution of abuses wherever these could be detected.
CONSTITUTIONAL, NATIONAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES' RIGHTS UNDER
EXAMINATION
-
the
right to education in the mother tongue - Const. §
68 (2)
-
the
prohibition on negative discrimination - Const § 7O/A
(2)
-
measures
in the interest of the eradication of inequality of opportunities
in order to ensure equality before the law - Const. §
7O/A. (1)
-
the
right to the free choice of identity - Act.n.e.m. §7
(1)
-
the
right to the knowledge, maintenance, enrichment, and passing
on of the mother tongue, history, culture and traditions
of persons belonging to national and ethnic minorities -
Act.n.e.m. §13 a)
-
the
right to participation in education and general cultural
life in the mother tongue - Act.n.e.m. § 13. b)
-
the
right to the protection of personal data connected to the
person's belonging to a minority group - Act.n.e.m. - §13.
c)
-
the
right of opinion and the right of consent of local and central
minority self-governments and of the local spokesmen of
minorities - Act.n.e.m. § 29, § 38, § 4O,
Act.g.ed. §8 (3) and (1O), §9. (2), §84 (6),
§ 88 (1) and (1O), § 9O (4), § 93 (1). §
94 (1), (4) and (5), § 1O2 (3) and (1O), § 1O7
-
the
right to self-management in education and culture - Act.n.e.m.,
Chapter VI.
LEGAL REGULATIONS APPLIED
A.
Hungarian regulations
-
The Constitution of the Republic of Hungary
- Act LXXVII of 1993 on the rights of national and ethnic
minorities
- ActLXXIX of 1993 on general education and Government Decree
No 2O/1997 (Feb. 13) on its enforcement
- Act LXV of 199O on Municipal Governments
- Act CXXIV of 1996 on the budget of the Republic of Hungary
for the year of 1997 as well as the joint decree of the Ministries
of Finance and Home Affairs regarding the per capita allowances,
national and ethnic supplementary support sums, allocations
of personal income tax collected, and official contribution
to the operation of the fire brigade payable to municipal
governments in the year of 1997.
- Act CXLI. of 1997 on the budget of the Republic of Hungary
for the year of 1998,
- Act XXXVIII of 1992 on State Finances as well as the Government
Decree No. 156/1995 (December 26) on its enforcement.
- Government Decree No. 13O/1995 (Oct. 26) on issuing the
National Base Curriculum,
- Government Decree No. 47/199O (December 15) on the sphere
of authority and of responsibility of the Minister of Culture
and Education
- Government Decree No. 137/1996 (August 28) on the national
foundation programme of nursery school education
- Government Decree No. 1O93/1997 (July 29) on the middle
range package of measures aiming at improving the living conditions
of Gypsies.
- Directive on the nursery school education of national and
ethnic minorities and Decree No. 32/1997 of the Ministry of
Culture and Education (Nov. 5) on issuing the directive on
the school education of national and ethnic minorities,
- Decree No 11/1994 of the Ministry of Culture and Education
(June 8) on the operation of institutions of education
- Decree No 1/1994 of the Ministry of Culture and Education
(Feb. 3) on the system of the approval of books as textbooks,
of supporting the cost of textbooks and of supplying schools
with textbooks.
INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS
UN
documents
-
UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education 196O.
(Introduced in Law Decree [equivalent to US executive order]
No 11/1964.)
- -Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to national
or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities 1992.
CSCE
documents
-
Charter of Paris for a New Europe 199O
- Report of the CSCE Meeting of Experts on National Minorities
1991
Documents
of the Council of Europe
-
The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
195O,
- directives Nos. 285, 814, 1134, 1177, 12O1
- The European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages
1992,
- Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
1994
Regional
documents
CEI
Instrument for the Protection of Minority Rights 1994
The
survey was led, under the personal supervision of the Ombudsman
in charge of minority affairs, by Lajos Aáry-Tamás.
Participating
in the preparation of the report was Peter Radó sociologist.
Special thanks are due to Katalin Pik, sociologist, Dr István
Orlai head of department, and the members of the Roma Press
Center, for their assistance and for their critical remarks.
MINORITY EDUCATION
The
education system is one of the most extensive services provided
in the country which, besides having to fulfill mandatory tasks,
must also adapt itself to the particular needs and requirements
of those using this service. This is also true of minority education.
The
system of minority education functions not in isolation but
as a part of the national system of general education. It is
the duty of the state to organize minority education wherever
the necessary legal framework is provided. The concept of minority
education necessarily includes nursery school education as well.
In
the analysis of regulations pertaining to minority education
three regulations of special importance have to be given consideration.
One of these is the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary,
the others are Act LXXVII of 1993 on the rights of national
and ethnic minorities and Act LXXIX of 1993 on General Education
- it is through the joint interpretation of the regulations
of these that it becomes possible to analyze the framework and
content of minority education and the educational self-management
of national and ethnic minorities. At the same time, we cannot
leave out of consideration the regulations of Act LXV of 199O
on Municipal Governments (henceforth Act.m.g.), of Act XXXVIII
of 1992 on State Finances (henceforth Act.st.fin.) or of the
regulations pertaining to the Act.gen.ed.
The
minority model outlined in the Act.n.e.m. intends to create
a form of cultural autonomy in which the educational self-management
of minorities plays a significant part. The current form of
educational autonomy consists in the right of consent and of
opinion in decisions where matters concerning minority education
are under discussion. Thus according to the main rule the national
minorities (their self-governments) do not themselves make decisions
in matters regarding their interests but practice a right of
consent and of opinion in order to influence decisions made
by others.
It
is the task of the state to operate the system of general education.
The Act.gen.ed. also makes it possible for legal and natural
persons (within this for local and central minority self-governments)
to run educational institutions. Still it is true to say that
regulations of the Act have a tendency to conserve the currently
existing educational system. The method whereby institutions
of education may be transferred from one operator to another
and the way in which they are to be operated are prescribed
by strict rules. Knowing the present financial conditions of
the self-governments of the minorities it is hard to imagine
how any of them could take advantage of their right to found
new institutions as it is defined in the Act.gen.ed. The only
solution open to them would be the transfer of already existing
institutions. There are no legal barriers in the way of such
processes but the costs of running such an institution would
not be covered by the joint sum of the educational per capita
allowances and the national minority supplementary support offered
by the state. Although it is possible to make an agreement with
the local municipal government in order to maintain an educational
institution but municipal governments have not so far taken
advantage of this opportunity. The above regulations of the
Act.gen.ed can also be interpreted as a legal possibility for
occasions in which minority self-governments are successfully
enforcing the interests of the given minority and are also successful
in the practical 'networking' activity that enforcing these
interests entails. The possibility of signing a general education
agreement with the local municipal governments is also open
to central minority self-governments. On the basis of §
81. (1O) of the Act.gen.ed the central minority self-governments
can sign a general education agreement with the Minister of
Culture and Education. The minister is obliged to sign a general
education agreement with a central minority self-government
if the school or boarding service of those belonging to the
ethnic minority is not provided for within the services offered
by the local municipal government. The central minority self-governments,
however, can only make use of this right if they already qualify
as institutional operators, i.e. if they have already founded
an educational institution or had one transferred to them.
Thus
most minority self-governments influence decisions concerning
minority education not as maintainers of institutions but by
practicing the right of consent with regard to institutions
which are maintained by local municipal governments. One reason
why this is justified is that the majority of ethnic schools
provide pupils who belong to a national minority with education
in their mother tongue, usually in mixed schools. The amendment
of the Act.gen.ed came to include, at the minorities' ombudsman's
suggestion, the definition of a minority institution. This assured
the application of §29 (2) of the Act.n.e.m. which concerns
the nomination of heads of minority institutions. It was necessary,
however, to arrive at a clear understanding as to which are
those decisions of local municipal governments which concern
the education of minorities and which require the consent of
the minority self-government in question. The answer to this
question can be found in §1O2 (1O) of the Act.gen.ed. This
regulation lists the cases in which the consent of local and
central minority self-governments is required in the case of
institutions maintained by local municipal governments. Minority
self-governments practice their right of consent not only in
the case of minority institutions but in the case of all institutions
which participate in the nursery school education, school education
and instruction, boarding school education and instruction of
national and ethnic minorities. With regard to this regulation
it is necessary to note that it covers only institutions maintained
by local municipal governments. It is necessary to explore whether
the right of consent might be extended to institutions which
are not maintained by the state or local municipal councils
(except of course for those institutions which are themselves
run by minority self-governments).
With
regard to the right of consent it is important to note that
the regulations of the Act.gen.ed contain regulations concerning
cases in which no agreement had been reached between the local
municipal council and the minority self-government and the debated
question cannot be solved through negotiation. In this case
a committee of nine members is to be created into which the
education board and the organization practicing the right of
consent delegate three members each and a further three are
invited by the organization maintaining the school from among
the experts listed in the National Experts' List. The committee
makes its decision with a simple majority and the decision supplements
the agreement between the parties. The application of a simple
majority makes it advisable to suggest that at least one of
the experts should be a minority expert.
On the basis of Act.gen.ed §93 (1) the Minister of Culture
and Education issues the "Directive for the nursery school
education of national and ethnic minorities" and the "Directive
for the school education of national and ethnic minorities"
and fulfils the tasks related to the supervision of these.
Decree
No. 32/1997 (Nov. 5) of the Ministry of Culture and Education
contains the "Directive for the nursery school education
of national and ethnic minorities" and the "Directive
for the school education of national and ethnic minorities."
The
most recent comprehensive modification of the Act.gen.ed contains
several regulations which concern the education of minorities
and which are finally in harmony with the regulations of the
Act.n.e.m. The amendments eradicated shortcomings of legislation,
extended the sphere of application of the right of consent and
the right of opinion and also came to include the expectations
of the National Base curriculum. The Act has made it clear that
the language of education is Hungarian or the language of the
national or ethnic minority in question. The language of examinations
can also be that of the national or ethnic minority and the
final certificates have to be produced in both languages, in
Hungarian and that of the national or ethnic minority.
The
Act has also clarified that the foundation documents of any
institution of general education must contain the type, name,
basic activity of the institution, its ethnic minority related
and other tasks, its subsidiary institutions, the funds on which
it relies in order to fulfill its tasks, the basis for the right
of control over these funds, the authorizations related to the
financial management of the institution, the name of the founder,
the address of the institutions headquarters and sites, in the
case of educational and teaching institutions the name of special
faculties, in the case of a school the number of years that
the course consists of. This latter regulation assumes special
importance with regard to the financing of minority education
since according to Appendix No 8 of the Act CXLVI of 1997 on
the Budget of the Republic of Hungary for the Year of 1998,
supplementary support may be applied for if
a)
the nursery school education, school education and instruction
of national and ethnic minorities is taking place at the parents'
request on the basis of educational and teaching projects,
programmes, curricula for the education of national and ethnic
minorities as forwarded or approved by the Ministry of Culture
and Education, after September 1st 1998 in the first and seventh
years of school on the basis of the educational directive
for the school education of national and ethnic minorities
or on the basis of local curricula and plans that were made
on the basis of the Directives for the nursery school and
school education of national and ethnic minorities. In the
case of the education and instruction of those belonging to
the Gypsy ethnic minority a further criterion is that if the
education and instruction is not taking place on the basis
of the local curriculum then at least six sessions a week,
whether during or outside of normal lessons time, need to
be provided for the realization of the programme.
b)
the foundation document of the educational and teaching institution
contains the fact of the institution fulfilling tasks in the
education of national and ethnic minorities.
An
educational institution may be maintained by a local or a central
minority self-government alike. The national and local minority
self-governments may practice the right of consent and opinion
in a great number of cases. Before determining the catchments
area of the operation (admissions) of the institution it is
necessary to obtain the consent of the local minority self-government
or, in the case of a school which fulfils a national or regional
function, that of the central minority self-government.
As
we have already indicated, the law has created a specialist
body called the National Minorities Council which contains one
member delegated by each central minority self-government. The
legal status of the committee is equal to that of the National
Council of General Education i.e. it is a body whose function
is to prepare decision making, to offer opinions and to make
proposals. Before submitting to the Government the national
Base curriculum and the examination regulations of the school
leaving examination and before the issuing of the Directives
of the nursery school education and the school education of
national and ethnic minorities the consent of the National Minorities
Committee must be obtained. This right of consent, however,
may not supplant the right of consent practiced by central minority
self-governments.
