Act CXC of 2011 on National Public Education of Hungary
The Act CXC of 2011 on National Public Education of Hungary aims to provide legislative framework and determine shared values, visions and tasks for the entire public education in Hungary. It states in its preamble that “The whole of public education is determined by knowledge, justice, order, freedom, fairness, the moral and intellectual values of solidarity, equal treatment and education for sustainable development and healthy lifestyle”.
Besides making ESD an overarching responsibility (building on the fact that the Act of 2003 on Public Education had already obliged schools to prepare their local environmental education plans as part of their pedagogical programmes) places ESD as a cross-cutting development task in public education (with regards to content and values), makes it possible for the obligatory community service at ISCED 3 to be accomplished by environmental protection and ESD activities, contextualises shaping environmental attitudes by placing this as an optional theme to organise various fields such as school day, thematic week programs, (along with arts, sports etc.), provides legislative framework for open-air (so-called forest) kindergarten and school programs („by announcing joint programmes, calls for applications and ensuring training opportunities” at ministerial level) and describes pedagogical aims related to ESD.
The Government and Ministerial Decrees linked to the implementation of the Act CXC of 2011 provide legislative framework for the operation, the maintenance, the necessary infrastructure, the main activities, the overall values and content and the staff requirements in general education institutions. In many of these documents, points of sustainable consumption are also referred to and an explicit support for ESD activities is also expressed.
These tools regulate the operation, the maintenance, the required infrastructure, the main events, the overall values, the content and the staff requirements in general education institutions. In these documents, a strong explicit support of ESD is expressed, with mention to sustainable consumption.
