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CORONAVIRUS: Here's the latest

A regularly updated feed of the latest information about coronavirus in Hungary.

Stop the whitewashing already!

This latest piece of German, liberal propaganda, courtesy of FAZ, promises to discuss far-right, anti-Semitic Jobbik’s potential future in the EPP but ultimately ends up praising their “gradual moderation.”

The Hungary Helps program supports life in the homeland - Amnesty supports an end to nations

The author serves as state secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians and for the Hungary Helps Program of the Prime Minister’s Office.

PM Orbán: We will vaccinate 7 million people by early June

The “British mutation” is much more aggressive than the virus we faced last year, PM Orbán said, adding that the vaccine is the only way to “kill” this virus.

Let’s talk about the only real story regarding COVID-19 in Hungary

With over 26 percent of our population having already received at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Hungary is far outperforming other EU members.

Věra Jourová: The (Soros) Empire strikes again

Many will recall that the Czech European Commissioner said last September that Hungarian people are “not in a position to form an independent opinion” and that, therefore, Hungary is a “sick democracy.” Now, Jourová strikes again.

PM Orbán in radio interview: We will have 3.5 million people vaccinated by April 20

If we disobey the regulations during Easter, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned, “we could find ourselves in big trouble.”

Hungary's coronavirus vaccination rate is now highest in Europe

21.6 percent of the Hungarian population has received at least the first dose of one of the available vaccines, while 6.6 percent has received both jabs.

Conditions for a phased reopening in Hungary have been codified

The decree stipulates that the first stage of easing coronavirus restrictions can begin once 2.5 million people have received their first Covid-19 shot.

Education

News in Brief

Official: Quality education in the mother tongue allows Hungarians to succeed in Transcarpathia

Feb 02, 2021

“We hope the situation will soon be settled in Transcarpathia,” Tamás Schanda said.

News in Brief

Government has no plans to change rules or dates of school-leaving exams

Jan 13, 2021

Zoltán Maruzsa, State Secretary for Public Education, said the government expects both written and oral exams to take place in the usual manner.

News in Brief

Operative body proposes extension of digital education

Jan 08, 2021

Zoltán Maruzsa has asked schools to make preparations for the extension of digital education beyond Jan 11.

News in Brief

Government grants free internet services to students studying at home

Nov 16, 2020

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has signed a government decree granting free internet services to secondary school students partaking in digital education.

News in Brief

PM Orbán: Schools are central to the values in which children organize their lives

Oct 19, 2020

PM Orbán said Christian freedom was “bestowed on us to … raise children as Homo Christianus”, committed to their faith, family, nation and their fellow human beings.

News in Brief

House Speaker: Hungarian universities must serve as strong basic institutions of Hungarian sovereignty

Sep 08, 2020

During an academic year opening event in Budapest, László Kövér said the structural changes under way in higher education serve that goal.

News in Brief

Five more schools suspend classes due to coronavirus

Sep 08, 2020

Another five schools have suspended classroom teaching due to the coronavirus, and a further eight are switching to digital education.

News in Brief

Kásler launches new Hungarian school year

Aug 31, 2020

Miklós Kásler, Human Resources Minister, said the 2020-21 academic year will be "a year of schools, gyms, swimming pools and major renovation projects".

News in Brief

10,500 teachers to receive bonus payment of HUF 500,000

Aug 28, 2020

Miklós Kásler said the government has decided to launch a program with a budget of more than HUF 6 billion to help children by supporting local teachers for their work.

News in Brief

1.2 million Hungarian students to receive free textbooks

Aug 04, 2020

The Hungarian government has allocated HUF 13.8 billion (EUR 40.0m) for providing students with free textbooks.

News in Brief

Hungarian teachers to receive pay rises

Jun 24, 2020

Depending on qualifications and the number of years worked, each teacher will receive an additional monthly HUF 20,000-40,000 (EUR 58-115).

