The responsibilities of the Ministry of Education and Culture (OKM) are extremely diverse and wide-ranging. We encounter the activities of the Ministry more frequently than we may think.

 

Educational and training institutions see everyone through the key stages of growing up, from the education of young children through instruction for primary and secondary school pupils to the training of university, college and PhD students.

 

The Ministry oversees the pedagogical, professional and educational efforts in public education. It is responsible for drawing up the necessary development plans, creating the legislation required for such operations and ensuring that institutions perform their work at the required standard of quality. To this end, the Ministry organises pedagogical, professional assessments, examinations and surveys in the field of public education. It ensures that children are supplied with high-quality textbooks by elaborating the order and conditions of schoolbook registration.

 

The National Centre for Assessment and Examination in Public Education (OKÉV) reporting to the Educational Authority under the control of the Ministry contributes to organising tasks related to monitoring, surveys and assessments, school-leaving examinations, entrance procedures, and adjudges the requests and complaints received in relation to these processes. The Educatio Social Service Non-profit Company assists the Ministry by updating teachers’ competencies and creating the necessary conditions for them to acquire new and more specialized knowledge. The Ministry has always laid great emphasis on encouraging students to extend their knowledge beyond their school assignments, by organising national educational competitions for them and operating the Sulinet (Schoolnet) network and Internet portal.

 

The Ministry is also responsible for the preparatory work leading to state-level decisions in higher education. Respecting the autonomy of higher-education institutions, the Ministry exercises legality control on these institutions, coordinates the allocation of budgetary support to (state and non-state) institutions and monitors their financial management. As part of the modernisation of training, the Ministry decides on the training programmes to be launched at universities and colleges, publishes the training and graduation requirements, and, if the quality of instruction does not reach the required level, withdraws permission for launching the training programme. It also prepares proposals for the Government on the number of students to be accepted to the first year of the state-financed programme in a given year.

 

The Minister is a member of the Government also responsible for the coordination of science policy. He is the person representing the governmental science policy in the Government and Parliament. The ministry participates in the development and enforcement of the Government’s technology and innovation policy. The Minister, in cooperation with the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, harmonises the development and enforcement of the Government’s science policy. The Minister is responsible for the implementation of scientific and science policy tasks deriving from Hungary being the part of the European integration, and for maintaining and coordinating professional contacts within the integration. He initiates the harmonised utilization of budgetary and European Union resources for financing scientific research not producing direct economic benefits – thus particularly basic research projects –, and harmonises Government responsibilities related to Hungary’s participation in international scientific organisations. The Ministry coordinates the planning tasks related to academic education and the provisioning thereof. It facilitates the ability of scientific workshops within higher-education institutions to establish connections with the international scientific world, and promotes the implementation of the national program of Electronic Information Service. It also engages in sectoral planning related to gifted education in higher education and coordinates relevant scholarship programmes.

 

The Ministry has a key function in the field of arts, as it supervises Hungarian art life (the field of theatre, music, dance, fine arts, applied arts, photography, literature, publishing and motion-picture industry), various public collections (museums, libraries and archives), national public education and the safeguarding of our cultural heritage. The Ministry is responsible for strategic planning, public finance, legislation, institution supervision, and from time to time acts as an authority in the fields of cultural life referred to above. In addition, it monitors various tendering processes related to the subsidization of cultural life and the utilisation of EU resources, and maintains Hungary’s international cultural relationships with professional organisations and institutions.

 

The Ministry is involved in modernising of the various forms of training in the field of culture and in developing the content of the relevant vocational trainings listed in the National Qualifications Register.

 

The Ministry lays great emphasis on assisting and subsidising the improvement and nurturing of the mother tongue and professional skills of Hungarian students taking part in public and academic education living across the border within the Carpathian Basin or in western diasporas, and on promoting the cultural and educational efforts of minorities in Hungary, as well as on providing equal opportunities for children and young people with disadvantages. The Minister attaches special significance to his tasks related to ecclesiastic issues and church relations.

 

The Ministry also monitors and modifies existing and introduces new medals, awards and scholarships in education and culture.

 

In his international role, the Minister is often engaged in cooperation with other ministers. Such work includes preparations for, and the conclusion of, educational and research agreements with other countries, the adoption of workplans, facilitating the overseas studies of scholarship holders, and carrying out the state tasks related to the education of Hungarians beyond the borders of the Republic of Hungary. The Ministry also partakes in the overseeing of Hungarian cultural institutes. It is independently responsible for the central steering of education for national and ethnic minorities in their mother tongues and the conclusion of international agreements concerning the acknowledgement of certificates, diplomas and scientific degrees.

 

The Ministry is responsible for tasks pertaining to our membership in the European Union in education and culture: it ensures the representation of Hungary in the European Union decision-making processes, and participation in the educational, scientific and cultural programmes of the European Union. The Ministry devotes special attention to the preparations for Hungary’s EU presidency in the first half of 2011.

 

In addition to EU-related responsibilities, the Ministry also ensures Hungary's participation in the relevant committees of other international organisations in the field of education, training and culture, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe.

 

The Ministry performs its governmental responsibilities pertaining to Hungary’s UNESCO membership through a Paris-based permanent Hungarian UNESCO representation under the supervision of the Ministry and directed by the National Commission for UNESCO, under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. UNESCO as the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation of the UN participates in the development of international conventions and proposals in its fields of competence (education, science, culture, information technology and communication), and the ratifications thereof in Hungary. It also promotes the introduction of scientific, cultural and educational institutes of Hungary into the international circulation of information by initiating, organizing and coordinating professional programmes, and by endorsing the submission of successful applications for subsidies.

 

Similarly to other ministers, the Minister of Education and Culture also decides on the utilization of funds and makes decisions regarding public administration issues within his competency, and ensures that information related to issues falling within the scope of his responsibilities and competence is made public. Together with other responsible ministers, he participates in the drawing up and the implementation of the operative programmes of the New Hungary Development Plan, supervises the preparation and realisation of the development activities of the sector from a technical aspect, and monitors the development and implementation of the projects falling within the Ministry’s scope of interest.