We want a Hungary where universities play a central role, where knowledge is not only transferred, but also created and utilized - stated the Minister of Innovation and Technology at the opening festive senate meeting of the University of Debrecen in the Nagyerdei Stadium on Sunday.

László Palkovics said that the spirit of the University of Debrecen and the directions of the national higher education strategy are in line. Hungarian youth have a thirst for knowledge and the desire to further their education: the number of students has been steadily increasing since 2017,

THIS YEAR, 11 PERCENT MORE APPLIED TO HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS THAN LAST YEAR, AND OF THE APPROXIMATELY 102,000 APPLICANTS, 67,000 WERE ACCEPTED.

he added.

According to the head of the department, in order for the institutions to meet the requirements of the age, a change of grade was necessary, and for this three conditions had to be met.

According to his list, the first is the material background necessary for innovation:

DIRECT STATE SUPPORT FOR HIGHER EDUCATION WILL INCREASE FROM HUF 210 BILLION THIS YEAR TO MORE THAN HUF 400 BILLION NEXT YEAR.

Hungary is one of the member states of the European Union that most intensively supports the functioning and innovation of universities: in 2021, the government will spend almost 1.2 percent of GDP on universities, and by 2022, the 650 billion higher education appropriation will be supplemented by university developments and science parks with a 310 billion frame.

This already means a higher education budget of almost one thousand billion, which will amount to 1.7 percent of the planned GDP - detailed László Palkovics.

He added that they are currently working to fulfill the development needs of the universities of HUF 2,700 billion at the beginning of the year, the vast majority of the funds are available, and a good part will soon go to the universities.

As the second condition for the change of degree, he mentioned an operating environment that makes better use of its possibilities, since the resources are only utilized properly if the operating model of higher education is suitable for the efficient and effective use of the resources.

According to László Palkovics, the structure known as the foundation model has many advantages, and although the maintenance rights are transferred to the foundations, "the state has not let go of the hands of the universities". "The essence of the Hungarian model is that while preserving the state's role in financing, we want to take advantage of the more flexible frameworks provided by the operation of private institutions," said the minister, noting:

IN THIS NEW ACADEMIC YEAR, 21 UNIVERSITIES WILL BEGIN TRAINING IN THE NEW STRUCTURE, ABOUT 180,000 OF THE 280,000 STUDENTS WILL BEGIN THEIR STUDIES IN THESE INSTITUTIONS.

The minister called the third condition of the grade change "appreciation of work, knowledge and diligence on the part of both the teaching staff and the students".

Source: origo.hu

Featured image: MTI/Zsolt Czeglédi