News in Brief

Government pumps more funds into education and school sports facilities

Jun 17, 2020

The finance minister has revealed that another HUF 50 billion (EUR 144m) will be available in the coming years for building public education institutions and school sports facilities.

News in Brief

Coronavirus Update: Schools to remain closed in May

May 01, 2020

Gergely Gulyás has said schools will remain closed in May and the government will decide at a later date on whether to reopen them in June.

News in Brief

Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music makes world's top 50

Mar 17, 2020

Out of all the art universities in the Central and Eastern European region, only the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music made the top 50.

News in Brief

PM Orbán: Schools will be closed from Monday

Mar 14, 2020

The prime minister also announced the set up of 10 action groups, and the launch of a remote digital learning program for elementary and high school students.

News in Brief

PM Orbán meets dignitaries from the Hungarian Reformed Church to discuss funding

Mar 11, 2020

The agreement will regulate government funding for religious education in public schools, for the Lutheran University of Religious Studies, the establishment of a hospital, reconstruction of some 50 vicarages and other projects.

News in Brief

Teachers to receive 10 percent pay rise from July

Feb 25, 2020

Teachers in training will get the 10 percent pay rise on top of an 8 percent salary increase introduced on Jan. 1.

News in Brief

FM: Hungary open to restoring good relations with Ukraine

Feb 10, 2020

Péter Szijjártó said Ukraine’s education minister, Hanna Novosad, had promised to meet leaders of the Transcarpathian association of Hungarian teachers to agree on a way forward.

News in Brief

Hungarian government continues to invest in education

Dec 09, 2019

The government has allocated HUF 35 billion (EUR 106m) for supporting a complex education and school infrastructure development program in Debrecen, eastern Hungary.

News in Brief

Diplomatic academy to open in Budapest next year

Dec 02, 2019

Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said obtaining a degree at the academy will be a prerequisite for working at the ministry of foreign affairs.

News in Brief

Hungary's education spend is higher than the EU average

Nov 27, 2019

Human Resources Minister Miklós Kásler has announced that the Hungarian government spent 4.9 percent of GDP on education this year - a figure above the European Union average.

News in Brief

Hungarian-Chinese education agreement to include vocational training

Nov 12, 2019

László Palkovics said a 2019-2022 framework agreement signed with Vice Minister of Education Zheng Fuzhi includes 230 scholarships, involving MsC, BsC and PhD places, as well as short-term research positions.

News in Brief

PM Orbán holds talks with leaders of Shanghai’s Fudan University in Budapest

Nov 01, 2019

University President Xu Ningsheng briefed the prime minister about the university’s operation and plans to set up a campus in Budapest.

News in Brief

Eight university science parks to launch across Hungary

Oct 03, 2019

The Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) has been chosen as one of the eight so-called university science parks to be set up across Hungary.

News in Brief

Hungarian government pumps billions of forints into education and helping the homeless

Sep 27, 2019

Hungarian schoolchildren will receive free textbooks from next September and can attend foreign language courses. What's more, new places will be available at homeless shelters in Budapest.

News in Brief

Researchers’ Night kicks off tomorrow

Sep 26, 2019

Researchers’ Night will be held this Friday and Saturday, with over 3,000 programs offered in 150 venues in 53 Hungarian towns and cities.

News in Brief

OECD acknowledges Hungary's improving education system

Sep 11, 2019

The government’s vocational training strategy developed jointly with market players provides up-to-date training and an attractive learning environment that will create career paths and livelihoods for participants, this in turn would help to further strengthen Hungary’s economy.

News in Brief

Hungarian universities popular among foreign students

Sep 11, 2019

German and Chinese students are taking up a higher number of courses at Hungarian universities this year.

News in Brief

Hungarian government to spend 645 billion HUF more on education next year than in 2010

Sep 02, 2019

Gergely Gulyás said the government was carrying out the biggest school development program of the past thirty years, with 110 billion HUF of European Union funding combined with 46 billion HUF of state support.