If
the educational institution in question is maintained by a local
municipal council then the consent of the local minority self-government,
or in the case of an institution of general education fulfilling
a regional or national function, of the central minority self-government,
must be obtained for the founding, closing down of educational
and teaching institutions participating in the nursery school
and school education and instruction or boarding education of
national or ethnic minorities as well as the modification of
their function, the determination of their name, the drafting
and modification of their budget, the evaluation of their professional
activity, the approval or their organizational and operative
regulations, the approval and execution of their educational
programme, the pedagogical programme or pedagogical and cultural
programme. In the case of minority educational institutions
the consent of the minority self-government must also be obtained
before the head of the institution takes up or leaves office.
(See appended - the regulations of the currently valid Act.gen.ed
regarding minorities.)
§4
(7) of the Act.gen.ed contains general regulations regarding
the prohibition of negative discrimination. According to this,
'in general education a prohibition extends to negative discrimination
on any grounds, particularly on that of the color, sex, religion,
national and ethnic background, political or other opinion,
national, ethnic or social origin, financial and income position,
age, the lack of or limitation on their disposing power, their
birth or other position or on the basis of the maintainer of
the institution of education and instruction.'
This
legal regulation, however, contains no sanctions for cases when
the prohibition is broken. The procedural rules (§83-84)
contain the concept of 'request for ascertaining legality' which
may be submitted with reference to a breach of law which is
judged on the second instance level and the whose revision by
a court of law may be requested. The court handles such cases
with urgency. It is our conviction that negative discrimination
ought to be distinguished from felonious activity so that the
burden of demonstration may be reversed. In other words, the
person charged with discrimination should be the one forced
to prove that they have committed none, rather than the reverse.
We shall later return to the question of negative discrimination.
OUTLINING AND ANALYSING THE ABUSES OCCURRING IN MINORITY EDUCATION.
I.
Nursery School education
1.
As we mentioned above, the range of minority education extends
to nursery school education, as well. According to §43
(4) of the Act.n.e.m., if a request is made by the parents or
legal representatives of no less than eight children belonging
to the same minority, it is mandatory to launch and operate
a separate minority class or study group. This regulation suggests
that minority education can only be organized in schools, but
§43 (3) renders the question obvious when it prescribes
that the education of minorities in the mother tongue or learning
the mother tongue may happen in minority nursery schools, schools,
school classes or study groups as determined by local facilities
and requests. The wording of the Act.gen.ed is in harmony with
this latter when it speaks of institutions of teaching and education,
as well as about nursery schools, schools and boarding institutions.
Accordingly, the right of consent and opinion of local minority
self-governments and the institution of co-management is also
valid in the case of the nursery school education of minorities.
2.
At professional forums nursery school teachers have complained
that the delay in the appearance of the ministerial decree regarding
the Directive concerning the nursery school education of ethnic
minority puts them into a difficult situation since it means
that they will have to produce and gain acceptance for their
educational programme in a very short period of time. On the
basis of the number of children receiving their education according
to a national minority nursery school education programme, local
municipal councils are entitled to a national or ethnic extra
support allowance. According to the regulations of the Act.gen.ed,
this sum may not be used for any other purpose but the education
of national minorities. As we shall show below in a separate
chapter, we have found errors in legislation and in the application
of the law in the financing of minority education and what is
described under this head is also valid for the nursery school
education.
3.
Nursery school teachers complain of a legal regulation the application
of which, according to them, creates a very disadvantageous
situation for many of them. The regulation in question, which
is mentioned on every possible occasion, is the one which prescribes
that nursery school teachers can only be employed if, by the
year 2000 they obtain specialist qualifications as national
minority nursery school teachers. This involves a financial
outlay which most of them cannot afford and the time left for
obtaining the qualification is anyway so short that many of
them fail to fulfill the requirement contained in the law.
According
to §128 (1) if a teacher's qualifications are not up to
the standard defined by the law and at the time when the law
came into force then if the teacher
a)
has less than ten years before reaching the age of retirement
then they may be employed in the same sphere of employment
until that time
b)
has more than ten years before reaching the age of retirement
then, after five years from the date of the law coming into
force they can only be employed as a teacher if they have
commenced their studies at an institution which provides tertiary
level teaching qualifications.
The
law contains more severe regulations regarding teachers who
have teaching qualifications but no specialist qualifications
in national minority education, only a state foreign language
certificate of type 'C' . According to § 128 (3) teachers
in possession of appropriate teaching qualifications and a state
foreign language certificate of type 'C' or an equivalent document
can be employed in teaching a foreign language and in teaching
and education in a foreign language or in the language of a
national or ethnic minority up to September 1, 2000, or in the
case of new employment as defined in §127 (9). The comparison
of the above two regulations reveals that after the date when
the law came into force, teachers of national minorities have
three and a half years in which to start their courses at an
institution which provides the required qualification while
teachers who are not working with minorities have five years
in which to start their studies. We believe that it is unjustified
to discriminate between teachers of national minorities and
other teachers as, according to the above regulations, teachers
of national minorities are in a disadvantageous situation compared
to others. The above regulation is against the prohibition of
negative discrimination as recorded in the Constitution, in
the Act.n.e.m. and the Act.gen.ed. This disadvantageous situation
originates from a shortcoming of legislation and thus the Ombudsman
in charge of national and ethnic minorities is going to suggest
that the legislator modify the law accordingly.
4.
Several surveys have shown that a high percentage of children
belonging to the Gypsy minority does not participate in nursery
school education, 11% of Gypsy children do not go to nursery
school or pre-school preparatory courses even after the age
of five. This is partly responsible for the generally poor performance
of Gypsy children in their later school career. We believe that
it is important to conduct surveys into the question as to why
Gypsy parents do not send their children to nursery school and
on the basis of such surveys educational policy-makers ought
to elaborate systems of incentive and communicational strategies
in order to alter the present situation.
SCHOOL EDUCATION
1.
The most frequent complaints at professional forums have been
that teachers feel a lack of harmony between the rules regulating
general education and the regulations of the Act.n.e.m. Teachers
working in minority education are particularly concerned about
the National Base Curriculum. In the chapter on the Particular
Principles of the Education of National and Ethnic Minorities,
the NBC prescribes that in the type of minority school whose
special profile is language teaching, the language of education
is Hungarian and the teaching of the minority mother tongue
happens from the first years onwards, following the criteria
prescribed by the NBC for living foreign languages. At the same
time, for the years 1 to 6 it prescribes a rate of 32-40% for
the educational area of language and literature. The regulations
do not distinguish between the educational area of Hungarian
Language and Literature and the minority language and literature.
It ascertains no proportion for living foreign languages in
these years. According to the school teachers, the problem with
this regulation is that the time frame of compulsory school
lessons excludes the allowance for the minority language and
literature which, considering we are talking about minority
education, they consider unacceptable. Alternatively, the teaching
of Hungarian language and literature will be excluded from the
language teaching type of institution which means that minority
students will not be able to answer the requirements of the
NBC. Some teachers see a solution to this in raising the number
of classes but this is not allowed by the regulations of the
Act.gen.ed. They believe that minority language and literature
could be organized as optional study classes but this would
mean that minority students are at a disadvantage compared to
their non-minority fellow-students. The long-term effect of
this may be that parents do not enter their children to institutions
of minority education and may thus lead to the loss of the future
intellectual section or group of the given minorities. Teachers
believe that the contradiction in the regulations indicated
above ought to be resolved because in its present form it indirectly
'fosters' the assimilation of minorities.
§52
(3) of the Act.gen.ed. defines the upper limiting number of
compulsory lessons for schoolchildren. This is done in the interest
of children, so that they cannot be obliged to participate in
more classes than the number there defined. Divergences from
this could only be made possible if the legislator modified
the regulations of the law. It is to be feared however, that
even so, parents of children belonging to minorities would decide,
precisely on account of a raised number of study sessions, not
to enter their children into minority schools as this would
expose them to a heavier work-load than that of non-minority
children. Although the work-load to which students may be subjected
is the topic of serious professional debate, this extent has
not yet been measured in any way thus far. Such measurements
however will definitely have to take place in the future as
it is only when we are in possession of the experiences of the
future years that we shall be able to revise the relation of
valid regulations to the rights and interests of national and
ethnic minorities and thus to arrive at the desired ends of
minority education. (E.g. to prevent further assimilation and
to encourage minorities to find and retain their identity.)
What
needs to be examined is whether it is possible to organize the
education of students belonging to minorities in such a way
that the programme could remain within the available time-frame
as defined by the law and should simultaneously answer the requirements
of the National Base Curriculum and the Directive for the Educational
National and Ethnic Minorities. For this purpose the analysis
of the already mentioned Acts is inevitable.
In
its arrangement of the various areas and sub-areas of instruction
in accordance with the peculiarities of the two educational
phases, the National Base Curriculum follows proportions which
indicate the 'weight' or 'role' of various areas of instruction
within the NBC and which are also meant to orientate the drafting
of variant or local curricula. The proportions between various
areas of instruction cannot be expressed in terms of the number
of study sessions only in terms of approximate percentages.
This is because areas of instruction may be organized into school
subjects in various ways. On the other hand these proportions
are defined by the individual schools in their local curricula
on the basis of the total of the available number of compulsory
and non-compulsory study sessions.
The
areas of instruction defined by the NBC may be organised into
school subjects in different ways by different local curricula.
Some of the areas may in themselves constitute a subject. At
the same time, certain spheres which belong to more than one
area of instruction in the NBC may be organised into one subject.
In
the case of compulsory sessions, schools formulate the number
of sessions and the lesson plans of the local curricula in view
of the proportions indicated by the NBC, while in the case of
non-compulsory sessions these are formulated entirely freely
by the individual schools.
The
compulsory character of the NBC means that
-
the
main principles are to be enforced in different local
variant curricula, in subject programmes, school books
and other auxiliary educational material,
-
areas,
sub-areas and themes of instruction must be taken cognizance
of,
-
emphasis
should be given to study material and activities which
may serve as a basis for realizing general and partial
developmental criteria,
-
that
the attainment of at least the minimum standards is to
be ensured for every student.
The
NBC is not a curriculum in the traditional sense but a basis
for local curricula and subject programmes. A local curriculum
is a plan of school education for the whole of the educational
cycle. According to the regulations of the Act.gen.ed., as a
part of the educational programme defining the teaching and
educational objectives of the institution it primarily contains
the compulsory and optional subjects and study session activities
which are taught in each year, the numbers of these sessions,
their main topics and the outlines of the requirements in these,
the criteria for stepping up into a higher year, the substantial
and formal requirements of assessment and evaluation, the modes
of differentiation, the decisions regarding the school books
and other study material that may be used. The programmes of
the subjects of the individual years are connected to these.
Local curricula are assembled by the teachers of individual
schools either by borrowing or adapting ready-made curricula
and subject programmes based on the NBC or by their own initiative.
Among
the special principles of the education of national and ethnic
minorities we find the regulations which are perhaps most important
from the point of view of the present problem and these are
those according to which it is possible to diverge from the
proportion among areas of instruction recommended by the NBC
in the curricula of schools which work on the basis of a minority
programme.
From
comparing the above regulations it may be ascertained that teachers
working in institutions of minority education enjoy a great
deal of freedom in formulating the minority pedagogical programmes.
We
are convinced that the local conditions for minority education
can only be formulated in such a way as to serve the rights
of the minorities in question and at the same time to answer
the requirements of the National Base Curriculum if the management
of the school establishes a close connection with the parents,
with local minority self-governments and with the local municipal
government and also if the local government shows a high degree
of co-operation with the teachers and the heads of institutions.
It is only in this alliance that they will be able to create
the educational programme and local curriculum which best serves
the interest of the minorities that live in the given town or
village. The local conditions for such a successful co-operation
are available.
2.
Uncertainty in the above question was created by the fact that
the Ministerial Decree containing the Directives regarding the
Nursery School and School Education of National and Ethnic Minorities
was delayed by more than eighteen months. This delay brought
institutions active in the teaching the education of minorities
into a disadvantageous situation as the educational programmes
of schools and nursery schools could be formulated and accepted
only by taking into account what is included in the Directives.
The first version of the draft for the Directives was considered
unacceptable both from a legal and from a professional point
of view and the version was thus withdrawn. In the meantime
the National Minorities Committee came into existence which
practices a right of consent, alongside the central minority
self-governments, before the issuing of the Directives. After
the next draft was accepted by the NMC, the consent of central
minority self-governments also had to be obtained. The Central
Government of Germans in Hungary indicated to the Ombudsman
that officials of the Ministry fail to involve the minority
self-government in elaborating the Directives. The final outcome
of this was that both the Central Self-Government of Germans
in Hungary and the Central Self-Government of Serbs in Hungary
refused to endorse the draft until their suggestions came to
be included in it. In the end, the valid Decree came into being
with the consent of all central minority self-governments.
