Abstract

Serious criticism has been directed towards VET institutions in Hungary as a whole in the last few years. An urgent need has emerged for the regional system of the institutions of vocational education and training to be reorganised in order to ensure a more efficient level of education and training. According to the recent modernisation of the VET system in Hungary, a network of integrated regional vocational training centres is under development, financed by the human resources development operative program. During the first phase leading up to the end of 2006 16 centres were set up (with the integration of 120 vocational education schools and 6 higher education institutions). This will be followed by the establishment of a further 44 centres by 2013.

The proposal is based on research started at the end of 2006 at the National Institute for Adult Education, aiming to discover the level of partnership existing between these new centres and the economy, and the extent to which these centres fulfil the preconditions, within their respective scopes, to contribute to the development of learning regions. In my current proposal I am focusing on the research question of how these new centres are able to increase competences and provide students with the opportunity to become more responsible for their learning process, how to support them on their individual pathway to knowledge and how to develop their abilities to become more active in preparing themselves for the world of work and finally become more successful during their transition from school to work.

The building of the new network, the development of Regional Integrated Vocational Training Centres (RIVTCs) all around the country, according to the plans, increases the opportunity for developing both quality and range, in addition to the influence of guidance and counselling. The main tasks of the newly established Regional Integrated Vocational Training Centres include:

• Focusing on labour market needs
• Providing teacher training
• Ensuring equal opportunities
• Offering career guidance and career orientation
• Co-operating with partners
• Providing information
• Increasing the regional dimension of vocational education and training

My hypothesis was that in different routes, directly or indirectly, all of the above mentioned tasks can help the students of the new centres to become more self-aware in the learning process. I have researched two of them, namely 'competence-based training units' which conforms to the requirement of focusing on labour market needs and the 'communal functions' of the centres, namely 'career advisory services', 'career guidance' and 'career building'. I also assumed that both 'competence-based training units' and 'communal functions' can have a positive effect on the relationship between the students and their responsible learner attitudes while at the same time developing cohesion both among the students and in the students-teachers' partnership. Indirectly, this change may be positively received by the broader environment of the centres which will in turn generate further positive development.

In the first step the research focused on four centres of the 16, from different regions of the country, which represent different stages of the development process. Research is in progress. I am planning to extend the research over more four centres in the spring of 2008.

Methods

The paper is based on research started at the end of 2006, aiming to discover the level of partnership existing between these new centres and the economy, and the extent to which these centres fulfil the preconditions, within their respective scopes, to contribute to the development of learning regions. The paper provides a summary of the experience learned from the searched cases and sets out recommendations for further development. My research is based on a review of the available literature, document analyses and interviews with the experts of the centres researched and with relevant stakeholders. I am focusing on the research question of how these new centres are able to increase competences and provide students with the opportunity to become more responsible for their learning process, how to support them on their individual pathway to knowledge and how to develop their abilities to become more active in preparing themselves for the world of work and finally become more successful during their transition from school to work.

In the first step the research focused on four centres of the 16, from different regions of the country, which represent different stages of the development process. The research is in progress.

Results

Outcomes of the research with regard to the main research question.

Research is in progress. Up to this phase of the research, the following new findings have been explained with regard to the main research question related to the development of the Regional Integrated Vocational Education and Training Centres. Despite the fact that the teachers were not all satisfied with the content and development of the 'competence-based training units', students were pleased with certain aspects of the new structure of vocational training (namely, with regard to the new training units and the new attitudes demonstrated by the teachers towards the students). However, it does seem that no development took place in the field of group work among students. We found that 'communal functions', which were very much anticipated by the institutions and which we may consider as 'filling a gap', were prosperous.

In conclusion, the success of the new centres and also the development of the active learner attitudes of students can be measured more precisely upon their leaving school and entering the labour market. Further research is necessary in order to express how the other (above mentioned but not researched) tasks of the centres can contribute to the development of the active learner attitude of students.

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