News in Brief

Back to school for Hungarian students

Sep 02, 2019

The 2019/2020 Hungarian school year kicks off today, on September 2nd.

News in Brief

Hungary to host International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Szeged in 2023

Aug 13, 2019

The winning bid gives the 2023 event special significance where Hungary will mark the 120th birth anniversary of mathematician János Neumann, known later as John von Neumann, considered the founding father of modern computer.

News in Brief

Hungarian students win bronze medals at astronomy event

Aug 12, 2019

Four Hungarian secondary school students were awarded with bronze medals at the 13th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics.

News in Brief

Hungarian students count up their points for 2019-20 university places

Jul 26, 2019

Mechatronics engineering has topped the university wish list for Hungarian students this year.

News in Brief

Hungarian students win China Adolescent Science & Technology Innovation Contest

Jul 26, 2019

Students from the Bolyai János Secondary School bagged first place at the China Adolescent Science & Technology Innovation Contest.

News in Brief

Number of graduates on the rise in Hungary

Jul 16, 2019

The ratio of people with a higher education degree in Hungary has increased by 7.6 percentage points to 34 percent.

News in Brief

Hungary's Student Loan Center set for reform, says CEO

Jul 12, 2019

Hungary's Student Loan Center is headed towards some sweeping reforms, says newly-appointed CEO, Péter Magyar.

News in Brief

Hungary strengthens ties with Japan

May 23, 2019

During an official visit to Japan, Human Resources Minister Miklós Kásler has signed cooperation agreements in education, medical research, and sports

News in Brief

Ministry of Human Capacities approves new education model for Budapest School

May 09, 2019

The Budapest School is an alternative school which has no classic curriculum, there are no grades and only three subjects are taught there

News in Brief

Hungarian man learns the most languages in Europe

May 07, 2019

Ottó Gaál speaks 27 languages and has developed his own unique language learning method

News in Brief

Hungarian students receive best wishes from Queen Elizabeth II for graduation day

May 03, 2019

Students from the Trade and Catering Vocational School and College in Szombathely received an unexpected surprise from the United Kingdom, a letter from Queen Elizabeth II

News in Brief

BME signs cooperation agreement with Germany’s KIT to issue dual degrees to electrical engineering students

Apr 12, 2019

László Palkovics, Minister of Innovation and Technology, said the new cooperation scheme would serve as an example for the future

News in Brief

FM: Education is key to eliminating mass illegal migration

Apr 12, 2019

Minister Szijjártó said the world must also create the conditions for persecuted communities to remain in their homelands, adding that troubled regions should receive technological assistance and the world must help stabilise countries around warzones

News in Brief

New knowledge park to open in Budapest

Mar 26, 2019

The rectors of the three universities and the mayor of Budapest’s 8th district have signed an MoU for the establishment of a new Health Industry-Biotechnology Science Park in Budapest

News in Brief

PM Orbán accepts Bavaria’s offer of scientific cooperation with CEU

Mar 21, 2019

Florian Herrmann, the Bavarian minister of state for EU and media affairs, told Süddeutsche Zeitung that the Munich Technical University (TUM) would fund two faculties on democracy and governance at CEU

News in Brief

Hungarian high school students to teach senior citizens how to use the internet

Mar 21, 2019

Telekom Hungary is helping to bridge the generation gap in technology by teaching pensioners how to use the internet – with high school students as the teachers

News in Brief

Hungarian government to implement new vocational school system

Mar 18, 2019

László Palkovics revealed that under the government’s strategy dubbed “Vocational Training 4.0”, the courses of vocational schools offering final exams will be restructured to take five years, with the vocational exam incorporated into the final exam

News in Brief

Semmelweis University ranked among the top 200 in the world

Feb 28, 2019

Budapest's Semmelweis University is among the top 200 in the world for Pharmacy education, according to a fresh ranking released by British company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS)

News in Brief

University students to help mentor 7th and 8th graders

Feb 13, 2019

The Let Us Teach for Hungary mentoring program is due to kick off this September

News in Brief

Vodafone to provide free technology training to girls to close gender gap

Jan 28, 2019

Vodafone is providing free technology training for girls between the ages of eight and 18 to help create gender equality and balance in the industry

News in Brief

Let US Teach for Hungary brings a new approach to mentoring, helps students in small communities

Dec 31, 2018

The Let Us Teach for Hungary program brings a new approach to mentoring and targets students in small communities.

