Common legacy, different paths: the transformation of educational systems in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland

Abstract

The goal of this work is to better understand the institutional changes in the educational systems of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. We demonstrate that the educational reforms implemented during the transformation introduced very different institutional arrangements in the four countries, despite the fact that their systems shared many common characteristics at the beginning of the 1990s. Differences between the national approaches to educational reforms are particularly reflected in the modes of education decentralisation, the level of school autonomy, accountability and funding mechanisms. We believe that different institutional arrangements may have contributed to the divergent achievements of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland in the PISA programme.

Keywords:

• Educational systems
• institutional arrangements
• transition
• decentralisation
• accountability
• Czech Republic
• Hungary
• Poland
• Slovakia

Funding

This work was supported by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under the grant agreement “Growth-Innovation-Competitiveness: Fostering Cohesion in Central and Eastern Europe” (GRINCOH).

Notes

1. PISA is administered every three years by the OECD. The examination is administered to a representative sample of 15-year-old students in each country and refers to three kinds of cognitive skills: reading, mathematics and science.

2. The PISA 2012 scores are divided into six proficiency levels ranging from the lowest, level 1, to the highest, level 6. In mathematics, pupils who reach only level 1 ‘can answer questions involving familiar contexts where all relevant information is present and the questions are clearly defined. They are able to identify information and to carry out routine procedures according to direct instructions in explicit situations. They can perform actions that are obvious and follow immediately from the given stimuli.’ However, there are not able to complete tasks at higher levels.