Higher education institutions of Hungary make up five per cent of top universities in the world, the state’s secretary has claimed.
According to the Education Secretary, Balázs Hankó, the country’s universities rank highly in almost every field of training, which he believes should be supported by modernising the higher education institutions while also emerging for universities to become innovation hubs – in a bid for Hungary to compete in both national and international level.
“The aim has been to provide universities with a structure that allows them greater flexibility and autonomy so they can be competitive both at home and abroad. This is why we have provided them with the appropriate legal framework, institutional profiles and significant resources,” the Education Secretary, Hankó, said ahead of the February 15 deadline for enrolling students.
According to him, his government has designated 1.9 per cent of the GDP for higher education spending this year, making Hungary amongst the fewest countries in the 27-nation-bloc. In addition, a €7.6 billion fund has been allocated to developing universities’ infrastructure and building a network of science parks, as Hankó claimed.
The secretary also added that working on increasing the number of graduates is essential to the country’s economic development, as this year, 350 bachelor and 400 master’s programs have operated in 48 Hungarian cities.
On the other hand, it is estimated that Hungarian universities are listed in around 500th spot at an international level, with best ranked being the University of Szeged (551-560), University of Debrecen (591-600) and Eötvös Loránd University (651-700). In addition, in comparison to the 27-nation-bloc, Eötvös Loránd University Budapest is ranked 171st.
According to Statista, the data provider, the number of international students in Hungary has dropped by 2.1 per cent in the 2020/2021 academic year, dropping from 33,100 as it was in the previous academic year to 32,400.
In general, the number of international students in the country has been in a progressive surge since 2009, starting with 14,300 international students, marking a year-on-year increase of 131.4 per cent since then.
However, Hungary isn’t among countries to offer jobs, thus granting blue cards for skilled workers. According to data from Eurostat, the countries that offered the most blue cards in 2020 are Germany (11,850), Poland (2,251) and France (1,286). On the other end of the scale is Hungary, which issued the least blue cards – only five of those, followed by Greece, which granted three.
The same source has previously published research, according to which the possibility for the tertiary graduates in the EU to leave their country of origin is higher compared to the rest of the population.
More specifically, holders of a university diploma are more open to the idea of leaving their country to pursue their careers elsewhere, as 27.4 per cent of French citizens do so, followed by Italians with 12.2 per cent points, representing the mobile, educated citizens.
In addition, the share of highly skilled persons in the EU jumped by 23.7 per cent in 2010 to 30.9 in 2020 – with Hungary and Bulgaria showing a negative trend on the matter as they marked a 0.2 and 0.1 percentage point decline, respectively.
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