Blog

Here’s the fundamental problem: Ukraine hasn’t done what it promised it would do

Oct 07, 2018 - Zoltán Kovács

Hungary-Ukraine relations have seen better days and Ukraine’s recent decision to expel a Hungarian consul is merely the latest in an unfortunate downward trend. There is, however, one fundamental point that is often overlooked and ignored in the media crossfire.

News in Brief

OECD releases positive report on Hungary's education system

Sep 12, 2018

Zoltán Maruzsa said the conclusions included in the report caused no surprised to the education department

News in Brief

Hungary's foreign minister builds relations with Romania

Sep 11, 2018

The foreign minister said he hoped Hungarian-Romanian cooperation may continue in the spirit of mutual respect

News in Brief

Government brings forward handing out benefits to needy families for start of new school year

Aug 31, 2018

Katalin Novák, minister of state for Family and Youth Affairs at the Ministry of Human Capacities, said the government will continue to increase financial support for families, which year-by-year has eased the burdens of the beginning of the school year

News in Brief

Study finds a large percentage of Hungarians are over qualified for their jobs

Aug 27, 2018

An online survey by profession.hu found that about 44 percent of workers are not employed in the field where they have their highest qualification and a further 44 percent are actively thinking about changing jobs

News in Brief Prime Minister

PM Orbán: Hungary must build a country that can sustain a healthy future

Apr 24, 2018

The prime minister asked students to jointly “build a Hungary” to which they can always return. The Hungarian people must fight for everything, for their own skilled workers, their own young people and their own future, he added

News in Brief

Hungary becomes first country in Central and Eastern Europe to host renowned Euroskills event

Mar 22, 2018

Mihály Varga, minister for National Economy, opened the Budapest event for 600 of the best qualified young professionals from 28 EU member states who compete against each other in six categories

News in Brief

"Extraordinary" Hungarian-Ukrainian-American trilateral meeting to discuss Ukraine Education Act to take place in Paris

Jan 24, 2018

Hungary’s foreign minister will be joined by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell in Paris on Wednesday to hold talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin

News in Brief

Hungary delivers best result to date in international literacy test

Dec 06, 2017

4,623 students took part in the PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy) study right across Hungary last year, and the results show an improvement in education standards

News in Brief

Hungary will see significant pay rises in healthcare and education between 2018-2022

Nov 27, 2017

The Hungarian government is also planning very significant digital and transport infrastructure developments

News in Brief

OSCE throws its support behind Hungary in relation to Ukraine's education law

Oct 25, 2017

Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the OSCE is the most willing to help from among the international organizations contacted by Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Greek diplomats

News in Brief

Ukraine's education law "fails to strike a balance" between their official language and those of minorities, says PACE

Oct 13, 2017

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said that Ukraine's new education law is not conducive to “living together” and expressed its concerns over the articles relating to education in minority languages in the recently passed act

Blog

What did minority children in Ukraine do to deserve this?

Sep 22, 2017 - Zoltán Kovács

Many wonder the same these days – what did minority children in Ukraine do to deserve having their rights to study in their native tongue taken away?

