The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has issued a positive report on the state of education in Hungary.
Zoltán Maruzsa, minister of state for Public Education, said the conclusions included in the report caused no surprised to the education department.
Maruzsa said the publication issued by the OECD praises the government’s measures relating to nursery school education. The report highlighted the fact that an outstanding proportion of Hungarian children attend nursery school and the state is playing a major role in both managing and financing education.
Figure show that 95 percent of Hungarian children attend nursery school, and financing for nursery schools equates to 0.9 percent of GDP, in comparison with the OECD average of 0.8 percent.
The minister of state said it is clearly evident from the report that teacher salaries have been increasing significantly since 2013, although he noted that these still remain below international levels.
Maruzsa said the latest figures are the result of the introduction of the career model for teachers.
“While the real value of the salary of a secondary school teacher with 15 years of experience fell by 35 percent between 2005 and 2013, after the introduction of the career model salaries had already increased by 10 percent by 2015," he said, adding that teacher salaries continued to increase in both 2016 and 2017.
In higher education the report highlights the fact that a basic university degree equates to 72 percent increased income, while a master’s degree facilitates an average salary that is 134 percent higher, meaning that the Hungarian higher education system represents an outstanding income and employment advantage to those who acquire degrees in Hungary.