From 2010, a significant transformation process has begun in Hungarian education policy, whose two central elements are maintaining and financing schools. This paper shows financial problems preceding the transformation, and analyses the legislative background of decisions that were made to address them. The first part takes a look at the problems concerning school financing – it places Hungary’s public education spending in an international context, and explains the changes that took place in the 2000s in normative financing. The second part examines the background of public administration and education policy reforms related to the transfer of schools to the state, and also the characteristics of the accompanying legislative procedures. The paper then presents the changes in the financial circumstances of the microregional associations, the details of creating new administrative districts, and finally the main features of the complementary system of school districts.
Author