Training
Education has long been a high priority in Hungary. In
1868, approximately simultaneously with several countries in
Western Europe, Parliament passed a law on compulsory
schooling for children between the ages of 6 and 12. Student
competence in Hungary at both primary and secondary level
has always tended to be high, especially in mathematics and
nature-oriented subjects. The communist regime meant strict
state monopoly for the education system with strong
centralization. This monopoly was abolished completely in
1990, when the state's role became to financially support
the schools, while local authorities were allowed to widen
their influence through decentralization of the
administration. A new school law was adopted in 1993 with
the aim of modernizing the school system by increasing the
number of years of general education subjects, raising the
quality of especially the secondary school and increasing
the admission to higher education. The reforms to some
extent meant a return to the time before the communist
regime. Thus, the organizational differentiation at the
secondary stage has been given more space. However, the
tough economic situation has meant cuts and some
deterioration in education. Check topschoolsintheusa for test centers of ACT, SAT, and GRE as well high schools in the country of Hungary.
The Hungarian school system consists of an 8-year school
from 6 to 14 years, divided into a primary and a lower
secondary school. Then followed three types of higher
secondary school, an academically oriented gymnasium,
a vocational school with elements of general subjects which
also aim to provide skills and internships in broadly
defined occupational areas, and a school for specialized
professional workers. Higher education is provided at over
70's colleges and universities, where a significant
proportion of students participate through evening and
correspondence courses.
In 2000, independent candidate Ferenc Mádl was elected
President of Parliament. It was necessary to conduct 3
electoral rounds because Mádl did not get the necessary 2/3
of the votes in the first two rounds. In 2001, Parliament
passed the controversial Status Law that allows Hungarian
descendants living abroad - primarily in Romania, Slovakia,
Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia - to carry a special
identity card that temporarily entitles them to work, study
and receive health care and travel assistance. This year,
the Hungarian economy grew by 4.2% and unemployment fell,
placing the country at the forefront of Eastern European
countries. The same year marks the country's 1,000th year of
consolidation of the country as a nation. It happened, among
other things. by restoring a 1934 monument, marking the
nation's 4 biggest tragedies: the defeat of the Tartars,
Turks and Habsburgs, as well as the Trianon Treaty, which
caused the nation to lose 2/3 of its territory. Under
communism, the monument had been demolished and the purpose
of the reconstruction was to make events alive and present.
In the 2002 elections, a coalition of socialists and
liberals won the parliament, and former Foreign Minister and
economist Peter Medgyessy was elected prime minister. Former
prime minister Viktor Orbán was criticized by the new
government for selling over 500,000 hectares of good
agricultural land that had belonged to the state. Orbán
stated that the purpose of the sale was to give the small
farmers land before the new government sold the land to
large companies. The new prime minister was forced in the
same year to admit that he had worked in the
counter-espionage in 1970-80, but he refused to cooperate
with the KGB. He stated that the purpose of his work was to
maneuver Hungary towards joining the IMF, without Moscow
discovering it.
In 2003, Parliament changed the Status Act of 2001. It
had been criticized for its discrimination against other
ethnic groups and for interfering with the sovereignty of
neighboring countries. The Government Coalition had several
sections of the law removed, including a section recognizing
Hungary for a "united nation without borders". Romania and
Slovakia, where a significant minority of Hungarians live,
had declared that the law interfered with their sovereignty
and discriminated against other ethnic groups. According to
some observers, the reason for Hungary's amendment to the
law was that the EU had demanded this to include Hungary as
a member.
In 2003, Hungary made military bases available to the
United States ifbm. the superpower invasion of Iraq. On May
1, 2004, along with nine other Eastern European countries,
the country was admitted as a member of the EU, thus growing
from 15 to 25 countries.
In August, Parliament appointed a new Prime Minister,
Ferenc Gyurcsány, who in September passed a vote of
confidence of 197 votes out of Parliament's 384. At a
military ceremony in November, Gyurcsány declared that
Hungary would withdraw all its 300 soldiers from Iraq by the
end of March 2005 He further stated that the soldiers would
stay in the country until after the elections in January
2005. Both public opinion and the opposition pressed to get
the country's troops out of Iraq. The most prominent
opposition politician had initially agreed to the war, but
since changed his mind and now advocated the withdrawal of
the troops.
No president could be elected in either first or second
parliamentary elections. Only in the third round, which only
required a simple majority, in June 2005 was Parliament
appointed László Sólyom as new president. He was deployed in
August. The April 2006 election was won by the Socialist
Party with 40.26% of the vote.
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