Compared with the one adopted in 2012, the amended National Curriculum provides more scope for schools, the Minister of State for Public Education said on the public service television news channel M1 on Wednesday.

Zoltán Maruzsa added that in the amended National Curriculum, they have increased the scope for dealing with local specificities from ten per cent to twenty. Accordingly, in the case of each subject, the contents of the National Curriculum are designed for just 80 per cent of the total number of school hours, he observed.

The National Curriculum limits the maximum number of lessons, thereby reducing the burdens of students and teachers, the Minister of State stressed, pointing out that both teachers and parents agree that the present number of lessons is too high which is due to the fact that the 2012 National Curriculum only laid down a minimum number of lessons without an upper limit.

He highlighted that there will also be changes in the teaching of foreign languages. The amended National Curriculum sets out to provide communication-based language skills. This method departs from Hungarian traditions in language teaching which have concentrated more on grammar, he observed.

The goal is to introduce the learning of a second foreign language in secondary school; however, students should concentrate on the first foreign language as the language skills of Hungarians in everyday communication are poor, Mr Maruzsa said.

(MTI)