The
Directives are intended to create the professional basis for
the nursery school and school education of minorities in harmony
with the National Base Programme for Nursery School Education
and with the National Base Curriculum. However, at the time
of the completion of the present survey that part of the decree
which is supposed to contain the detailed requirements broken
down into details for the different minorities and described
both in Hungarian and in the minority language had not yet appeared.
Failing these, the local curricula for the minority language
and literature cannot be formulated in any of the available
forms of minority education, except the form called intercultural
education.
Consequently,
neither teachers, nor the representatives of minority self-governments
nor even the representatives of municipal governments nor the
officials working for them are clearly and adequately acquainted
with their tasks and rights which also means that local debates
cannot be organized regarding the question. Responsibility for
the emergence of the present situation clearly lies with the
heads of the Ministry of Culture and Education since delayed
legislation has caused teachers of minority schools to have
a far shorter period of time in which to prepare for the new
kind of work, while their duties, tasks and responsibilities
are the same. Our experience has been that another reason for
this kind of misunderstanding and uncertainty is in the faulty
circulation of information. In questions of such great importance
as the organization of minority education, teachers were expecting
a far greater amount of information and assistance from the
Ministry of Education and from the National and Ethnic Minorities
Office. The time left till the beginning of the new academic
year might just be enough for the two offices to make up for
this shortcoming by various programmes and information booklets
and by professional discussions in which they must involve educational
specialist services and pedagogical institutes.
3.
We must deal separately with the education of students belonging
to the Gypsy minority. As we mentioned in our introduction,
the basis of minority education is the regulation of the constitution
of the Republic of Hungary which creates the possibility for
the education of national and ethnic minorities in their mother
tongue. Local municipal councils must organize minority classes
or groups if requested by at least eight parents belonging to
the same minority. While students of national minorities study
their mother tongue and national culture following a minority
programme within minority education, in the case of Gypsy children
only a small proportion participate in education organised according
to a minority programme and even within that most of them work
according to a 'catch-up programme'. But such 'catch-up' education
is usually not initiated for these children by the Gypsy parents.
According to §45 (2) of the Act.gen.ed it is possible to
create special frameworks of education in order to reduce the
educational disadvantages of the Gypsy minority. We consider
the above regulation of the Act.gen.ed. as extremely disquieting
in its wording, since it talks about the disadvantages of the
Gypsy minority and not of certain students. Thus it practically
suggests that the Gypsy minority as a minority has disadvantages
in terms of education which is indubitably untrue. We believe
that the basis for organizing catch-up programmes for Gypsy
children is not the possibility of reducing disadvantages but
the constitutional requirement of ensuring the equality of opportunities.
The prime aim of these catch-up programmes is the reduction
of disadvantages in this sense. We consider the organisation
of such programmes as a measure aiming at eradicating inequalities
of opportunity which consequently serves the fulfillment of
the constitutional requirement of the equality of rights (Const.
§ 7O/A (3)). Naturally, minority education as such is aiming
to create also an equality of opportunities but the success
of minority education is different in the case of the national
minorities and within the Gypsy minority.
It
is worth examining the question of organizing separate Gypsy
classes from this point of view. After examining the pertaining
regulations it may be ascertained that the organization of education
in separate classes is not per se anti-Constitutional since
education in separate classes and groups is a general characteristic
of minority education. The crucial question is how, why and
by whom this separated education was organised and whether it
led to or leads to the attainment of the Constitutional objective
in whose interest it was organized. In the case of students
belonging to national minorities it may be declared that separate
education fulfils its purpose which is the finding and retention
of national identity and the passing on of the national language
and culture.
The
situation is fundamentally different with Gypsy students. There
are very few Gypsy education programmes which make the finding
and retention of identity and the passing on of Gypsy language
and culture their aim. Some of the reasons for this are the
lack of internationally recognized standards for the Gypsy language
and culture, the low social prestige of Gypsy culture and Gypsy
people generally, the powerful pressure arriving from the majority
in the direction of assimilation and finally the fact that Gypsy
people themselves are divided regarding their own culture.
The
above reasons, however, do not justify the education of Gypsy
children in separate classes without any special educational
programme and without the approval of their parents. We have
no precise information as to the number of Gypsy classes of
this type functioning in Hungary but after comparing legal regulations
we may declare that the organisation of separate Gypsy classes
which are operated without a Gypsy catch-up programme, or on
the basis of a programme which is not in accordance with the
Directive for the School Education of National and Ethnic Minorities,
as well as run without the knowledge and agreement of the parents
is against the law, since it constitutes the negative discrimination
of Gypsy students. The restoration of legality may take place
in different ways according to local conditions and parameters.
Where separation is not justified either for reasons of minority
rights or for educational reasons, the organization of students
into integrated (mixed) classes is advisable.
It
has been (and in many places still is) a general requirement
toward Gypsy students participating in integrated education
(mixed classes) and catch-up courses that in the interest of
integration they should in every way adapt to the expectations
of Hungarian schools. The final outcome of this sort of attitude
and practice was that although after 1990 the number of Gypsy
persons completing primary education increased (70-75%), the
rate of those entering further education remained low. While
more than half of non-Gypsy students continue their education
in some form of secondary school, the rate of Gypsy students
accepted into secondary education is just under 3% while in
tertiary education the rate of Roma students is 0.22%.
The
social background of Gypsy children doubtlessly plays a part
in their low rate of success in education. In Hungary only 30.8%
of Roma men of a working age, between 19 and 59 has found employment,
the rate among women is as low as 17.5% (Kemény-Havas,
1994). One out of every three Gypsy students is being brought
up in a family where both parents are unemployed. The parents'
chances of reintegration in the labor market are dropping lower
and lower and this has its effect on the education of the children.
In order to eradicate this intolerable situation the Government
constructed a package of measures the aim of which is to improve
the life conditions of Gypsies. We wish to monitor the realization
of this project in the future. At the same time the Hungarian
system of general education does not take into account the difference
in the cultural background of Roma people. The pedagogical methods
of the catch-up courses have not yet become clarified, their
evaluation has not taken place, and their efficiency has not
been tested. At the same time Hungarian general education is
becoming increasingly competitive thus leaving less and less
of a chance for such programmes as they necessitate the mobilization
of further budgetary resources. Under such conditions neither
the integrated, nor the segregated education of Gypsy students
is able to attain the constitutional objective of eradicating
the difference in the equality of opportunities. Besides, as
we shall see below, the organization of Gypsy classes may lead
to negative discrimination. In the education of Gypsy students,
Hungarian general education and within that the catch-up courses
organized for Gypsy children have proved to be a failure. As
the Minister of Culture and Education himself admitted, the
professional and legal background for the education of the Gypsy
minority is non-existent.
We
believe that general education as a public service ought to
take into account the needs and interest of its users. At the
present time it has become a clearly recognized expectation
that parents need to be much more involved in decisions regarding
the education of their children than previously happened. At
the moment there is a lack of communication between Gypsy children
and the schools in a great number of places. The eradication
of this communication failure could be the task partly of teachers
and partly of the minority self-governments which mediate between
the Gypsy communities and the maintainer of the school. The
legal framework for such a process is provided but the mediation
can only be successful if the representatives of the minority
self-government are also in possession of the necessary professional
information and expertise. Besides this we strongly encourage
the heads and maintainers of educational institutions to involve
the representatives of other professions in this joint effort
in order to increase the efficiency of the teaching work and
to attain more efficient communication. Graduate experts of
social work may be able to represent points of view which had
been equally ignored by representatives of the minority self-government
and by teachers. Social workers and social educational experts
have a joint knowledge of the educational process and the family
conditions with which to contribute to the efficient resolution
of the characteristic problems of children belonging to this
minority.
One
reason why parents have to be involved in decisions is because
Gypsy catch-up programmes cannot be organized without the parents'
knowledge and approval. The practice in this regard has not
so far been obvious since we received complaints whereby Gypsy
pupils are receiving Gypsy catch-up education without their
parents' knowledge and that the local municipal government in
possession of data regarding the pupil's belonging to a minority
had applied for extra national and ethnic minority per capita
allowances. In connection to one concrete case I sought out
the Ombudsman in charge of data protection and requested his
opinion regarding the questionnaire that members of the Gypsy
catch-up course had to fill in. The opinion of the Ombudsman
in charge of data protection was that questionnaires inquiring
into the pupil's ethnic background can only be used if the programme
serves the reduction of the disadvantages of the Gypsy minority
and is in agreement with the regulations of the Directives for
the Education of National and Ethnic Minorities. According to
§7 (1) of the Act.n.e.m. it is the individual's exclusive
and inalienable right to state and declare their belonging to
an ethnic group or minority. No one can be forced to make a
declaration regarding their belonging to a minority group. In
view of the above regulations filling in the questionnaire can
only be voluntary.
On
the basis of §2 (2) of Act LXIII of 1992 on the protection
of personal data and the publicity of data of public interest,
data concerning national and ethnic background qualify as special
data. On the basis of §6 (1) and (2) the person concerned
or their legal representative must be informed about the voluntary
character of data recording, as well as of its aim and the mode
of handling of the data. Gypsy catch-up courses must thus be
organized in such a fashion that they should fully comply with
the above outlined legal regulations. We believe that for this
to take place it is inevitable and necessary to involve parents
and teachers in intensive communication and co-operation.
According
to the currently valid regulations a decentralized system of
general education is to emerge in Hungary but the success of
minority education requires that the Ministry of Culture and
Education should create, with the involvement of those concerned,
the professional foundations for the education of members of
the Gypsy minority. It is also necessary to circulate information
in order to help publicize those educational programmes which
have been operating and proved successful, to help the acquisition
of knowledge about Gypsy culture through further training courses.
In the interest of the educational self-management of the Gypsy
minority the local minority self-government must be given the
opportunity to come to understand their rights regarding minority
education and the conditions for the enforcement of these rights.
FINANCING
The
most important alteration in terms of the financing of minority
education is that the 1996 amendment of the Act.gen.ed has declared
the national and ethnic minority supplementary per capita allowance
supports as 'not to be used for any other purpose' (Act.gen.ed
Appendix No. 1., Part Two, Point 2.) In formulating their 1997
budgets, local municipal governments had to apply this regulation.
Act CXXIV of 1996 on the Budget of the Republic of Hungary for
the year 1997 contains the following regulations regarding normative
state supports,
§19
(1) Parliament defines the pretexts and sums for the various
types of normative state supports in Appendix 3.
(2)Normative
state supports are publicized by the Minister of Finance and
the Minister of Home Affairs in a joint decree before 31 January
1997, on the basis of task indices and other indicators based
on the data provided by the local municipal councils.
§20
Parliament establishes state supports with mandatory utilization
(..)
e)
for the support of the nursery school education, school instruction
of national and ethnic minorities and for the support of bilingual
instruction according to conditions as defined in Appendix 8.
These supports are publicised on the basis of task indices and
other indicators based on the data provided by the local municipal
councils.
The
decree defined in §19 (2) is the joint decree of the Ministry
of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs 1/1997 (Jan 28)
whose §1 (3) declares that the description of supplementary
supports which local municipal councils may claim for the year
1997 on the basis of §20 (1) point e) of the Budgetary
Act and its Appendix 8. for encouraging the education and instruction
of members of national and ethnic minorities, taking into account
task indices and other indicators based on the data provided
by the local municipal councils is contained in Appendix 2,
broken down into municipal governments and types of support.
In 1997 municipal councils received almost HUF 3.25 billion
as supplementary support for national and ethnic minorities.
It is of no small interest as to whether a financial support
which amounts to such a significant sum has actually fulfilled
its mission, that is, whether it has been spent on minority
education or not. §44 of the Act.n.e.m. admits that instruction
in the mother tongue or of the mother tongue involves extra
costs which must be covered by the state or the local municipal
government as prescribed by law. It is this extra cost that
is supposed to be covered by the national and ethnic minorities
supplementary support.
In
my 1996 report I indicated to Parliament that the realization
of the above regulation will not be without difficulties. My
predictions proved correct, as early as the first quarter of
1997 we received complaints whereby some local municipal councils
subtract the sum of the supplementary support from the sum that
is allocated to minority institutions, claiming that no more
is needed for the institution to fulfill its function. The other
problem is that the budget of minority institutions does not
include the sum of the supplementary support under a separate
heading thus heads of institutions do not know how much they
can spend on minority education. This is what happened in the
case of one minority school in Baranya county. Since the complaints
allowed us to judge that the problem is characteristic of the
entire country, we contacted the heads of country administration
offices and requested that they examine whether similar cases
had occurred in their county and to submit their opinion as
to the legality of the above described state of affairs.
