The resilience and sovereignty of the Hungarian nation is strengthened if it has competitive universities, said the deputy state secretary responsible for higher education in Balatonalmádi, the Mészáros Foundation VI. at his conference.
According to Balázs Hankó, despite all the difficulties, it is good to be a university student in Hungary.
In the past two years, the transformation of higher education aimed to produce students who can provide innovative answers to the changing challenges of the labor market. From the introduction of the more flexible model, the two and a half times increase in funding and foundation maintenance, it is expected that the institutions will advance significantly in the university rankings, he added.
Among the goals, Balázs Hankó mentioned that by 2030 one Hungarian university should be among the top 100 in the world, and at least three institutions should be among the top 100 universities in the European Union.
The deputy state secretary emphasized that quality and performance were the focus of the universities. Institutions can get more resources if they provide training and mentoring programs that improve the placement of young people in the labor market, reduce dropout rates, and increase placement in the region.
The great entrepreneur Lőrinc Mészáros, the founder of the Mészáros Foundation, spoke about the difficult years ahead for Hungary, Europe and the world due to the war situation, as an economic and energy crisis had begun. He believed that this is when great knowledge is needed, with which students can equip themselves at universities.
The scholarship system launched for students in higher education will be maintained even during the crisis, the restrictions introduced at the Mészáros Group will not affect either scholarships or charitable activities. There was a plan to increase the scholarship, but they certainly won't be able to solve it in the next school year, but they would like to increase it in the medium term, the big entrepreneur said.
András Sisa, a member of the board of trustees of the Mészáros Foundation, said that in the past six years more than half a billion forints were paid to 1,142 students from Váli-Völgy, this year 194 students received 90 million forints in support.
The conference of the Mészáros Foundation focuses on the security policy, economic and social consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Around 200 scholarship holders will participate in the two-day event.
Among others, Gergely Prőhle, director of the Institute of Strategic Studies of the National Public Service University, Csaba Kandrács, vice president of the Hungarian National Bank, and L. Simon László, director general of the Hungarian National Museum, will give a lecture.
The foundation was established in 2016 by Lőrinc Mészáros with the aim of awarding scholarships to students who live in Felcsút, Alcsútdoboz, Vértesascá, Kajászó, Tabajdo and Vál, have a permanent address there, and are studying in higher education.
One of the conditions of the grant that can be obtained through the application is that the students who receive the scholarship participate once a year in the complex program organized by the foundation.
Source: MTI
Featured image: Balázs Hankó/Source: MTI/Tamás Vasvári
