Debate on Hungarian higher education in agriculture

Patkós, István

Keywords: agricultural higher education, agricultural prospects, surplus higher education capacity, practical training, Bologna Process, the future of agricultural higher education institutes

Higher education in Hungary – including agricultural higher education – has once more reached the beginning of a new era. Sándor Magda and Lajos Bokros call attention to this fact in their respective, debate-inspiring writings: “Tudomány és felsőoktatás” (Science and higher education) and “Minőségi oktatást és kutatást eredményező reform körvonalai a hazai felsőoktatásban” (The outline of reform to achieve quality education and research in Hungarian higher education).
The swollen (more than quadrupled) workforce of the period following the democratic transformation cannot be maintained for a variety of reasons and because of this, as well as due to the deterioration in quality caused by related normative funding, change is required. Neither the Bologna Process nor the introduction of accreditation institutions have, so far, produced the improvements in quality expected of them.
In my contribution I deal with the following questions related to agricultural higher education, as yet rarely touched upon:
- agricultural prospects and the goals of agricultural training;
- the contrast of expanding higher education capacities and falling class numbers;
- the contrast of quantity and quality;
- the impact of the Bologna Process on agricultural higher education.
The debate about agricultural higher education taking place in the columns of Gazdálkodás is very timely, as the reputation of agricultural higher education and recognition of the degrees awarded is at stake.
It was/is also time to raise these questions in relation to the National Development Plan and the organisation of agricultural consultancy at a regional level, in order to circumvent avoidable mistakes.
I think that this debate could be usefully summarised in the framework of a round-table discussion and sent to the competent authorities in the form of some kind of joint recommendation.