At
the same time we contacted the central minority self-governments
and requested them to inform us whether they know of the occurrence
of such instances. Next, we contacted the members of the National
Minorities Committee and requested them to issue a professional
opinion. Last, but not least, we sent a letter to the Minister
of Culture and Education, to the Minister of Finance and to
the Minister of Home Affairs, requesting them to describe their
opinion regarding the system of normative support for national
and ethnic minorities and regarding the information that we
had received in connection with it.
1.
The heads of county administration offices were most helpful
and ready to co-operate with our office and investigated the
problem we had indicated in a short period of time.
The
head of the Baranya County Administration Office investigated
the complaint of the school headmaster of the township in question
regarding the national minority supplementary normative support.
After reviewing the Budget of the local municipal government
all that could be ascertained was that the sum of the per capita
allowance appeared on the credit side. In the school's Budget
the sum of the general education per capita allowance, which
is provided without obligation of utilization, and the national
and ethnic minority supplementary support appears jointly in
the bracket 'institution's income, financing'. The head of the
Office established that the sum of the national and ethnic minority
support does not appear individually either on the credit or
the debit side. According to the opinion of the Head of Office,
the significance of the indicated problem reaches far beyond
the range of task and authority of his office and the National
Auditing Board ought to be involved in its resolution.
The
above described instance raises the question as to how educational
institutions can utilize the sum of the allowance for the education
of national and ethnic minorities if their budget does not reveal
the end to which they are obliged to utilize it.
After
the analysis of the pertaining regulations it can be established
that the supplementary par capita allowance cannot be separated
on the debit side because neither the prescriptions of Act XXXVIII
of 1992 nor the Government Decree 156/1995 (Dec. 26) issued
for its implementation contain the specialist task of such denomination
for Budgets prepared according to their guidelines. One head
of office suggest the amendment of the pertaining regulations
so as to ensure clearly the possibility of control both in terms
of the appearance of the support in the budgets and in term
of its utilization.
The
head of another office draws attention to the fact that local
municipal councils act correctly if they pass the entire sum
of the support stipulating mandatory utilization is passed on
to the educational institution. In the opposite case, according
to §21 (5) of the Budgetary Act the allowance must be repaid
with interest after the acceptance of the final settlements.
According to their opinion a factor of decisive importance in
this matter is the existence or otherwise of good working relations
between the head of institution and the local mayor. In any
other case it is possible that the local government ensures
the per capita allowance state support with mandatory utilisation
for the institution but reduces the annual budget of the given
institution by redistributing the support which is received
without mandatory utilization. This possibility is left open
for the mayor by §84 (2) of Act LXV of 199O on local municipal
governments.
According
to point 2. of Appendix 1 of Act LXXIX of 1993 on General Education,
'the nursery school education and school education of those
belonging to national and ethnic minorities as well as bilingual
education must be supported by supplementary professional per
capita subsidies which may not be utilized to any other purpose.'
According to the opinion of the head of office in question,
the relating regulations are difficult to interpret clearly.
If the supplementary per capita support related to national
and ethnic minorities must be passed on to the institution on
top of the normative per capita support without mandatory utilization,
this should be clearly declared so in a legal regulation, which
also ought to regulate clearly the addressee and precise method
of the obligation to account for the sum.
All
heads of county administrative offices, without exception, find
the participation of the National Auditing Board necessary in
order to investigate the problems of financing minority education.
2.
The educational experts of central minority self-governments
(who are in most cases also the members of the National Minority
Committee) were also most ready in responding to our request
and indicated the abuses that they themselves had experienced.
In the following paragraphs we are going to describe a few of
these.
According
to the experience of the headmaster of the Hungarian-German
Bilingual School in Pécs, Chairperson of the NMC, in
the case of educational institutions which beside the normative
per capita support without mandatory utilization are also entitled
to national minority supplementary support, the contribution
of the local municipal council was reduced by approximately
the same sum as the sum of the national minority supplementary
support. He believes that the solution could be achieved if
schools could plan to use the supplementary support to cover
the extra costs entailed by national education (breaking classes
into smaller groups, student-swaps, special national projects)
and they need assistance in protecting themselves from the above
described actions of local governments. Thus this budgetary
item could not be used for covering material costs that occur
in any type of school.
According
to the Education Committee of the National Slovakian Self-Government,
local municipal governments usually spend far more on the maintenance
of their national and minority school than the total sum of
the school and the national minority normative per capita supports,
so that they can always prove utilization. 'This is only a play
with figures' - the quote is from the head of the financial
manager of the municipal council. This means that the national
minority normative support is still swallowed up by basic maintenance,
even though it is separated. The person who is the source of
this information suggests a change of law to ensure the solution
which would render it possible to control that the sum of the
minority support is actually utilized for purposes of minority
education.
The
head of the Training and Educational Committee of the Central
Self-Government of Croatians in Hungary describes in their answer
that their committee is in direct contact with the heads of
the institutions of Croatians in Hungary and on the basis of
the information that they supply it can be declared that the
minority normative per capita allowance is utilized for purposes
other than that of minority education and that the control of
the course of these sums is almost impossible. They believe
that the reasons for this are that the utilization is not under
any control. The heads of institutions public servants' councils,
school boards and minority self-governments do not practice
their rights and the representatives of minority self-governments
lack the knowledge of the legally assured rights.
3.
As we indicated above, we also contacted the Ministers of Culture
and Education, of Finance and of Home Affairs and requested
them to express their opinions regarding the system of supplementary
per capita normative allowance of minority education and regarding
the complaints we received in this regard. All three Government
Ministers assured me of their support and readily gave their
points of view on those problems which were indicated. In his
answer, the Minister of Culture and Education admitted that
it is a basic criterion for the practical enforcement of rights
related to the education of national and ethnic minorities that
the supplementary per capita normative support should be utilized
in the appropriate fashion. The head of the educational portfolio
considers it a success that the mandatory utilization of this
sum has been recorded in the letter of law. He, too, has been
informed that in spite of this there are institutions carrying
out minority education which do not receive a sum increased
by the sum of the supplementary per capita normative support
from their maintaining body.
He
considers it one of the basic problems that minority self-governments
cannot always and in every place enforce their wide-ranging
legal rights and their right of consent. A great proportion
of schools are maintained by local municipal governments and
it is they that apply for the per capita normative allowances,
they decide the budgets of educational institutions, they have
to accept the educational programme of schools and practice
the rights of the maintainer. It is in co-operation with them
that self-governments of minorities could and should ensure
that the minority per capita normative allowance should actually
be provided for institutions of instruction and education as
an extra resource for financing the extra tasks that flow from
the peculiarities of minority education.
According
to the Minister of Education the other significant problem is
that although the professional conceptions regarding the education
of other minorities was developed years and even decades ago
and Ministerial regulations subsequently appeared on the basis
of these, the minority education of Gypsies still lacks the
appropriate professional and legal background. This makes it
excessively difficult to examine and control the appropriate
utilization of the supplementary per capita normative allowance
for Gypsy minority education. According to the Minister the
desired resolution may emerge through the enforcement of the
Ministerial Decree regarding the Directives for the Nursery
school and School Education of National and Ethnic minorities,
since on the basis of this and the National Base Curriculum
it will be possible to create those local educational programmes
which record the system of requirements for minority education
in a fashion which is easy to control. In future they wish to
tie the provision of national and ethnic minority supplementary
per capita allowances to the realization of these programmes.
The
Minister of Home Affairs, in agreement with the Minister of
Finance, informed me that according to the currently valid regulations
the financial and economic regulation system of local municipal
councils is of a credit interested nature, i. e. it does not
define or detail expenditures. Local municipal councils handle
their incomes independently, within the frames defined by law,
and they finance their legally prescribed compulsory tasks as
well as their voluntarily undertaken tasks from a unified budget.
Consequently the realization of the various compulsory tasks,
mainly prescribed by law, which are financed by municipal councils
from various sources of income can be examined, in effect, on
the basis of their compliance with the rules of occupational
branch and profession related regulations. A sure point of reference
is provided for such an examination by §38 (1) of the Act.gen.ed
according to which institutions of public education must possess
the resources they need in order to fulfill their function.
Institutions of education m ensure the fulfillment of their
tasks on the basis of resources provided by the founding and
maintaining organization and arising from other sources. The
cost of the operation and maintenance of institutions of public
education must be prognosticated in a budget which is compiled
annually and is established by the maintaining body. According
to the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister of Finance
since §1O2 (1O) of the Act.gen.ed also contains that for
the formulation and modification of the budget of institutions
of education and instruction which also participate in fulfilling
minority related tasks the consent of the minority self-government
in question must be obtained, all legal guarantees are available
to ensure that the budget of the institutions in question should
be formulated in accordance with the minority-related function
and as described above.
The
Ministers of State also remark that supplementary supports with
a mandatory utilization such as the support of the nursery school
and school education of members of national and ethnic minorities
is related to the extra tasks (e.g. a higher number of language
lessons, special professional requirements) which occur in this
particular area in the process of education. The legally correct
utilization of this sum can, naturally, be separated from the
total support received by the institution but this does not
mean that this supplementary support needs to appear over and
above the institutional 'base support' as a kind of extra development
resource.
On
the basis of the above analysis it can be ascertained that the
legal regulations regarding the financing of minority education
are far from self-evident and thus their application is in no
way a unified practice, either. We cannot accept the approach
according to which the budgetary resources which the state has
allocated with a mandatory utilization only reach their target,
the institutions of minority education, if the ability of the
local minority self-government displays efficient interest enforcement
techniques. The institution of the rights of consent and opinion
ought primarily to serve co-operation rather than confrontation.
For this, however, clear legal regulations are needed, and this
is also required by the constitutional requirement of legal
security. The legislator was also aware of the problem we indicated
since Act CXLVI of 1998 on the Budget of the Republic of Hungary
for 1998 contained a regulation in its Appendix No 8 according
to which the support must be utilized for fulfilling the extra
tasks entailed by minority education, for ensuring the time
frame necessary for the study sessions and for breaking classes
into smaller groups as is necessitated by teaching the language
of the minority or for instruction in the minority language,
and for ensuring the material and personal conditions of minority
education. At the same time harmony must be created between
the regulation of the law and the regulations of the laws prescribing
implementation so that the state support should indeed be utilized
for the purpose of minority education.
The
abuse that has been indicated goes back to a shortcoming in
legislation and I shall request the State Auditing Board to
carry out expert investigations from the points of view of legality
and practical purposefulness.
TEXT BOOK SUPPLY
The
poor supply of textbooks is a general problem of minority education.
The existence of textbooks and other study material which is
in harmony with the National Base Curriculum, the National Minority
Education Programmes and the aims of National Minorities education
is a condition without which National Minority education cannot
integrate itself organically with the new system of public education.
A particularly damaging fact for teachers of national minorities
was the delay in the publication of Directives for the School
Education of National and Ethnic Minorities since it is only
in the knowledge of the system of requirements based on this
directive that the Ministry of Culture and Education intends
to subsidies national minority textbook supply. As regards a
system of textbook supply which is subsidized on a competitive
basis, their is only a plan whose realization, according to
the Minister of Culture and Education, is currently underway.
Thus new developments of publishers and the publication of much
needed textbooks which are out of print are presently subsidized
by the Ministry. We know of a national minority school which
did not receive its national textbooks by the beginning of the
1997/98 academic year. The reason for this was clearly that
' due to the alteration of the system of subsidies this year
and to the more circumspect preparation of agreements, related
business contracts were signed later this year than has been
customary.' (The quote is from a letter by the Minster of Culture
and Education.) At professional forums publishers' representatives
and teachers likewise declared that the present system of textbook
supply and subsidization is untenable. In several schools teachers
are commissioned to translate textbooks and in other places
they use books which are imported and incompatible with the
National Base Curriculum or simply out of date. In the absence
of textbooks and other study material it is useless to create
educational programmes and local curricula, as there is no hope
for their realization. This may cause a contradictory situation
in national minority education and the Ministry of Culture and
Education must instantly act in order to remedy it.
TEACHER TRAINING AND FURTHER-TRAINING
The
future of national minority general education is tied in with
the development of national minority teacher training. National
minority general education can only answer new challenges and
rising expectations (this latter is proven by empirical surveys)
if there is an adequate number of suitably qualified national
minority teachers available. The system of national minority
teacher training is also in a state of transition. The present
comprehensive survey now proceeds by examining the system of
national minority tertiary education and the system of in-service
training. It is only possible to secure the standard of national
minority public education on a long term scale if the machinery
of tertiary education is also prepared to face this task.
NEGATIVE DISCRIMINATION
1.
