The Act CXC of 2011 on Public Education provides for Religious Education (RE) in Hungary. Three forms of RE exist: RE in religious and faith communities, RE in church schools, and RE in state schools.

1. RE in religious and faith communities

This type of RE is fully optional and voluntary: children and parents can decide whether they want to participate in this form of education in their free time outside of school. This form of RE is organized by and held in the religious or faith communities, led by a pastor, a priest, an RE teacher, or a skilled fellow worker.

This RE is denominational and confessional with a wide variety of forms in practice. There are recommended curricula and materials by each community but the responsible body of the local congregation decides on the concrete syllabus and study plan for the group and the final forms and content of this kind of RE.

2. RE in church schools

In Hungary, the approximate numbers of church-run educational institutions – without nursery schools and kindergartens – are: Catholic church 500, Reformed church 230, Lutheran church 80, Baptist church 50, and other churches together 40, which makes about 17% of all educational institutions in Hungary. RE in church schools is compulsory: those who attend a school sustained by a church have to study RE in every (1st-12th) grade.

The pedagogical program of the school determines the number of hours of RE classes per week in each grade, but it is usually 2 hours a week. RE in church schools is also denominational and confessional, with some freedom of choice: the child and the parents have the option to decide about the denomination of the RE classes in which the child will participate. There exists a signed agreement among Catholic, Reformed, and Lutheran churches: each church permits the representatives of other churches to hold RE classes in their schools. This form of RE is organized by the school and delivered by a priest, a pastor, or a trained RE teacher hired by either the school or the church. The curricula of RE classes are developed separately in each church or faith community by the responsible pedagogical committee of experts in each church, and teaching materials are also prepared under their supervision.

3. RE in state schools

Hungary is a secular state, where state schools have to be neutral in religious and world views issues. RE in state schools is optional-compulsory: in state primary schools (that is grades 1 to 8, i. e. 6-14 years children), ethics classes are included in compulsory curricular class activities, but pupils and their parents have the option to choose instead the alternative of „Religious and Moral Education” classes. Both classes are determined at 1 hour/week by the National Act (CXC of 2011) on Public Education.

In state secondary schools (from 9^th to 12^th grade, i.e. 15-18 years old children) this possibility of optional “Religious and Moral Education classes does not exist, there is no RE from the 9^th grade on in the state schools.

This type of RE in state primary schools is also denominational and confessional. The child and the parent may freely decide about the RE class in which the child will participate. This form of RE is organized by the local ecclesiastical legal person, and delivered by a priest, a pastor, or an RE teacher hired by the church. All 32 legally recognized religious and faith communities in Hungary (Act CCVI of 2011) are allowed to organize RE classes in all state primary schools, the only limit to this may be their capacity of human resources to teach. RE classes can be given even for one child per class if the community concerned has the capacity to organize that class (i.e. has an adequately trained person for teaching in that school of the city or village).

State schools have to cooperate with the local ecclesiastical legal person concerned, but the content of RE classes can be determined and supervised only by the religious and faith communities: „The ecclesiastical legal person shall be responsible for determining the content of religious and ethics education, for employing and supervising the religious teacher, for organizing applications to take part in religious and ethics classes, and for supervising such activities. Schools – with the means available within the educational institution – shall ensure the material conditions for religious and ethics education, including, in particular, the orderly use of the premises, as well as the conditions required for application and operation. … The religious teacher shall have the necessary higher education religious qualifications and be appointed by the competent church authority.” (Act (CXC of 2011) on Public Education, Section 35, (4)) The curricula of RE classes are assigned by a responsible body of experts in each church, and also the teaching materials are prepared under their supervision.

Some of the purposes of RE

Each religious and faith community formulates the purposes of RE on their own. Hereinafter there are listed some of the main and common guidelines of the RE classes of Christian churches:

• To make pupils become acquainted with the Christian tradition, its biblical, dogmatic, and ethical contents, and its history and present life so that they get to know their own cultural roots and environment.
• To help pupils to determine their own life stance.
• To enlighten pupils about world religions and other world views of life to learn to live in a multicultural world, to understand people of other faiths, and to be able to be in dialogue with them.
• To provide access to the spiritual resources of pupils’ own religious community and to use them to enrich life.
• To ensure that pupils get experience in their own religious community to become familiar with its values and to benefit from belonging to a religious community.

High-school graduation exam

RE can be chosen as a subject for final graduation exam. For pupils of church schools this possibility is included in the school’s pedagogical program. If pupils of state schools want to take this option then they have to apply for this exam in a church school or at the National Educational Authority.

Teachers

RE teachers’ training is the responsibility of theological universities or theological faculties. There are no RE-teachers’ programmes at state universities. In some cases RE-trainings are carried out in co-operation with teacher training faculties of state universities where students complete their other majors in any other subjects.

Eszter Kodácsy-Simon () – Hungarian representative on the board of EFTRE

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