Reference year 2023
Version 2023 - Drafted by Csaba Zsolt Ferencz, at the time of writing Coordinator of dual VET and International VET affairs, Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and member of Cedefop Community of apprenticeship experts for Hungary
Since apprenticeship training is not a separate pathway from IVET, the general regulatory framework and governance system applying to any VET programme, apply also to apprenticeship.
The 2011 act introduced a dual VET model according to which students should do their practical training in a school-workshop in the first year(s) of a VET programme, and then at a company in the following years (see also Q3). The dual VET model was implemented from school year 2013/2014 generally, but optionally it had been launched in some schools since 2012.
The new Act LXXX of 2019 on vocational education and training (came into force on 1 January 2020) regulates apprenticeship in part 19. It is based on the new VET strategy c4.0.
The 2019 Act introduced a new type of contract for apprenticeships, the vocational employment contract. This is signed by the student and the company participating in apprenticeship.
As a result, apprenticeship offered under the prior model of ‘apprenticeship contracts’ is being phased out (expiring in 2024) and new enrolments follow the ‘vocational employment contract’ provisions.
Website of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry: http://www.mkik.hu/hu/
Dual vocational training is a scheme in IVET where responsibilities and costs for training are shared by the state and the companies. Implementation of dual vocational training is at the level of the school and the enterprise. Schools and employers jointly contribute to the vocational training of students.
The primary aim of dual vocational training is to allow young people the comprehensive acquisition of necessary skills, by which they would be able to perform their tasks at work effectively and innovatively, independently and in cooperation with others as well.
Since the 2019 Act, the old and new model of dual VET coexist. The old one, based on the ‘apprenticeship contract’ is being phased out and is to expire in 2024. The new dual vocational training system is based on the newly introduced ‘vocational employment contract’.
In the phased-out model, the vocational school provides for the vocational theoretical training of young people, while practical training is done by enterprises at the workplace.
In the new model (post-2019), vocational schools provide foundation sectoral training in the first part of the vocational training (first one or two years depending on the type of programme, see Q3). The dual phase of VET starts only after this initial period of foundation training, with enterprises being the main actor: they organise the dual training as ‘dual trainers’, which can be held in their own capacity, at other dual trainers or partly at vocational schools.
More information is available at https://www.nive.hu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1024 (English version)
And https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/vet-in-europe/systems/hungary-u2…;
Dual vocational training is not a separate pathway in Hungary, but a very integrated part of initial VET at upper secondary and post-secondary level.
Dual vocational training (apprenticeship) is offered at upper secondary and post-secondary level, as part of the following vocational programmes:
- 3-year vocational school (Szakképző Iskola, ISCED 353, EQF 4) programmes/ practice-oriented VET programmes, provide general and vocational (sectoral foundation) education in grade 9, followed by vocational specialisation (grades 10 and 11). Since the 2019 reform, apprenticeship is an option offered starting grade 10, and lasts for two years
- 5-year technological programmes (technikum, ISCED 344-454), EQF 4/5) combining general subjects and sectoral basic education (common contents of vocational training affiliated to the same economic sector) in grades 9 and 10 and vocational specialisation in grades 11 to 13. Since the 2019 reform, apprenticeship is an option offered starting grade 11, and lasts for three years
- 1- or 2-year post-secondary programmes (ISCED 454, EQF 5). Since the 2019 reform, apprenticeship is an option offered starting in the second semester and can be entirely organised at the workplace
Source: https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/vet-in-europe/systems/hungary-u2…;
Dual vocational training goes a long way back in Hungary. It was dominant in skilled workers’ training even before the political regime change (1989), and only the economic collapse in the early 1990s set it back for a decade.
Since the beginning of the 2000s every government has supported apprenticeship. The legal framework allowing and supporting dual training has gone through a decade-long development.
The Act CLXXXVII of 2011 on vocational education and training and the subsequent legislation introduced further specifications and modifications.
The new Act LXXX of 2019 on VET was based on the new VET strategy 4.0.
Cedefop (2015): Apprenticeship-type schemes and structured work-based learning programmes. https://cumulus.cedefop.europa.eu/files/vetelib/2015/ReferNet_HU_2014_W….
Cedefop VET in Europe database:
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/vet-in-europe/systems/hungary-u2
Ministry for Innovation and Technology (2019): Vocational Training 4.0.
https://www.nive.hu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1024:s… (Hungarian version).
and
Ildikó Görgényi Modláné (2015): With Dual Training in the World of Work. Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Budapest.
and https://www.nive.hu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1024.