Hungarian Institute for Educational Research

The Hungarian Institute for Educational Research is an academic institution dedicated to social research on education. It carries out economical, sociological and statistical researches on the educational system at national, regional and institutional levels.

With empirical sociological research methods, statistical analysis and case studies HIER contributes to the development of the educational system and offers policy analysis for decision makers.

The Institute is maintained by the Ministry of Education but its researches are also supported by national and international funds. The Institute keeps contact with a large number of national and international scientific institutions, societies and committees, journal editorial boards.

HIER is one of the centers of postgraduate education for teachers. Together with Debrecen University it has a Ph.D. program on higher educational research which is accredited by the Hungarian Accreditation Committee. The Institute also hosts researchers, university lecturers and graduate students from Hungary and abroad in all fields related to education.

The library with over 20 000 volumes and national and international periodical resources supports the work of researchers, scholars and students.

HIER maintains the publishing house Educatio Press which publishes a research monograph series "Society and Education" (earlier: "Educatio Books"), a series of final reports of researches carried out at the Institute titled “HIER Research Paper” (earlier: "Educatio Papers") and the quarterly review “Educatio”.

All of those researches about which you can find some information above have a common objective: the establishment of better educational policy decisions. Such researches have been planned and started which cannot be put into any of the subsystem of education but analyze the operation of the whole system.

We analyze from this objective the relationship between the changing in human resources and educational policy. Our aim is to estimate the number of those learners who are going to participate in elementary, secondary and higher education and the structural changes in the different training systems. In this respect we rely on the experience and the expected trends of EU and OECD countries. We do research on the changes of the population and the schooling level of workers in a similar way. We make a comparison with EU countries when we do research on the numbers of participants, the changes of structural systems and training levels in adult education.

When we are doing research in these fields and in the network structure of certain school levels we try to find answers to regional matters as well in order to be able to give a helping hand to those, making decisions in educational policy, looking for solutions to the special problems of certain areas. We find these problems important because the structural funds of EU support projects which focus on these areas.

Research is done on finding relation between the Hungarian society and the system of educational system as a whole. Those problems which extend over schools levels examine the living conditions, system of values of the youth. No special explanation is needed to that how the better understanding of the youth can help educational policy. We can consider as an overall question the educational position of the socio-culturally disadvantaged young (first and foremost the gypsies) people and how there position can be made better. These questions need a well-defined, interdisciplinary research.

The system of public education and vocational training has gone through on extremely big and important changes since 1989. It can be explained with the political changes as well as the changing expectations of the public. Researches have been and will be needed in order to be able to trace the changes and help decision making.

Most of the changes can be explained with that fact that the systems as well as institutions of education adjust consciously to those changes going on in economy and society. We can mention as an example that tendency when trade schools try to make it possible for their learners to be able to get a school leaving certificate (G.C.E.). Here we can mention the effects of educational policy, the decisions of the government (e.g. organizing the education of ethnic minorities, organizing church schools etc.).

The rest of the changes are the results of such “spontaneous” processes as e.g. those results of the decisions of the government, which have happened unintentionally (e.g. the huge number of special trade schools at the beginning of the decade). These processes always have such aspects which effect the relationship of society/economy and the education system as a whole, as the proffer of education and training are not present in general but here and now and the cause and consequence of offer are e.g. the status and migration of society in certain areas.

Besides public education vocational training is extremely important. Both the “users” (parents and learners) and the maintainers expect it to be harmonized with the needs of the labor market. Those researches which focus on this field have to be able to give a picture about the effects of changes in public education on the labor market. Continuous or life-long learning/training go beyond the educational system. Researches have to show those motifs which help or hinder the participation in this kind of training. Those elements of financing, life style and structure have to be analyzed which have an effect on the continuous renewing of knowledge after finishing the mandatory part of schooling.

There are researches which focus on that question how our future EU membership is going to have an effect on public education and vocational training. The questions of these fields are such ones which the member countries of EU ask from themselves as well, and for being able to answer to these questions continuous and regular researches have to be done.

Our researches in the field of higher education are mainly strategic ones. We are interested in the intended and unintended effects of higher education policy as well as the effects of the demands of economy and society on higher education. The higher education system is capable to react to the changing challenges of economy and society if we establish such a regulatory system in which the members, the individuals and the institutions of the higher education market can move in without direct central intervention on the institutions and in this way they are more and more capable to react to the expectations of the labor market. It can be helped with the privatization of certain tasks, which can facilitate the establishment of co-financing. For the success of the co-financing model such a modern financing and financial management system is needed in which e.g. tuition fees and student loans play important role. Another element of modernizing is the better permeability of the system and the establishment of credit transfer. Those researches which focus on these questions are essentially important.

In every higher education institution scientific research plays an important role, as it is the basis of quality work. It is a research problem how it can be reached and what are those political and spontaneous processes which have an effect on this sphere. Comparative higher education researches play an important role in helping our EU membership in this sphere and these researches can help us in being able to find the place of the Hungarian higher education system in the world.

There are two reasons why it is important to build up the system and institutional network of the accredited higher vocational training. On the one hand to be able to find a solution to the organizational problems of massifying higher education, on the other hand to be able to help the better compliance with the needs of the labor market. Although it is stated by the law, in case of this element only slow development can be seen. Our researches in this case focus on those obstacles of delay which can be found in the system and the environment and we try to come forward with such suggestions with the help of which these can be declined.

EMP/SKILLS - Skills and Employability Department