The content of negative discrimination
The
definition of negative discrimination is contained in the UNESCO
Convention on the battle against discrimination in education
(announced in Law Decree 11 of 1964). According to Article 1.
of the Convention 'by the term "discrimination" we
mean any sort of distinction, exclusion, limitation or favoritism
according to race, skin color, sex, language, religion, political
or other opinion, national or social background, wealth or birth
the aim of which is the eradication or curtailment of equality
of treatment in the field of education, such as
a)
the exclusion of any person or group from participation in
any type or grade of education
b) the curtailment of the education of any person or group
in one grade and the demotion to a lower grade,
c) the establishment or maintenance of separate systems or
institutions of education for certain persons or groups, maintaining
the reservations included in Article 2. of the present Convention
or
d) causing persons or groups to come into situations which
are incompatible with human dignity.
2.
For the use of the present Convention 'education' means all
the types and grades of education and includes the sense of
the possibility of participation in education, as well as the
standard and quality of education and the conditions among which
the studies are carried out.'
According
to Article 2. 'it is not considered discrimination if certain
states allow
a)
the establishment and maintenance of separate educational
systems of institutions for students of the two sexes as long
as these systems or institutions provide equal opportunities
for participation in education, each working with teaching
staff with equal qualifications, possessing school rooms and
equipment of equal quality and facilitates the completion
of identical or equivalent courses of study,
b) the establishment and maintenance of separate systems of
institutions for religious or language reasons which provide
such education as satisfies the requirements of students or
their legal representatives as long as the participation in
these systems or attendance at these institutions is open
to free choice and the education here provided is in harmony
with the norms that might be accepted or prescribed by the
pertaining authorities especially in terms of education of
the same grade,
c) the establishment or maintenance of private institutions
of study so long as the aim of these institutions is not the
exclusion of any particular group but to broaden the choice
of educational opportunities offered by the public authorities,
provided that their practical operation is in harmony with
this theoretical objective and that the education there provided
is in harmony with the norms that might be accepted or prescribed
by the pertaining authorities especially in terms of education
of the same grade.'
The
above regulation is an organic part of Hungarian internal law
and thus we consider it a starting point for the examination
of negative discrimination in education.
Negative
discrimination against students belonging to different minorities
is usually traced back to the prejudices or racism of the members
of the majority society. This approach, which assumes a negative
motive in each case, is unjustified and is an undue simplification
of the problem. Pedagogical practices which are disadvantageous
for students often arise from pure ignorance and are the result
of the fact that teachers or decision makers of educational
policy are not suitably prepared for their mission. (Pertaining
literature distinguishes between the concepts of intentional
and unintentional discrimination.) Since the intentions are
different if not from the point of view of possible modes of
therapy then certainly from the point of view of results, in
our discussion of practices which lead to negative discrimination
against minority students we shall also include cases which
may even have been the result of good intentions.
The
concept of negative discrimination has three possible interpretations
which are again not unrelated to the intentions involved, (1)
according to the narrow interpretation it only includes cases
in which the disadvantage experienced by minority students is
the result of negative discrimination, (2) a broader interpretation
includes all educational practices which create a disadvantage
for students coming from a national minority as students coming
from a national minority or (3) which does not help to clear
up the disadvantages which arise from the minority positions
of these students.
Although
the third approach clearly blurs the boundary between disadvantage
and negative discrimination, this is still the definition we
are going to use, for the following reasons.
(1)
As we have already discussed, the disadvantages discussed
by these students are not in every case the result of prejudice
or racism or consequent segregation and discrimination.
(2) In the following it will become clear that in all cases
discrimination is only one element of the disadvantages which
affects students to a varying extent from minority to minority.
These disadvantages are inseparable from each other and they
cannot as a rule be demonstrated or remedied in a pure form.
(3) The Hungarian system of minority related legislation goes
further than the mere prohibition of negative discrimination
but also prescribes the application of a system of positive
measures which serve to balance out various disadvantages.
We
clearly cannot consider as negative discrimination those disadvantages
which equally effect students belonging to both the majority
and the minority, (e.g. certain social problems) or those which
cannot be eradicated by the system of means that are available
to the law or educational policy (e.g. educational segregation
which emerges on a systematic level as a result of residential
segregation) or those which although affecting minority students
are the result of decisions made by members of the minority
in question. (Poorly functioning minority institutions.)
Since
negative discrimination is very much a contextual phenomenon
we consider it necessary to outline the system of relations
within which certain educational situations can be considered
the source of disadvantages for students belonging to minorities.
From this point of view we have to take into account the following
three criteria.
-
the
avoidance of all forms of discrimination.
-
the
'translation' of minority rights into educational practice.
(e.g. acquiring language and culture, free choice of identity,
etc.)
-
equal
opportunities for progress within the educational system.
On
the basis of the above we consider as negative discrimination
the following:
-
such
features of the educational system as limit equality of
opportunity,
-
inadequate
and disadvantageous solutions in the organisation of education,
-
inadequate
and disadvantageous educational practices.
Practices
within public education which qualify as negative discrimination
do not affect all minority groups in Hungary and affect them
to different degrees. On the basis of typical problems minority
students may be classified into the following three groups,
-
students
participating in school level minority education
-
gypsy
students participating in school level minority education,
-
students
belonging to minority groups with no school level education.
Students
belonging to the larger national minorities (Croatians, Germans,
Slovakians, Rumanians) participate in minority programmes, in
educational institutions maintained by the local municipal councils.
Since these groups are not 'visible' minorities, (i.e. not recognizable
by exterior signs) by students belonging to the minority group
we mean the students who participate in the minority programme.
Gypsy students belong to a visible markedly distinct group but
only some of these of students participate in minority 'catch-up'
programmes. Students belonging to smaller national minorities
do not usually study in institutions of minority education instead
the minority education characteristically takes place in so
called 'Sunday schools,' on a training course basis.
NEGATIVE DISCRIMINATION IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
The
Hungarian system of education displays several structural features
which may be the source of negative discrimination for certain
minority students (thus not entirely for the entire minority
group.) These structural features are the following;
1.
The problem of minority programmes which are impossible to
complete in the period of time defined for basic education.
2. The lack of educational institution models which are suited
to serve specialist requirements and are adaptable to various
minority situations.
3. The disadvantageous function of the system of special needs
education for gypsy students,
4. The lack of an adequate system of professional development
and services.
5. The dissatisfactory standard of regulation and educational
policy aiming to eradicate negative discrimination.
2.1
In the new system of practical educational regulations, basic
education is not completed at the end of the eighth year of
primary school but by a Basic Education Examination which is
to be taken at the end of the tenth year. In the present system
of minority education, however, minority programmes usually
come to an end at the end of primary school, except for national
minority grammar schools which offer the opportunity of further
education to an average of 15% of minority students most of
whom belong to the larger national minorities. This means that
the great majority of students participates in an incomplete
minority programme. More precisely, in the ninth and tenth year
they do not participate in a programme which would prepare them
for taking the Basic Education Examination in their minority
language. This language is the very reason why the present system
of general education is not permeable from the point of view
of minority education. This is in spite of the fact that in
terms of the totality of the system of general education various
guarantees of permeability help to resolve the tensions between
school structures which are at odds with levels of regulation
as regards practical realization.
The
extended duration of basic education can also be a source of
disadvantages for Gypsies, for a different reason. Since the
proportion of Gypsy students who continue their studies in institutions
of secondary education is incredibly low, it becomes even more
difficult for them to participate in occupational training for
which at the moment a completed ten year course of basic education
is a criterion in most cases. This may have a dramatic effect
on the already disastrous level of education of the Gypsy minority
and thus on their position on the labour market.
2.2
The question of models for educational institutions which satisfy
specialist, minority requirements is something that concerns,
to varying degrees, all three minority groups that we identified
earlier. It is a shared feature among these models that in view
of the disadvantages flowing from a minority position they are
supposed to ensure equal opportunities for students belonging
to minorities in terms of progress within the system of general
education.
2.2.1.
The disadvantages afflicting Gypsy students are of such an extent
that a solution whose only target are institutions maintained
by municipal councils will not be able to reduce to the desirable
degree the vast difference between the level of education of
Gypsies and of the majority society. For this it is also necessary
to create special institutional models whose conception takes
the special position of Gypsies as its starting point and whose
educational programme is formulated accordingly. (From this
point of view it is indifferent whether these institutions are
maintained by local municipal councils, minority self-governments
or non-profit organizations.) The possible educational models
are already available (six and a half year secondary grammar
schools, technical schools, study courses, local collegiate
schools for small villages etc.) We need a whole national network
of so-called Gypsy minority educational institutions which ought
to be formulated not by introducing one model all over the country
but by building on local initiatives in a way which is adapted
to local characteristics, in harmony with the principles of
the free choice of identity and of educational autonomy.
2.2.2.
So called 'Sunday schools' cannot be transformed into a school
system education, mainly because of the insufficient number
of students attending them. Nonetheless permeability between
'proper' general education and a course-based minority education
could be created with the help of examinations and suitably
formulated examination certificates.
2.3.
According to the data of the school statistics of the academic
year 1992-93 the rate of Gypsy students in Hungarian general
education was 7.12%.The residential-geographical structure of
the Gypsy minority and their segregation within individuals
towns and villages causes the proportion of Gypsy students to
be quite different in certain educational institutions than
in others. In the year just mentioned, over 7O% of Gypsy children
studied in a school where their proportion exceeded 1O% and,
within this, 42% went to schools where their proportion exceeded
22%. (Segregation within the school system has only got worse
since that time.) The tendency of segregation cannot be stopped
by mere anti-discriminatory measures and regulations - it can
only be reduced through a complex government programme which
embraces the entire set of problems related to the Gypsy minority.
In view of this fact we place a special emphasis on the realization
of the package of measures whose aim it is to improve the life
conditions of Gypsy people.
The
channeling of Gypsy children into special needs schools or classes
originally organized for mildly mentally handicapped children
is a method for the segregation of Gypsy children which is not
unknown in other Central European countries. According to estimations,
about half of the children studying in such institutions are
Gypsy which means that their proportion there is six to seven
times higher than their proportion in the whole of the system
of general education. The rules of transfer to special needs
classes have been repeatedly tightened but even this failed
to prevent the use of such classes as massive 'deposits' for
Gypsy children. The great number of Gypsy children in this type
of institution which cuts them off any chance of further study
or employment is not a sign of the intellectual unsuitability
of Gypsies but of the discrimination that is practiced in regard
to them and of the pedagogical failure of the regular institutions
of general education. Thus a possible package of measures aiming
to eradicate this phenomenon must simultaneously serve the eradication
of discriminative practices and the improvement of 'ordinary'
institutions of general education which expels from itself a
great number of Gypsy children. In 1998 we wish to conduct a
comprehensive national survey in order to map out the negative
discriminations that afflict Gypsy children in special-needs
schools.
2.4
It can be considered a problem present throughout the entire
system that while there exists a legal prohibition on negative
discrimination, there is not a system of educational development
and services which could offer effective help for educational
institutions to supplant practices of school organization and
educational practice which are disadvantageous for minority
students with other solutions. The two years that have gone
by since the re-organization in 1995 of the minority education
development and service system have proved that the system of
minority services which is integrated into the system which
offers its services to the entire Hungarian system of general
education has become overly fragmented. This causes their work
to be uncoordinated and its achievements hardly ever reach the
targeted institutions.
2.5
A problem related to those summarized in the above points is
the lack of such a central conception, or local regional conceptions,
of educational policy which might include all the related tasks
of regulation, control, institution development, educational
development, evaluation, research and financing and as such
might visibly reduce the extent of the negative discrimination
of minority students within a reasonable time.
NEGATIVE DISCRIMINATION IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
The
targets of practices which may be qualified as negative discrimination
in individual educational institutions are almost always Gypsy
students. At the same time, students who belong to national
minorities do not always receive the minority education that
is available to them on the basis of the existing system of
minority legislation. The language and cultural content offered
by national minority programmes often falls short of satisfying
the right of students to acquiring their own language and culture.
The language teaching efficiency of typically language-oriented
minority educational programmes is, to say the least, doubtful
and in many schools the teaching of the area of education which
is called 'minority nation studies' is entirely absent. The
solution to these problems necessitates the launching of educational
development programmes which are of a satisfactory standard
without exception and the procurement of the required financing.
The
negative discrimination of Gypsy students takes two forms -
one is segregation and the other is the unsuitability of educational
methods used in their education. The reason for negative discrimination
within the school is often other than prejudice against the
Gypsy students. Lacking the necessary conditions and skills
many schools and teachers use methods which are unsuited to
offer Gypsy children a sense of achievement, indeed they usually
act to increase their disadvantages and to make the student
more acutely aware of them.
