This year's calls for the Szülőföldön Magyarul program, which supports Hungarian-language education and upbringing and encourages Hungarian school choice, have been published in the areas beyond the border
- announced János Árpád Potápi, the Prime Minister's State Secretary responsible for national policy, at a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday.
In the program, parents whose children study in a Hungarian-language kindergarten or school outside the borders of Hungary or study Hungarian as an optional subject can apply for support for upbringing, education, textbooks and teaching aids.
According to the tender announced by Bethlen Gábor Alapkezelő Zrt., all children and young people studying Hungarian receive HUF 22,400 in support, which parents can apply for by submitting an application.
János Árpád Potápi called this year's main novelty of the program that the symbolic HUF 2,800 student support for students in higher education will be increased to HUF 22,400.
Turning to the further expected support innovations, the state secretary indicated that they are planning to extend the education and training support to children of nursery school age , expected from this fall, in the framework of another tender.
Thus, "the Hungarian government supports children and young people participating in Hungarian-language education, from kindergarten to graduation, so that they choose Hungarian-language institutions, socialize in Hungarian, and obtain certificates and diplomas."
he said.
The state secretary recalled: the government decided on educational support in 2001, the first amounts were disbursed in 2002, and since 2011 children of preschool age have also been supported. Hungarians living in the countries of the Carpathian Basin – Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Ukraine, Croatia and Slovenia – can apply for the support , and it is basically organized by the Hungarian teacher organizations there, and in Ukraine by the charity foundation of the Subcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ).
János Árpád Potápi also reminded that the budget of the program with a budget of HUF 5.24 billion this year was about HUF 5 billion, of which 224,000 children were helped. He also pointed out that the number of Hungarian primary and secondary school students in general is stagnating in the surrounding countries, but there is a "slight increase" in the case of preschoolers, which is also due to the results of the Carpathian Basin preschool development program.
According to the information provided by the State Secretariat for National Policy, within the framework of the latter, the Hungarian government supported the construction of 179 new kindergartens and nurseries, as well as the renovation of 713 institutions throughout the Carpathian Basin.
The invitations are available the website of Gábor Bethlen Fund Management