News in Brief

Hungary spends more on its education system than the OECD and EU averages

Sep 13, 2017

Hungary's education spend has increased continuously since 2015, and while the allocation earmarked for education amounted to 1,386 billion HUF in 2013, according to estimated data, this sum will be in excess of 2,100 billion HUF next year

News in Brief

Hungary says EU must take action over Ukraine's new education law affecting minorities

Sep 12, 2017

Katalin Szili, the prime minister’s Special Appointee, said that the EU must intervene and contact the Ukrainian leadership regarding the matter

News in Brief

Hungary objects to new Ukrainian law that abolishes minority languages in schools

Sep 07, 2017

The new Ukrainian law will mean secondary school and higher education courses will only be available in Ukrainian, while education in minority languages is restricted to kindergartens and primary schools

News in Brief

PM Orbán: There has never been so many children with access to free textbooks and meals

Sep 04, 2017

PM Orbán revealed that the government will spend 552 billion HUF more on education than what was spent in 2010, “as befits a medium-sized European state”

News in Brief

Hungary aims to become a competitive country that can perform successfully in a new global economic age

Jul 14, 2017

Hungary has the lowest corporate and personal income tax rates in Europe. The government has also launched several investment support and financing schemes and would continue to reduce payroll taxes

News in Brief

Hungarian government provides a million school children with free textbooks

Jun 23, 2017

Hungary will spend 12 billion HUF on textbooks and will provide meals for needy children during the summer holiday

News in Brief

Hungary increases education spend by 120 billion HUF in 2018 budget

Jun 05, 2017

The total central budget spending on education will come to 2,000 billion HUF, and a significant portion of the extra funding will be spent on higher education, with 15 billion HUF going to support research work at universities alone

News in Brief

PM Orbán creates schemes to promote digital education

Apr 25, 2017

The prime minister said that the programs will improve the digital skills of around 260,000 job holders, and students specializing in IT will be offered preferential grants

News in Brief

Hungary's new act on higher education is not aimed at CEU

Mar 30, 2017

“The proposed amendment to the act on higher education does not make it impossible for institutions to operate in Hungary, is not discriminative and is not aimed against the Central European University (CEU), which operates in Budapest," Hungary's education minister has said

Blog

Every university – domestic or foreign – must follow the rules

Mar 29, 2017 - Zoltán Kovács

A comprehensive study on 28 foreign institutions of higher education operating in Hungary reveals that not all of these educational service providers abide by existing regulations

News in Brief

Improvements to Hungary's education system coming with new national curriculum plans

Mar 24, 2017

Valéria Csépe, the project’s ministry commissioner, announced there will be radical changes to Hungary's education system

News in Brief

Only six percent of Hungarian students learn two foreign languages during their teens

Feb 28, 2017

English is the most commonly studied language at lower secondary level in Hungary, followed by German in second place

News in Brief

Foreign students enrolled at Hungarian universities reaches nearly 30,000

Feb 02, 2017

Foreign students enrolled at universities in Hungary has risen to more than 28,000, and is set to grow to 40,000 by 2023

News in Brief

Hungarian government invests 54 billion HUF in church-run schools

Dec 19, 2016

The sum will be spent on reconstructing over 120 facilities in 60 to 70 towns and villages across Hungary

News in Brief

Roma children shouldn't be segregated in schools

Sep 19, 2016

Hungary has been granting a significant amount of scholarship awards to Roma children to help with their schooling

Blog

Hungary’s Public Education Passes to Higher Grade

Sep 07, 2016 - Zoltán Kovács

The ultimate goal of the government’s education policy is to ensure a more accessible education of higher quality – and one that is attuned to the demands of the labor market.

News in Brief

Back to school in Hungary

Sep 01, 2016

The human resources ministry’s state secretary noted that teachers’ wages will be increased on September 1 for the fourth consecutive year, and there will be another pay rise in 2017

News in Brief

Hungarian school children to receive free textbooks

Aug 29, 2016

The price of textbooks has fallen and the government’s spending on children’s meals has been raised

News in Brief

Hungarian universities among the world's best

Jul 13, 2016

Among Hungarian institutions, Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest came first for Hungary in 488th place

News in Brief

EU accuses Hungary of discrimination against Roma children

May 27, 2016

Hungary has been given two months to respond to the EU's official warning

News in Brief

Hungary has the resources for a modern education system

May 23, 2016

Hungarian economy has financial means for a modern, accountable, reliable education system