Negative
discrimination in schools has various degrees. School practices
which merit the above qualification range from education of
a reduced value through segregation of varying degrees to the
practice of getting rid of Gypsy students entirely (making them
fail, exempting them from studies, referring them to special
schools or classes.) Education of reduced value does not necessary
entail segregation, it can be achieved by 'differentiated conducting
of classes and evaluation'. This process is characterized by
partly reducing the requirements facing Gypsy students and partly
reducing the time devoted to their education and also to the
entire lack of special, out-of-class education which is offered
to other students (swimming, foreign languages, computer skills
etc.).
In
its mildest forms segregation means physical separation within
the class room, in worse cases the organization of Gypsy classes
for students of various ages. In 1995 out of 84O data-providing
schools, 132 operated one or more Gypsy classes. We do not know
the precise number of Gypsy classes but it is likely to be over
15O. In these classes the students do not receive a higher quality
of education than those studying in integrated classes. The
development of Gypsy children educated in these segregated classes
usually comes to a halt and after one or two years their re-integration
in the normal course of education is no longer possible. Segregation
strengthens the children's sense of distance between the minority
and the majority and conditions them in this respect. This also
means that it has an immeasurably harmful effect on children
who belong to the majority society. These Gypsy classes can
be called the dead-end streets of general education no less
than the special-needs classes.
A recent
form of negative discrimination is the re-classification of
students as 'private students'. We have received signals to
the effect that the parents of 'problem children' have been
persuaded to apply for their children to be permitted to complete
their studies as privately educated students. Phenomena like
this must most urgently be surveyed and recorded.
CONCLUSIONS
The
statements of this survey have hopefully highlighted the fact
that there are serious shortcomings and malpractices in legislation
and in the application of the law as regards the education of
national and ethnic minorities in Hungary. These malpractices
may be remedied by the modification of legal regulations or
by the creation of new regulations or by the correct application
of already existing regulations. This is the aim of the proposals
and initiatives formulated in the following chapter.
We
should like to draw attention most emphatically to a few main
points of view. It has been our experience that most of the
complaints addressed to our office emerge because the people
directly involved in minority education (teachers, students,
parents, municipal and minority self-government representatives)
have very little information at their service to help them to
understand how local education is to be organized in the future
and what role they are to play in this. It is our conviction
that the post-communist transition can only genuinely take place
in the education system if all its participants are clearly
aware of their rights, duties and opportunities. For this, however,
it is not satisfactory to master the mass of legislation that
regulate general education. As we have mentioned in our introduction,
institutions of minority education are operated jointly by local
municipal councils and local minority self-governments. They
are right to expect assistance in this effort. According to
the Act on General Education, the national organization of educational-professional
services which are instrumental in assisting minority education
and instruction must be taken completed. To the date of the
completion of the present survey this system of institutions
has failed to emerge and consequently teachers and representatives
feel that they have been abandoned and left to their own resources.
According to the signals that reach our office, the Ministry
of Culture and Education cannot on its own cope with the task
of mediating the mass of information which is necessary to implement
the Act yet they cannot confer this task on any other authority.
In a stable democracy it is a requirement urged by the state
of law and order in the course of creating laws of higher importance
that before a regulation comes into force, a satisfactory amount
of time should be left in which to make preparations to implement
the new law in the proper fashion. In the period of the post-communist
transition we reconciled ourselves to the situation that the
time available to those applying the nascent regulations is,
as a rule, too short for preparation. This situation can only
be considered in any sense acceptable if this short period is
characterized by an intensive circulation of information, if
we see the organization of training programmes, and if the state
organizations use the widest repertoire of communicational strategies
in order to supply the users of the law with the necessary amount
of information. The National and Ethnic Minorities Office must
accept a far greater share of this effort than heretofore, since
one of its functions according to the legal regulation defining
it is to foster the flow of opinions and information between
the Government and the minority organizations.
Although
the duties related to the above mentioned tasks are primarily
the responsibility of state organizations, the central minority
self-governments can be of great help in this work. They can
use their own means to further the preparations of local minority
self-government representatives since it is in their joint interest
that minority education should function in an adequate fashion
and that minority interests should be enforced within the system
of general education.
Teachers
as well as representatives of municipal councils, local and
central minority self-governments must make efforts to involve
parents to the greatest possible degree in educational decisions.
The legislative framework for this is available since the institutional
framework of general education and, within that, of minority
education facilitates the participation of parents, students
and minority self-governments in decisions or in the preparations
of decisions.
PROPOSALS, RECOMMENDATIONS
On
the basis of §25 of Act LIX of 1993 on the Ombudsman of
citizens' rights I make the following proposal to the Minister
of Culture and Education.
1.
As the minister in charge of the preparation of the legal regulation
of general education to propose the amendment of (3) §128
of Act LXXIX of 1993 on General Education in order to put an
end to the negative discrimination of the teachers of national
minorities in regard to the conditions of obtaining specialist
qualifications,
2. to propose the amendment of Act LXXXIX of 1993 on General
Education in order to include regulations regarding the definition,
surveying, sanctioning and demonstration of negative discrimination
in education in the Act.
On
the basis of §25 (1) of Act LIX of 1993 on the Ombudsman
of citizens' rights I make the following proposals to the Minister
of Culture and Education.
1.
To accelerate the process of legislation so that the detailed
regulations of the Directives for the school education of national
and ethnic minorities, broken down according to individual minorities,
may be completed within the shortest possible amount of time.
2. In accordance with §36 (6) of Act LXXIX of 1993 on General
Education to take steps to ensure the organization of a nation-wide
system of educational-professional services in order to assist
the education of instruction of national minorities in nursery
schools, schools and boarding institutions.
3. To elaborate the system of competitive support for national
minority text books in order to put an end to the presently
prevailing dissatisfactory situation in the area of national
minority textbook supplying.
On
the basis of §2O (1) of Act LIX of 1993 on the Ombudsman
of citizens' rights I make the following recommendations to
the Minister of Culture and Education.
1.
To conduct investigations in order to explore why Gypsy children
absent themselves to the present high degree from nursery school
education and on the basis of these investigations to elaborate
educational policy systems of incentive and communicational
strategies in order to change the present situation,
2. To conduct a nation-wide survey in order to map out the discriminative
practices in the organization of education prevalent in the
system of general education which afflict students belonging
to national and ethnic minorities and to elaborate measures
with which to eradicate these.
3. With reference to §1 of Government Decree 47/199O (Sept.
15) to elaborate programmes, using the complete arsenal of communicational
strategies, in order to provide adequate training for local
minority self-government representatives who participate in
decision making related to minority education, in order to put
them in possession of information regarding their related legally
guaranteed rights, thus assuring the practice and enforcement
of the rights of national and ethnic minorities.
On
the basis of §18 (3) of Act LIX of 1993 on the ombudsman
of citizens' rights I make the following request that the Head
of the National Auditing Board examines what sort of malpractices
of legislation or of the application of the law may be detected
in the utilization of the per capita normative supplementary
support for national and ethnic minorities as regulated in Appendix
1., Part Two, Point 2 of Act LXXIX of 1993 on General Education
and on the basis of the findings of the examination, if necessary,
to initiate the amendment of the law by the legislator.
On
the basis of §2O (1) of Act LIX of 1993 on the ombudsman
of citizens' rights I make the following recommendation to the
head of the National and Ethnic Minorities Office to elaborate
a programme on the basis of §2 (4) point b) of Government
Decree 34/199O (Aug. 3O) for furthering and making more efficient
the flow of opinions and information between the Government
and minority self-governments in order for local minority self-government
representatives to gain adequate knowledge of the rights that
they may practice in the area of minority education, on the
mode of practising these right so that they may participate
in training programmes regarding questions of minority education.
On
the basis of §2O (1) of Act LIX of 1993 on the ombudsman
of citizens' rights I make the following recommendation to the
heads of Capital City and County Public Administration Offices,
whereby they are requested in the course of dealing with the
tasks of training and further training as laid down in §18
of Government Decree 191/1996 (Dec. 17) to place special emphasis
on ensuring that the staff of public administrations fully respect
the rights of members of national and ethnic minorities as laid
down in the pertaining regulations. As far as possible, representatives
of local minority self-governments should be given the opportunity
to participate at these training courses.
February
1998 Budapest
Dr Jenô Kaltenbach
APPENDIX
THE
MAIN REGULATIONS OF ACT LXXIX OF 1993 ON GENERAL EDUCATION.
Preamble
In
order to assure the practice of the right to culture and education
on the basis of equal opportunities, to ensure the freedom of
conscience and conviction and of religion, in order to ensure
that the love of the country is provided for within the course
of general education, in order to ensure the right of national
and ethnic minorities to education in the mother tongue as well
as the freedom of learning and teaching, in order to define
the rights and duties of children, students, parents and the
employees of general education and in order to ensure the management
and operation of a system of general education which provides
up-to-date knowledge, Parliament makes the following law.
§3
(2) Institutions of general education may be founded and maintained
by the state, by local minority self governments, by central
minority governments, by legal persons registered in the Republic
of Hungary and by economic organizations, foundations, associations
and other legal persons which were founded in the territory
of the Republic of Hungary, which have headquarters in this
country and finally by natural persons if they have acquired
the right of carrying out such activity as prescribed by the
law.
§5
The language of nursery school education, school education and
instruction, and of boarding education is Hungarian or the language
of national and ethnic minorities. Children and students belonging
to national and ethnic minorities, may receive their nursery
school education, their school education and instruction and
their boarding education in their mother tongue, or in their
mother tongue and Hungarian or in Hungarian depending on the
choice they make as defined in the Act on the rights of national
and ethnic minorities. Education and instruction may also take
place, partly or entirely, in a different language.
§8
(3) The educational practice of nursery schools is based on
the nursery school's educational programme which is, in turn,
based on the National Base Programme for Nursery School Education.
The National Base Programme for Nursery School Education is
issued by the government. Before submitting the National Base
Programme for Nursery School Education to the government, the
consent of the National General Education council and, in questions
concerning the nursery school education of national and ethnic
minorities, the consent of the National Minorities Committee
and, finally, the opinion of the General Education Policy Council
must be obtained.
(8) The National Base Curriculum defines requirements according
to areas of instruction for the end of the fourth, sixth, eighth
and tenth year. The National Base Curriculum also contains the
base principles for the special curricular criteria for
a) the school education and instruction of national and ethnic
minorities
b) the school education of students of physical, sensory, speech
and other disabilities.
(1O)
The National Base Curriculum is issued by the Government. Before
submitting the National Base Curriculum to the government, the
consent of the National General Education Council and, in questions
concerning the school education and instruction of national
and ethnic minorities, the consent of the National Minorities
Committee and, finally, the opinion of the General Education
Policy Council must be obtained.
(11)
Nursery schools providing national and ethnic minority nursery
school education and schools providing such education and instruction
apply the contents of (1) - (9) with the alteration whereby
in preparing the nursery school education programme and the
local school curriculum they take into account the Directives
for the Nursery School Education of National and Ethnic Minorities
or the Directives for the School Education of National and Ethnic
Minorities, respectively. These Directives are issued by the
Minister of Culture and Education with the consent of the National
Minorities Committee and after requesting the opinion of the
National General Education council and the General Education
Policy Council.
§9
(1) The Basic Education Examination and the Secondary Grammar
Final Examination are state examinations which must be conducted
according to nationally unified examination criteria (henceforth:
central examination requirements). The central examination requirements
of the Basic Education Examination are based on the National
Base Curriculum. The central examination requirements for the
Secondary Grammar Final Examination are to be defined on the
basis of the general requirements of the pertaining examination
regulations. The general requirements of the Secondary Grammar
Final Examination contain the compulsory and uniform subject
requirements of the education and instruction that are provided
in the 11th and 12th year of school education. The central examination
requirements of the Basic Education Examination and the Secondary
Grammar Final Examination may be supplemented by extra examination
requirements by the school, on the basis of their local curriculum
and as defined in the examination regulations. The establishment
and announcement of the central examination requirements and
the definition of methods of evaluation is the responsibility
of the state. The examination, unless otherwise instructed by
the regulations of the Secondary Grammar Final Examination,
are organized by the school. Oral examinations are open to the
public. The chairperson of the examination may limit the participation
of the public if this is justified by the need to maintain law
and order at the examination. The examination takes place in
the language which is the language of instruction - in Hungarian,
in the language of the national or ethnic minority or in another
foreign language. The examinees may inspect their examination
papers and may submit their opinions regarding the evaluation
of the paper.
