The objectives of the University of Debrecen at the professional conference held in Eger included the clarification of issues such as supporting the future generations of educators, improving the quality of Hungarian-language education and identifying collaborative opportunities to strengthen these efforts. During the course of a roundtable discussion with the participation of the Hungarian Teachers' Association of Romania, the Forum of Hungarian Teachers in Croatia, the Association of Hungarian Teachers in North Bácska, the Hungarian Teachers' Association of Slovakia, the Hungarian Pentecostal Church, the Association of Hungarian Teachers in Vojvodina and the Hungarian Teachers' Association of Transcarpathia, the leadership of the University of Debrecen consulted with the representatives of these cross-border organizations. Key topics on the agenda included current challenges in teacher training, development directions and opportunities for continuing education, and the strengthening of the ties between the University of Debrecen and institutions in adjacent countries.
President for Education of the University of Debrecen Veronika Fenyves confirmed that our university, having listened to what these institutions need, would be striving for even closer cooperation with Hungarian-language educational institutions and organizations beyond Hungary’s borders.
- The matter of higher education for Hungarians living beyond the borders has a prominent role within the strategic objectives and tasks of the University of Debrecen. We have maintained steady relationships over several decades with institutions of higher education in Transylvania and Transcarpathia and we consider it essential that we collaborate and support one another in the training of the upcoming generations of educators, researchers and teachers. I am convinced that, by utilizing our collective institutional and organizational experience, we will be able to sustain and expand our existing network of connections in the long run- said the president for education.
Director General of the Teacher Training Centre at the University of Debrecen Péter Forisek presented an outline of our university’s teacher training system and its results achieved so far. In addition, he also suggested that the university’s currently existing dynamic network of relationships with institutions across Hungary’s borders should be further extended to include associations of educators.
- We wish to pinpoint and highlight interconnections between the University of Debrecen and institutions abroad in the fields of teacher training and continuing professional development for educators. It is our firm intention to provide young Hungarian people living beyond the national borders with opportunities to pursue their studies at home, so that they would not need to leave their hometowns. It is of vital interest for us to make sure that the Hungarian linguistic and cultural frontier should be preserved along the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, in Transcarpathia in the Ukraine, within the pockets of Hungarian population in Slovakia, and the in the Southern Territories of Vojvodina. In order to achieve this end, the University of Debrecen is intent to develop as many collaborative programs as possible, for which there are already numerous successful and effective practices established. For example, we maintain important and active professional ties with Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education in Berehove (Beregszász) and Partium Christian University in Oradea (Nagyvárad), while both of these institutions also take an active part in our various academic degree programs- said the Director General.
The common goal during the cooperation with organizations and educational institutions across the border can be, among other things, the support of continuing professional training, talent management, remedial education for socially disadvantaged students, the tackling of mental health and special needs challenges, the provision of teacher training, career guidance, the development of reading comprehension competencies, further training and outsourced training sessions, mentoring programs, the support and funding of local research groups, as well as the strengthening of the retention capacity of the individual regions.
As a participant in a roundtable discussion within the framework of the conference on the conditions of social mobility and the functioning of community learning centres, Rector of the University of Debrecen Zoltán Bács talked about the social responsibility of our institution and highlighted the fact that there are currently as many as seven thousand students studying at UD who come from deprived areas or underprivileged settlements.
- Our inherent characteristics, together with our location within the immediate region, present us with tasks in a lot of areas. We wish to provide young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with the chance to develop their talents and earn a university degree. Just like in education and in the economy, the university acts as a regional organizing force also in the mentoring of these young people. Currently, there is no institution in our social welfare system that would guide individuals along their life paths, one that would be capable of influencing parents to help their children from disadvantaged backgrounds reach the level of higher education. The solution to this could be the program called ‘WorkStart,’ an initiative through which we aim to foster employment in collaboration with BMW Hungary, secondary schools, vocational training institutions and the network of after-school learning centres- said the Rector.
On behalf of the University of Debrecen, Dean of the Faculty of Education for Children and Special Educational Needs Erzsébet Gortka-Rákó also participated in the conference, which comprised twelve thematic sessions altogether. She presented best practices in the fields of social pedagogy, community building and local care, both from the perspective of her faculty and the university as a whole.
Press Centre - BZ