Parliament has adopted an amendment to the Hungarian Public Education Act, introducing career models and ensuring a pay rise to all teachers as of September 2013. Alongside the career models, the legislation also introduces a quality assurance system to eliminate differing ways of calculating teachers' salaries.
Minister for Human Resources Zoltán Balog said that the pay rise would require a budget surplus of HUF 32.5 billion (EUR 108 million) this year and HUF 152.9 billion (EUR 509.7 million) next year. Its financial basis has been created by the Hungarian economy, without need for international loans.
Under the new rules, teachers will receive 60 percent of the salary increase the government had set out to give teachers in 2011 now; meaning an average immediate pay rise of 34 percent, with further 10 percent increases granted each year until the originally planned full increase is achieved. HUF 200.6 billion (EUR 668.7 million) will be earmarked for this purpose until January 2016, the Minister said. As of September 2015, the pay rise will be expanded to also include teaching assistants.
Increasing the prestige of the teaching profession and the quality of education is a priority for the Government, Minister Balog said. Providing suitable career models was an "old debt": the new law fulfils a long-held requirement of people working in public service. This overall reform is a great achievement, providing the most remarkable change in teachers’ careers since the regime change.
(Ministry of Human Resources)