(2)
Regulations regarding the organization, general procedure,,
general requirements of examined subjects, the evaluation of
the performance of the examinees, application and administrative
procedures of the Basic Education Examination and the Secondary
Grammar Final Examination are defined by the examination regulations
of the Basic Education Examination and the Secondary Grammar
Final Examination. The examination regulations of the Secondary
Grammar Final Examination defines the subjects which must be
taught at schools from the 11th year onwards. The examination
regulations of the Secondary Grammar Final Examination are issued
by the government in a Government Decree. Before the submission
of the examination regulations of the Secondary Grammar Final
Examination, the consent of the National General Education Council
and, in questions concerning the school education and instruction
of national and ethnic minorities, the consent of the National
Minorities Committee and, finally, the opinion of the General
Education Policy Council must be obtained.
(5)
At the Secondary Grammar Final Examination the student's performance
is examined in compulsory and in optional subjects alike. Compulsory
subjects are the following, Hungarian Language and Literature,
History. For those participating in national and ethnic minority
education the mother tongue and its literature. Unless otherwise
ordered by law, further compulsory subjects are mathematics
and, except for those participating in national and ethnic minority
education, one foreign language. Examination in the subjects
of the Secondary Grammar Final Examination may be conducted
in two tiers comprising different standards of expectation.
§17
(1) Unless otherwise ordered by the present Act, persons employed
as teachers in institutions of education and instruction must
hold tertiary (university or college) qualifications as prescribed
by the present Act and specialist qualifications. Acceptable
tertiary qualification and specialist qualifications are the
following,
a)
at nursery schools - nursery school teacher's qualifications,
b) within the first four years of primary school education,
infant school teacher's, conductor-infant school teacher's (henceforth,
for the joint qualifications of conductor and infant school
teacher we use 'conductor'), if, on the basis of the local curriculum,
the school provides a raised standard of instruction in certain
areas of instruction, infant school teacher's or teacher's qualifications
may be required for the subjects which comprise the areas of
instruction of the various arts, foreign languages, national
and ethnic minority languages and literatures, physical education
and various sports.
(3)
If the language of nursery school education or school education
and instruction or boarding education is the language of the
national or ethnic minority or any language other than Hungarian
then the person employed as teachers for education and instruction
in the given language must hold
a)
qualifications as national minority nursery school teachers
or national minority infant school teachers or
b) the tertiary qualification defined in (1) as well as language
teaching qualifications and specialist qualifications as infant
school teachers, as school teachers or as language teachers
of the given language.
Conditions
for heads of institutions of education and instruction are the
following.
§18
(1) The person who is to be the head of an institution of education
and instruction must hold
a) such tertiary and specialist qualifications as are necessary
to be employed as teacher in the given institution of instruction
and education as defined in §17 (1)-(2) as well as specialist
teaching qualifications. In secondary schools, unless otherwise
ordered by the present Act, the requirements are university
level teaching qualifications and specialist qualifications
as well as specialist teaching qualifications,
b) no less than five years of professional experience (as teacher)
except in cases as defined in (6),
c) tenured employment as teacher in the given institution of
education and instruction or tenured employment as teacher during
the term of office as head of institution.
(2)
If nursery school education or school education and instruction
takes place in the given institution of education and instruction
purely in the language of the national or ethnic minority or
more than half of the students conduct their studies in two
languages simultaneously, that of the national or ethnic minority
and in Hungarian, then the person employed as head of institution
must fulfil, beside the criteria defined in (1), the requirements
as described in (3) of §17 of the present Act. In the case
of equal qualifications priority must be given to the applicant
who belongs to the national or ethnic minority in question.
Secondary
Grammar Schools
§28
(1) Secondary grammar schools, except in certain exceptional
cases defined in (2)-(3), consist of four years. In four year
secondary grammar schools, education and instruction begins
in the 9th year of the educational cycle and ends with the 12th.
(2)
A secondary grammar school may operate with six or eight years
if on the basis of the prognosis of the medium range school
entrance plan (§88 (2)) this is necessary for fulfilling
the requirement of compulsory education and if on a county or
capital city level other students can be provided for who wish
to start their grammar school education in the 9th year. In
six-year grammar schools education and instruction begins in
the 7th and in eight-year grammar schools in the fifth year
of the educational cycle and ends, in both cases, with the 12th
year.
(3)
if in secondary grammar schools as defined in (1)-(2), education
and instruction takes place in two languages (Hungarian and
one foreign language including the languages of national and
ethnic minorities) (henceforth - bilingual education), the course
of education offered by the school may end in the 13th year
of the educational cycle, according to the Directive for bilingual
schools and the Directive for the school education of national
and ethnic minorities.
Secondary
Comprehensive Schools ('Szakközépiskola')
§29
(1) Secondary comprehensive schools, except in the cases defined
in (2) and (8)-(9), have four years in which to provide a basic
general education (henceforth: secondary school years). Education
and instruction in the secondary school years of secondary comprehensive
schools begins in the 9th year of the educational cycle and
ends in the 12th year.
(2)
If instruction and education in the secondary comprehensive
school takes place in two languages - according to the Directive
for Bilingual Schools and the Directive for the School Education
of National and Ethnic Minorities, instruction and education
at the secondary school years may end in the 13th year.
§32
It is the task of boarding schools (dormitories) to create the
conditions necessary for carrying out school studies for those
who
a) do not have the opportunity to practice their right to studying,
the free choice of school or to study in their national or ethnic
minority language or to study in institutions for the education
and instruction of the mentally disabled at their own place
of residence or
b) whose parents lack the means to ensure the conditions necessary
for studying.
§36
(6) The organization of educational services including nursery
school education, school education and instruction and boarding
school education of national and ethnic minorities at a national
level must be ensured, according to a division of tasks as regulated
in (5).
§37
(5) The foundation documents of institutions of public education
must contain the type, name, basic activity of the institution,
its national and ethnic minority related and other tasks, its
subsidiary institutions, the funds on which it relies in order
to fulfill its tasks, the foundations for the right of control
over these funds, the authorizations related to the financial
management of the institution, the name of the founder, the
address of the institutions headquarters and sites, in the case
of educational and teaching institutions the name of special
faculties and in the case of a school the number of years that
the course consists of.
(10)
Unless otherwise ordered by law or government decree, institutions
of public education founded and maintained by the local minority
government and the central minority government are managed according
to the regulations pertaining to schools founded and maintained
by local municipal governments.
§47
The programme of nursery school education must contain
a) the educational functions which will ensure the children's
development, their preparation for life in the community, for
the integration of those with a disadvantaged social background
and
b) in national or ethnic minority nursery school education the
tasks which are entailed by fostering the culture and language
of the given minority.
§48
(1) The educational programme of schools must determine
a) the aims of the education and instruction taking place in
the given school,
b) the local curriculum of the school and within that
- the subjects taught in the individual years of the school,
the mandatory and optional study session activities and the
number of sessions in which they are taught, the curricular
material prescribed and the related requirements,
- the principles for selecting the textbooks, auxiliary study
material and equipment which may be used,
- the criteria for entering a higher year at the given school,
- the requirements and form of school assessment of the taught
material, the criteria for the evaluation and qualification
of the students' good behavior and working progress and, within
the frames defined by law, the form for the evaluation of the
students' good behavior and working progress,
- in the case of the school education and instruction of national
and ethnic minorities the material related to the given minority
in the areas of mother tongue, history, geography, culture and
civilization,
for students participating in national and ethnic minority school
education and instruction the study material necessary for acquiring
Hungarian language and culture, for students who do not belong
to a national and ethnic minority the study material that serves
their understanding of the culture of the national and ethnic
minorities living in their village or town.
§60
(3) One representative each may be delegated into the school
board by the
a) maintaining body
b) boarding school, child protection institution
c) local minority government, in the case of schools fulfilling
a regional or national function the central minority self government
unless it is the maintaining body of the school
d) in technical schools and secondary comprehensive schools
the regional economic chamber in question.
§66
(2) Primary schools, including the nominated school, are obliged
to accept the entry or transfer from another school of school-age
students whose domicile (or if they have no domicile, their
place of residence), is in the school's catchments area (schools
with compulsory acceptance). The maintaining body may nominate
technical schools in the 9th and 10th year as a school with
compulsory acceptance. Nominated schools (§30 (4)), if
they are not schools with compulsory acceptance, can only deny
admission by reference to lack of available places. The entry
or transfer from another school of applicants belonging to national
or ethnic minorities must be accepted into schools (branches,
classes, groups) where the language of instruction is that of
the national or ethnic minority or the language of instruction
is that of the national or ethnic minority and Hungarian, so
long as they fulfilled the entrance requirements.
§72
(1) Students receive a certificate about completing the requirements
of the individual years, of the Basic Education Examination,
the Secondary Grammar Final Examination and the Occupational
Examination. The certificate is a public document. The certificate
is to be issued in Hungarian or, where the school instruction
takes place partly or fully in the language of a national or
ethnic minority or in another foreign language, it is to be
issued in the language of the national or ethnic minority or
in the given foreign language. The certificate form must contain
the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Hungary.
§81
(1O) The Minister of Culture and Education can make a public
education agreement with the central minorities self governments.
The Minister of Culture and Education must make a public education
agreement if the school education and boarding of members of
national and ethnic minorities is not provided for by the local
municipal government.
§83
(3) With regard to institutions of public education maintained
by central minority self governments the legal functions described
in §8O and (1) of the present act is fulfilled by the chief
notary in charge at the headquarters of the institution.
§84
(6) Persons who are entitled to the right of consent with regard
to decisions concerning public education in institutions of
education and instruction may make their statements within thirty
days. This deadline may be prolonged by a further thirty days
before the expiry of the first deadline, through a declaration
made to the other party and on no more than one occasion. Missing
the deadline entails forfeiture of the above right and no justifications
are accepted. Deadlines are to be calculated according to the
regulations of the Act on the general rules of state administration
procedures. If in the course of practicing the right of consent
a point of debate between two interested parties cannot be solved
by direct negotiation, a board of nine members must be established
at the institution of education and instruction. In this committee
three members are delegated by the teaching staff, three by
the party practicing the right of consent and another three
are invited by the maintaining body of the institution of education
and instruction, to the debit of the budget of the institution
of education and instruction, out of the experts who are listed
in the National Experts' List. The committee defines its own
order of procedure with the one limitation whereby it must make
its decision with a simply majority. The decision constitutes
agreement between the parties.
§86
(1) The municipal councils of villages, towns, capital city
districts and county-right cities are obliged to provide for
general nursery school and primary school education which enables
students to complete their mandatory course of education, and
in townships inhabited by national and ethnic minorities for
the nursery school education and for the primary school education
of those belonging to the minority in such a way as to enable
them to complete their mandatory course of education.
(2)
The obligation described in (1) also includes the obligation
to provide for children and students with such physical, sensory,
slight mental, speech and other disability as permits them to
be educated along with other children or students.
(3)
County Municipal Councils and, unless otherwise regulated in
(4), Capital City Municipal Councils must provide for
a) general education and the boarding school education of national
and ethnic minorities,
b) secondary and technical school education
c) the secondary and technical school education of national
and ethnic minorities
d) adult education
e) basic level education in the various arts
f) higher education and career choice counseling, educational
counseling, speech therapy services and therapeutic physical
education in cases in which the municipal councils of villages,
towns or capital city districts refuses to fulfill the function
in question or the function is not provided for in the area
of the capital city or the county.
§88
(1) The capital city municipal council or the county councils
make a plan for fulfilling its function, for operating its network
of institutions and for further developments (henceforth: development
plan) after requesting the opinion of and with the participation
of the capital city districts or the local municipal governments
operating in the county's area, respectively, which serves the
preparation of local government decisions necessary for organizing
the function of public education. In preparing the development
plan the opinions of the capital city or country statistical
office, labor center (henceforth, jointly: participants), the
regional economic chamber, the parental and student representative
organizations of the capital city or the county, of maintaining
bodies of institutions other than the state or the local municipal
council and the capital city or county level trade unions of
teachers. The development plan is formulated by the county council
and county town for its own area and then is accepted jointly
in a mediating committee. Local minority self governments may
attach their opinion to the development plan under preparation
and may participate in its preparation. The opinion of the central
minority self government must be acquired for the preparation
of the development plan. At the request of the capital city
council or the county council the participants are obliged to
provide such data as are necessary for the preparation of the
development plan. The capital city development plan is issued
by the capital city council, the county development plan by
the county council as a decree, in the form of a Recommendation.
In the application of the present section by parents' and student
organizations and teachers' professional organizations, these
are organizations which have been registered with the capital
city or county council after presenting their Articles and court
registration certificate.
(10)
If a nursery school or school is in charge of the education
of national or ethnic minorities, then for decisions as described
in (6)-(8) the local municipal government is obliged to acquire
the consent of the local minority self government at the headquarters
of the institution and the opinion of the central minority self
government.
