SCHOOL

School system in Hungary

In Hungary, there are many kindergardens and people are obliged to enroll their children
when they turn 3 years old. There the kindergarden teachers mostly play with the children
and prepare them for school tasks (writing, reading, arithmetic). The children attend (részt
vesz) primary/elementary school from the ages of 6 or 7 to 14 (fourteen). In primary
school, children learn things like writing, arithmetic and reading. Usually there are 2
teachers per class. In secondary school, children learn different and multiple subjects
such as literatur and grammar, IT lessons, physical education, math, history and
languages (german, english).

After primary school, students have the opportunity to choose whether they want to study in
a six-class or a four-class high school. In high schools/grammar schools people have to
take an entrance exam. There are around 700 students in my high school and around 40
(forty) teachers. We have 5 classes: 2 for talent management, a biological, a mathematics, and
a language. In general, boys are interested in math, biology and chemistry. The girls are
interested in languages, literature and history. I think it's good when the girls and boys are in a
mixed group. If they don't spend time together, they can't learn how to discuss, talk, and tell
jokes with each other. But it's bad when they distract each other's attention (elterelni a
figyelmét).

There are also many vocational secondary schools, where students also learn a trade
(szakma), with which they can work after school. In addition, to their graduation they also
get a job. Technical school, where people learn a trade, but they don’t have a graduation.
Students must graduate from grammar schools at the end of the fourth or sixth year. You
should take an exam in literature and grammar, history, mathematics and a foreign language.
They must also complete an advanced final exam in a subject (biology, etc.). After
graduating from high school, students have the opportunity to study at the University or
college (fősikola). Based on the entrance exam and the points e.g. from high school, the most
talented and smartest students are selected, who can receive a degree. I think you can earn
more money with a degree than with vocational training. The difference between full-time
and correspondence students is that full-time students participate in face-to-face education
from Monday to Friday, while correspondence students only attend face-to-face education at
the university on weekends, otherwise they receive distance learning. Those who have a
passive semester are not currently studying, but are working instead.

My school

I study psychology at the University of Szeged. My classes are at the Facultaty of

Humanyties. It’s a huge historicaly building with many windows. There’s the biggest room,
which name is Auditorium Maximum. Besides that, we have hundreds of smaller rooms.
Under the building we have a cafe Radnóti, where we can drink caffee and alcoholic drinks
too, but we can buy coockies to ourselves, if we’re hungry. The building provides a home to
the department of psychology, geology, english studies, german studies (etc.). We also have
an elevator, because the building has 4 floors (groundfloor and the floors) and a computer
room. I think it’s a labyrinth, but I like it.

My school organises trips to different countrys as a class, which we can choose at the
beginning of the semester. But we can participate (részt venni) on Erasmus, which means
that we can study at least 3 mounths abord. I think it’s a really good idea, because we can
learn easier language and we can make new friends aboard. Furthermore, we will know
the culture. It’s also important, if we want to have a job, because if they see that you lived
aboard then you have better chane to get that job. In high school my favourite subject was
literatur, german and history, but I hated mathematics. Now my favourite subject is
psychiatry, because we study a lot about schizophrenia, borderline diseas and major
depression and it’s absolutely interesting and exciting to me.

Traditions, events at school

We have many school traditions, e.g. prom (szalagavató), where a band (szalag) with the
name of the school is put on our clothes. The 12th (twelfth) grades also have a graduation
ceremony (ballagás), where the younger students decorate the classrooms and the school
with flowers. At this time they sing songs and there are also some speeches. After graduation,
the students have a banquet, where they eat a fine dinner together with their teachers.

In our high school we also have a Christmas cake fair, where the classes sell different
Christmas cakes for a week to collect some class money. We also celebrate national
holidays, like March 15th, and we have so many traditions besides these things, e.g. We also
have a school year opening/closing celebration (évzáró), when we celebrate the school year
and we get the rewards (jutalmak).
GRADES, UNIFORM

I believe that the grades (érdemjegyek) are very important, because we get feedback
(visszajelzés) that shows us if we need to study more or not and the teachers can measure
our knowledge (mérni). And if we have a lot of five grade, then might be we get some pocket
money from our parents, so we always have motivation. But there are cases, when students
are not that good in a subject. In this case, it's bad to giving them grades, because all they
can see is that they fail the exams and their performance is not enough, so they can feel
themselves not so clever as they are. It can lead to various mental problems (anxiety,
stress). I prefer continuous accountability (folyamatos számonkérés), because it’s much more
easier to learn little by little I think.

Besides that, schools has maybe house rules that prescribes us, (előír) what we are allowed to
do and what we are not allowed to do (smoke, drink alcohol). I think it's important that we
can’t smoke or drink alcohol at school. It is also good that the youngsters should not have
piercings and we have to speak to our teacher respectfully. But if you want to influence our
clothing (uniform, ripped jeans), then it's bad, I think. I think uniform has advantages, such
as people can’t see if somebody is poorer than most of the people, therefore they can’t bully
him due to this. It makes people much more equal I think. It shows that we belong to the
same group. Moreover, if we do something dirty, then we don’t need to worry about our nice
clothes, because we wear the uniforms. And we don’t need to stand in front of the mirror for
hours. And girls and boys cannot dress provocatively. On the other hand, it limits our
possibilities to express ourselves and our personality. E.g: I can’t wear my favourite colors
due to the uniforms. And they are uncomfortable, and don’t look as nice as our own clothes.
We can easily sweat (izzad) in it, if we have uniforms.