Editing Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) (section)

=== Education ===

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Pre-communist Hungary had a highly elitist educational system, largely dominated by religious institutions. The US Federal Research Division reports:<blockquote>Before the communist assumption of power in 1947, religion was the primary influence on education... The social and material status of students strongly influenced the type and extent of schooling they received. Education above the elementary level was generally available only to the social elite of the country. In secondary and higher-level schools, a mere 5 percent of the students came from worker or peasant families. Only about 1 or 2 percent of all students entered higher education.</blockquote>However, after the Communists came to power, the educational system was drastically reformed. The Encyclopedia Britannica notes:<blockquote>All this changed after the communist takeover of Hungary following World War II. In 1948 schools were nationalized, and the elitist German style of education was replaced by a Soviet-style mass education, consisting of eight years of general school and four years of secondary education. The latter consisted of college-preparatory high schools that approximated the upper four years of the ''gimnázium'' as well as of the more numerous and diverse vocational schools (''technikumok'') that prepared students for technical colleges or universities but in most instances simply led directly to mid-level jobs.</blockquote>The educational system was greatly expanded. The US Federal Research Division states:<blockquote>Attendance at school was mandatory from age six to sixteen. All students attended general schools for at least eight years. Tuition was free for all students from age six up to the university level. Most students actually began their schooling at five years of age; in 1986 approximately 92 percent of all children of kindergarten age attended one of the country's 4,804 kindergartens. By 1980 every town and two-thirds of the villages had kindergartens. Parents paid a fee for preschool services that was based on income, but such institutions were heavily subsidized by the local councils or enterprises that sponsored them.</blockquote>These reforms succeeded in drastically expanding the educational standards throughout Hungary:<blockquote>By 1980 only 29 percent of males aged fifteen years or older and 38 percent of females aged fifteen years and older had not completed eight years of general school, compared with 78 percent of such males and 80 percent of such females in 1949. About half of the students who completed the general schools subsequently completed their education in two years, through vocational and technical training. The remaining students continued their studies in a four-year gymnasium or trade school.</blockquote>However, the system suffered from similar problems to the healthcare and social welfare systems. Specifically, it was underfunded; Hungary spent a very low percentage of GNP on education compared to other countries, which resulted in shortages:<blockquote>Critics noted, among other things, that although [[Switzerland]] spent 18.8 percent of its national budget on education, [[Brazil]] 18.4 percent, and [[Japan]] 19.2 percent, Hungary allotted only 6.6 percent of its state budget to education. In the 1980s, the country experienced shortages of both classrooms and teachers, so that primary- school classes sometimes contained up to forty children. In many areas, schools had alternate morning and afternoon school shifts in order to stretch facilities and staff. Moreover, not all teachers received proper training.</blockquote>

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