Arany Janos Programmes

The aim of Arany János programmes in Hungary is to help disadvantaged students in their secondary education, ensuring that they get a school leaving certification at the end of their education and can go to university or find a place in the labour market.

The first Arany János programme, designed for talented disadvantaged students was launched in 2000 (AJTP). A few years later, in 2004 two other programmes were designed for even more disadvantaged students (AJKP, AJKSZP).

The programmes run in secondary level education institutions, in cooperation with students’ hostels. High schools with good results (gymnasiums), together with students’ hostel can apply for running of AJTP (in 2012 36 institutions were involved altogether in this programme). Students hostels alone can apply for AJKP (in 2012 13 students’ hostels were involved in this programme), and students’ hostel together with VET institutions can apply for AJKSZP programmes (in 2012 17 partnerships were involved in this programme).

The supported institutions should recruit disadvantaged students who fit into the requirements of the programme, provide places for them in the students’ hostels during their secondary studies, and organise supporting programmes for them in learning and social integration areas. Students recruited in into these programmes can be organised into a separated classes or into integrated classes within the educational institutions, and are taught by the teachers of the mainstream institutions. Students have individual development plans, signed by them and by their parents. Students are assessed frequently, the results of the assessments are built into the individual development plans.

The programmes have good results, the involved instututions like it, partly because of the extra money they get for it, and partly because of the social and pedagogical experience, that is good for mainstream secondary students too. According to external evaluations and they were proved to be successfull too. 

Complex support is provided for students who are at risk of drop-out: disadvantaged and multiple disadvantaged students in secondary schools to prevent drop-outs and increase their qualification level and to support transition between different school levels. The measure promotes systematically the goals defined by the ESL strategy (measures on prevention and intervention).

‘Arany János’ Talent Fostering Programme (AJTFP) for disadvantaged students aim to enable the children of the poorest parents with the lowest educational qualifications to successfully attend full-time secondary education providing a chance to enter higher education.

‘Arany János’ Fostering Boarding Facility Program (AJFBFP) for vulnerable student groups - multiple disadvantaged students, students with low-qualified parents, with low family income, students who are in child care - aims to achieve secondary school degree (matura) and successful enter into labour market or higher education, tertiary education with the aid of the means and methods of boarding facilities.

The ‘Arany János’ Vocational Training Program (AJVTP) for multiple disadvantaged students aims to create opportunities to obtain marketable qualification for those students who have slight chances to acquire qualification without entering the program. According to monitoring results, drop-out rate in AJVTP is below the national average, 13%.

More than 4000 students with multiple disadvantages take part in the programmes.

Implementation is connected to Youth Guarantee as well. The quantitative examination on the effectiveness of the programme carried out in 2014 stated, among others that without the programme 23% of the students studying in AJTFP would not have attended high school education, 24% of the students studying in the AJFBFP would not have attended the education providing a general secondary school or secondary vocational school leaving exam but would have learnt in vocational training schools, 28% of the students attending the AJVTP might not have studied further at all.