(11)
If the institution of education and instruction comes into existence
as a result of legal succession, the cessation of the former
organization does not affect the children's place at nursery
schools or the legal status of students at schools or the membership
of boarding students at boarding institutions. In cases when
the parent does not want to enter his or her child in the newly
emerging institution of education and instruction, or if the
institution of education and instruction ceases without a legal
successor, the local government appoints, as described in (6)-(7),
the institution of education and instruction in which the parents
can request the transfer of their child before the cessation
of the institution of education and instruction. The head of
the appointed institution of education and instruction can only
refuse the acceptance of the child/student in question by reference
to a lack of vacancies.
§89
In order to ensure the proper and uninterrupted flow of the
affairs of public education, capital city and county councils
make a co-operation agreement with the local municipal councils
that function in the area of the capital city or the county
about organizing the regional type services related to general
education, with special emphasis on the following,
a) on fulfilling the tasks related to completing the course
of compulsory education (formulating the network of schools,
ensuring education in the 9th and 1Oth year), registration,
transfer, the operation of educational specialist services),
b) ensuring the nursery school and school education of children
and students belonging to national or ethnic minorities and
of children or students with physical, sensory, mental, speech
or other disabilities,
c) creating the conditions for participating in compulsory education,
operating the service of traveling specialist teachers for mentally
disabled children, of traveling speech therapists and conductors,
d) ensuring the opportunity for changing schools without a transfer
entrance examination or without having to repeat a year of their
course for those whose school education and instruction to the
end of the period of compulsory education is not provided at
their place of permanent residence,
e) settling questions related to secondary and technical school
entrance examinations, solving particular problems,
f) establishing the catchments (entrance) area for institutions
offering regional services (schools and boarding institutions
for the education and instruction of disabled children or students,
speech therapy institutions etc.) and establishing the contribution
necessary for the maintenance and operation of the institution.
§
90 (4) Before establishing the catchments (entrance) area of
institutions of education and instruction in charge of the nursery
school education, school education and instruction of children
or students belonging to national minorities the local municipal
government must obtain the approval of the local minority self-government
or, in the case of schools offering regional or country-wide
services, the approval of the central minority self government.
§
93 (1) The Minister of Culture and Education
a) issues, at the recommendation of the National General Education
Council and after requesting the opinion of the General Education
Policy Council, the Directives for Bilingual School Education,
the Curricular Directives for the School Education of Disabled
Children and the Requirements and Curricular Programme of Basic
Level Education in the Arts. The Minister also issues, with
the consent of the National Minorities Committee and after requesting
the opinion of the General Education Policy Council, The Directives
for the Nursery School Education of National and Ethnic Minorities
and the Directives for the School Education of National and
Ethnic Minorities and is responsible for the supervision of
these
b) regularly, but at least once every three years, evaluates,
with the participation of the National General Education Council
and the National Minorities Committee, the experiences related
to the introduction of the National Base Programme for Nursery
School Education and the National Base Curriculum and, if necessary,
in questions concerning children belonging to national or ethnic
minorities, the national General Education Council, with the
consent of the National Minorities Committee and after requesting
the opinion of the General Education Policy council, suggests
the necessary modifications to the Government. The Minister
also ensures the elaboration of nursery school education programmes
and school curricula - in the case of national or ethnic minority
nursery schools and schools this means involving the central
minority self government in question.
§94
(1) The Minister of Culture and Education regulates
a) the introduction and issuing of Directives for the nursery
school education of national and ethnic minorities, Directives
for the School Instruction of National and Ethnic Minorities,
Directives for Education in Bilingual Schools, Directives for
the Nursery School Education of Disabled Children, Directives
for the School Instruction of Disabled Children, Requirements
and curricular Programmes of Basic Level Education in the Arts,
adhering to the procedural rules defined in §93 (1) point
a), and obtaining the consent of the central minorities self
government before issuing the Directives for the Nursery School
Education of National and Ethnic Minorities and of the Directives
for the School Instruction of National and Ethnic Minorities.
(4)
Before submitting the National Base Programme of Nursery School
Education and the National Base Curriculum to the Government,
the consent of the National General Education Council, and in
matters concerning the nursery school education and school education
and instruction of members of national and ethnic minorities
that of the National Minorities Committee and the opinion of
the General Education Policy Council must be obtained.
(5)
Before submitting the Government Decrees defined in points a)-c)
and point f) of (3) to the Government, in questions regarding
the nursery school education and school education and instruction
of members of national and ethnic minorities the consent of
the central minority self governments must be obtained.
§
97 (2) The members of the General Education Policy Council are
four delegated representatives from each of the following organizations
a) teachers' national professional organizations
b) national teachers' trade unions
c) national parents' organizations
d) national students' organizations
e) interest protection organizations of local municipal governments
f) central minority self governments
g) non-state and non-municipal school maintainers
a) and one delegated representative each from
§
98 (1) The National Minorities Committee participates in preparing
those decisions of the Ministry of Culture and Education which
concern nursery school education, school instruction, and the
boarding school education of national and ethnic minorities.
The National Minorities Committee consists of one delegated
member from each of the central minority self governments. The
legal status of the National Minorities Committee is the same
as that of the National General Education Council.
§
1O2 (3) Before decisions regarding the closing down or reorganization
of institutions of general education, regarding a change of
their function, the establishment of their name, the drafting
or modification of their budget, the appointment of their head
or the withdrawal of such an appointment, the maintainer of
the institution obtains the opinion of the community of employees
at the institution, of the School Board, of the school's parents'
organization (community), of the Student Society, in the case
of institutions of education and instruction where instruction
takes place in, or partly in, the language of a national or
ethnic minority and partly in Hungarian, the opinion of the
local minority self government, unless this body has the right
of consent, if there is no local minority self government, the
local speaker for the minority or if there is not such a person,
the local organization of the given minority, or, in the case
of secondary comprehensive and technical schools, the opinion
of the relevant capital city of county economic chamber.
(4)
Demand for preparation in the Hungarian language and for education
and instruction in the languages of national or ethnic minorities
must be surveyed by the body of representatives (general assembly))
annually, involving in the process the local self-government
of the relevant minority or, in the case of a general assembly
the central self-government of the relevant minority.
(10)
If the maintainer is the local municipal council, for the
a) founding, closing down, modifying of sphere of activity,
establishing the name
b) establishing and altering the budget
c) evaluating the professional work carried out by the institution
d) approving the rules of organization and operation
e) the approval of the educational programme, educational and
cultural programme and the evaluation of the realization of
these in institutions of education and instruction participating
in the nursery school education, school education and instruction
or boarding education of national or ethnic minorities or of
institutions offering special educational services related to
the service of the children in question, the approval of the
relevant local minority self-government or in the case of institutions
of education fulfilling regional or national functions that
of the central minority self-government. In the case of institutions
of minority education (§ 121 (6)) the approval of minority
self-governments must also be obtained, according to the division
of labor as defined earlier, before the head of school comes
into or leaves office.
§
1O7 (1) Participants of the professional inspection of institutions
of general education must be listed in the National Experts'
List, with the exceptions as specified in (2) point b).(2) If
the professional inspection takes place in institutions of general
education fulfilling a national or ethnic minority function,
a) the professional inspection may be lead by an expert who
speaks the language of the national or ethnic minority or if
there exists no such expert, the inspection must be carried
out with the participation of a teacher who speaks the language
of the national or ethnic minority,
b) the central minority self-government must be notified of
the professional inspection and can send a representative who
satisfies the conditions defined in § 1O1 (3) of the present
Act, to participate in the inspection even if he or she is not
listed in the National Experts List.
c) At least seven days before starting the professional inspection
the head of the inspection must agree with the head of the institution
of general education and with the initiator of the inspection
the duration of the professional inspection, its form and methods,
its time and the way in which those interested may express their
opinions regarding the findings of the inspection. In cases
as defined in a) - b) of (8) at least seven days before the
beginning of the inspection notification must be sent to the
maintainer of the institution of general education in question,
informing the latter that he or she may be present at the professional
inspection.
(4)
The findings of the professional inspection are to be sent to
the person concerned in the professional inspection as well
as by the person on whose initiative the inspection was implemented
as well as the maintainer except as defined in (8) point f).
If the inspection is taking place in an institution which fulfils
a national or ethnic minority function, the findings of the
professional inspection must be sent to the relevant local minority
self-government and to the central minority self-government.
(8)
Professional inspections may be launched, with the obligation
to cover the costs,
a) at a national regional county and capital city level - by
the Minister of Culture and Education, with regard to professional
training - by the Minister of Labor, or by the Minister in charge
of the relevant occupational qualification in order to prepare
setting the objectives of national training policy or in order
to gain an overview of the realization of these objectives or
by central minority self-governments in order to evaluate the
fulfillment of the national and ethnic minority related tasks
of general education,
b) on a county or capital city level by the county or capital
city municipal government in order to prepare, or gain an overview
of the realization of, the county or capital city development
plan and of the objectives of educational policy,
c) on a local municipal level by the local village, town, county
city or capital city district council in order to prepare the
objectives of the local educational policy, to gain an overview
of the realization of these or by the local minority self-government
in order to overview the realization of tasks related to the
nursery school education and school education and instruction
of the national or ethnic minorities of the municipal area,
d) on the institutional level by the maintainer in order to
prepare the objectives of the local educational policy, to overview
the realization of these and to evaluate the standard of the
educational and instruction work carried out in the individual
institutions,
e) by the head of institutions of general education in order
to evaluate the standard of the educational and instruction
work carried out in the institution or in order to gain an evaluation
of individual employees by an external expert,
f) by the employees of institutions of general education in
order to gain an evaluation of their own work.
§
121 (1) In the application of the present Act
4. 'state organization' means - an organization operating according
to the order of planning, management and reporting prescribed
for budgetary organizations, with the exception of local municipal
governments and minority self-governments,
1O 'maintainer' means - the legal person (local municipal government,
state organization, clerical legal person, institution of tertiary
education, company, co-operative, foundation, civil organization,
interest-enforcement organization of national or ethnic minorities,
minority self-governments, associations and other legal persons)
or natural persons which or who possess the authorizations necessary
for offering general education services and provides for the
conditions required for the operation of institutions of general
education as defined in the present Act.
20.
'further provision on an adequate standard' means - that the
material and personal conditions of nursery school education
or school education and instruction or boarding school education
within the new circumstances satisfy the official standards
and the regulations defined in Appendices 1. and 3. of the Act
on General Education and that the existing educational services
are still available. (E.g. nursery school education, school
education and instruction of national and ethnic minorities
takes place in the context of the relevant language, special
educational sections remain available, specialist education
and instruction of disabled children and students continues.)
31.
'special educational section' means - a separate institutional
unit within nursery schools and schools, established in order
to provide one of the following services: adult education identical
with the institution's original function, nursery school education
for disabled children, school instruction for disabled students,
nursery school education for members of national and ethnic
minorities or bilingual education.
§
121 (6) In the application of the present Act, minority institutions
as defined in §29 (2) of Act LXXVII of 1993 on the Rights
of National and Ethnic Minorities means
a)
nursery schools, schools and boarding school institutions
- which according to its foundation documents was founded as
a national or ethnic minority institution of education or instruction
or
- in which the nursery school education, school education and
instruction or boarding school education takes place according
to national minority requirements (nursery school educational
plan, school educational and instruction plan, boarding school
institutions' plan of education, nursery school educational
programme, school educational programme, boarding school institutions'
educational programme)
b) nursery schools, schools and boarding institutions
(institutional unit, subsidiary institution) is thus qualified
even if over the average of three year periods, the nursery
school education, school education and instruction or boarding
school education of more than 25% of the children or students
attending the institution is organized according to the national
minority requirements listed under point a), second '-'.
§
128 (3) Until September 1, 2000, teachers in possession of adequate
teaching qualifications and of a state language examination
certificate of no lower than intermediate level, type 'C' or
an equivalent document or, in the case of new employment as
defined in § 127 (9), may be employed to teach foreign
languages or to offer education and instruction in a foreign
language or in the language of a national or ethnic minority
.
Appendix
1. Part II.
2. within the sum defined as normative per capita budgetary
contributions in (4) of § 118 of the present Act
a) the nursery school education, school education and instruction
or boarding school education of members of national and ethnic
minorities as well as bilingual education must be supported
by a supplementary professional normative per capita allowance
with mandatory utilization.
The
organization of classes and groups
2. nursery school groups and school classes must also be organized
and maintained for members of national and ethnic minorities
if this is requested by the parents of eight or more children
or students belonging to the same minority.
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