Over a relatively short period of time, Hungary has undergone substantial structural changes concerning its education system, labour market and welfare institutions. During the socialist era, Hungarian society was meritocratic in the sense that the qualification prerequisites for different jobs were well determined, and there was a strong link between education and occupational status. Since the regime transformation, the curriculum of the country's education institutions has become more general and academically oriented. On the one hand, this could make the school-to-work transition more flexible, on the other hand, entrants to the labour market could face an increasing risk of a qualification/occupational mismatch. One of the principal changes in the labour market during the transition was undoubtfully a sizeable increase in the return to skills and a marked decrease in return to employment experience. The transition to a market economy therefore resulted in strong discrimination against older, unskilled workers who lost employment disproportionately in comparison to their well-trained, younger counterparts.

Education system

Structure of the Hungarian education system

Overview of the Hungarian education system after the Second World War

The socialist education system in Hungary was organised into three distinct levels. Comprehensive primary education (ages 6-14) was followed by secondary education for which students had three options (see Table 7.1). The most popular secondary education institutions were apprentice schools where the curriculum covered two to three years and combined three days per week in school with two days per week of work experience. At apprentice schools pupils did not receive ‘maturity’ (the secondary school diploma), so they were not eligible to continue their studies at tertiary level, but apprentice schools provided direct access to the labour market. The second most common type of school was the technical secondary school, which had four grades, after which pupils sat a ‘maturity’ exam.

The curriculum of this type of school was practical rather than theoretical, preparing students to enter the labour market as skilled workers (e.g. mechanics or printers) or as skilled white-collar workers (e.g. in administration and commerce). The third possibility was the gymnasium or academic secondary school. These schools had a four-year programme of a more general kind and also ended with a ‘maturity’ exam. Students finishing this kind of school more frequently went on to higher education. Enrolment rates in tertiary education were relatively low under socialism. Young adults entering tertiary education had two options.