As long as there are no statutory and systemwide solutions for the problems of the Hungarian minority schools in Slovakia, the Party of the Hungarian Community (SMK-MKP) wants to help them with a complex grants scheme based on a foundation model. Beáta Kiss, Vice-President of SMK-MKP responsible for education policy, presented the education strategy of the party on Tuesday, which is based on two pillars.

One of these pillars is the formulating of changes to the education system: the party would like to see the concept of (national) minority education in the law on education, would like its characteristics to be laid down, and the specific situation of minority schools to be reflected in normative funding. According to the party, it is also necessary for a publicly funded pedagogical institution to be set up, which will explicitly serve the objectives of minority education, outline curriculum framework and deal with methodology, school textbooks and pedagogical measurements. Their ideas were submitted to those preparing the strategic education programme ‘Learning Slovakia’ that is currently underway and to Peter Krajňák (Most- Híd), Secretary of State for Education.

The aim of the outlined grants scheme based on a foundation model would be to provide regular support for pre-kindergarten activities and a Hungary-funded kindergarten development programme, a part of which is to be implemented by the Reformed Church, and the other ‘secular’ part is in municipal sphere. As soon as the drafted plans take a concrete form, SMK-MKP will negotiate the programme with professional circles.
(www.ujszo.com, 5 June 2017

Minority Report / Bulletin on the Hungarian Community in Slovakia