Country information for Hungary - Assessment within inclusive education systems

Special needs education shall be provided in line with the pedagogical assistance service committee of experts’ opinion. The committee members are psychologists, special educators and medical doctors. They draw up an expert opinion on the child. Based on this opinion, they propose which institution should provide kindergarten or school education and the specific requirements for the learner’s education and teaching. The committee of experts may propose not only the child’s admission to special classes, but also their transfer from a special class to a mainstream school.

Act CXC of 2011 on National Public Education provides additional services and indicates provisions for positive discrimination in the education of learners with special educational needs (SEN).

Schools educating learners with disabilities can allow a learner more than one academic year to complete a grade’s curriculum.

When calculating the numbers of learners in inclusive classes and inclusive groups, one learner with disabilities is counted as two or three people, depending on their disability. This rule guarantees smaller class sizes in inclusive education. In grade 1, for instance, the maximum number of learners is 27 under Act CXC of 2011 on National Public Education. If the class includes three deaf children, the maximum number of learners is 21 (because the three deaf children ‘occupy’ nine places). The maximum number of separate classes organised for learners with SEN may be between 5 and 13. This binding rule applies to all fields of kindergarten and school education.

Whether education and teaching are carried out separately or together with non-disabled learners, institutions teaching learners with SEN (disabilities) provide a compulsory healthcare and pedagogical habilitation and rehabilitation timeframe. The rehabilitation timeframe depends on the type of disability. The individual grades and classes may rearrange the timeframe during the academic year between school weeks.

The head teacher may exempt a learner with SEN from evaluation and assessment in certain subjects or parts of subjects, based on the committee of experts’ proposal. In cases of exemptions, the learner’s development and catching-up take place as part of an individual development plan. For the basic education examination and secondary school-leaving examination, learners may choose – in compliance with the examination regulations – other subjects instead of the subjects concerned.

According to Act CXC of 2011 on National Public Education, if their individual capabilities and development require it and based on the opinion of the expert committee, the head teacher can exempt a learner with SEN from:

  • numerical evaluation and assessment and require written evaluation and assessment instead;
  • evaluation and assessment of certain subjects or parts of subjects, with the exception of practical training.

In the secondary school leaving examination, learners can choose another subject instead of the subjects as defined above, in accordance with the examination rules.

Decree No. 20/2012 (VIII. 31.) EMMI on the operation of educational institutions and on the use of names of public educational institutions states that, with the committee of experts’ opinion, the head teacher can authorise that examinees with SEN can:

  • have an extra thirty minutes to answer written questions;
  • use the tools generally used during their studies;
  • sit an oral examination instead of a written examination.
  • have a maximum of ten minutes additional preparation time;
  • pass an oral examination in writing.

In all institutions, individual development plans comprise the basis of assessment. The assessment of learners with SEN is based on the contents and requirements to be met, as set out in the development plans. The process is characterised by diagnosis and formative assessment. In summative assessment, the requirements defined in the development plans are decisive. (See Government Decree No. 110/2012. (VI. 4.) on the issue, introduction and implementation of the National Core Curriculum, part 6.5.1. and the Guideline for kindergarten education of children with special educational needs and the Guideline for school education of learners with special educational needs).

Government Decree No. 326/2013 (VIII. 30.) on the promotion of teachers and the execution of Act XXXIII of 1992 on the legal status of public servants in schools and all public education institutions, part 10.2.1, includes the rules of the teacher carrier system. On entering a new grade, teachers participate in a classification process in which special professionals examine their professional career to date. The classification process assesses the teacher’s competencies:

  • professional activities, scientific and curricular knowledge;
  • planning pedagogical processes and activities;
  • methodological preparedness related to the education of disadvantaged learners or learners with adaptations, learning or behavioural difficulty;
  • methodological preparedness related to the inclusive education of learners with SEN;
  • promoting the development of communities and learner groups, creating equal opportunities, being open-minded to socio-cultural diversity and integration activities;
  • on-going assessment, analysis of personality development in the educational process;
  • communication, professional collaboration, problem solving;
  • commitment to professional responsibility and professional development.

Moreover, the entire specialised pedagogical service system, including SEN diagnostic committee activities, was reformed in 2013. The diagnostic committee activities were further revised in 2020.

 

Last updated 25/03/2021

 

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