I

PROGRAMMES FOR THE HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY INITIATED OR SPONSORED BY THE CIVIL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE (PMO)

Since the autumn of 1998 the Civil Relations Department of the PMO has regularly held group and individual consultation sessions with volunteers having an influence on the Hungarian civil public opinion, decision makers, researchers, instructors, experts, representatives of non-governmental organisations and managers of the relevant public administration agencies.  This dialogues has formed the basis for the medium term training and research programme for the civil development of the NGO/NPO sector.  Both programmes specify the government’s responsibilities based on the key directions of the future development of the sector.

In designing the programmes the following strategic objective served as the starting point:

“The Human resource development of the Hungarian NGO/NPO sector, the elimination of the phase lag in respect of state-of-the-art professional skills and trained experts”

MEDIUM TERM TRAINING PROGRAMME 1999 – 2004

OBJECTIVES:

·              Expansion of the theoretical and practical knowledge related to the civil society, development of skills with which citizens can be more efficient promoters of civil initiatives arising in their environment

·              Reinforcement of the role of the intelligentsia in the promotion of democracy

·              Development of the professional skills in public administration

·              Supporting the need of non-profit organisations for professionalisation through training

ELEMENTS OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMME:

1. HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

2. TRAINING OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EXPERTS

3. PARTNER TRAINING – CIVIL HOUSES

4. DISTANCE LEARNING

During the selection of partners to participate in the implementation of programmes we tried to assure that the optimal partner for each programme element is identified, whose past activities and proven expertise guarantee high quality.

1.     HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

1.1. Specialised training programme

For designing the higher education training programme the PMO concluded a contract with the Teachers Training College of the Loránd Eötvös University.

The specialised syllabus entitled “CIVIL SOCIETY AND NGO’s/NPO’s” has been completed.  The experts designed the training content and requirements as well as the methodology for teaching the various subjects, and a chrestomathy has been compiled. Pilot training for correspondence students majoring in cultural management started as a speciality in September 2000 and it will open for full time students in February 2001.

The training content has been designed so that the training can be introduced in any institution of higher education by narrowing or broadening the various modules.

The specialised training programme has been introduced to the higher education institutions; so far 12 universities/colleges have applied.

A professional workshop has been set up for the further development of the training programme, with the participation of the lecturers of higher education institutions.

1.2. Accredited specialised education extension major

In co-operation with the Teachers Training College of the Loránd Eötvös University work is ongoing on the development of the training programme entitled “CIVIL SOCIETY AND NGO’s/NPO’s” into a specialised education extension major subject.

1.3. Sectoral education extension programmes

       In 2000-2002 we shall design education extension programmes adapted to the further training system for teachers, the further training system for cultural experts and social experts and containing non-profit skills.

2. TRAINING FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EXPERTS

Pursuant to the Government Decree No. 199/1998. (XII.4.), relying on the results of our past research and the higher education specialised training programme designed in co-operation with the Teacher Training College of the ELTE, a training programme fitting into the system of further training for civil servants and management training for public administration is currently being designed.

An expert group has been set up.  The expert group is designing a further training programme and management training programme outside the school system, prepared for accreditation and satisfying the requirements set out in the tender invitation of the Public Administration Training College for civil servant training and management training programmes on the subjects of civil society and non-profit organisation skills, pursuant to Article 11 (3) of the Government Decree No. 199/1998. (XII.4.).

The key objectives of the programme:

Enable public administration experts through imparting the appropriate skills to establish and maintain partnerships with NGO’s/NPO’s that they co-operate with due to their positions or responsibilities, out of necessity or on grounds of expediency, or who work towards the same goals.

Enable experts to promote the development of local civil society in their public administration roles.

Make experts aware of the fundamental legal, organisational, operational and financial management differences between the “laid-back”, non-formalised civil sector and the institutionalised organisations.

The sub-programme also contains a plan for incorporating “civil skills” into the system of requirements of the public administration basic and specialised examinations.

The six further training programmes have been completed with 30 hours of training in each of them.

1.                             Basic training

-         Non-profit law

-         Non-profit financial management

-         Interest conciliation, social dialogue, participation in decision preparation

2.                             Financial management of non-profit and public interest organisations

3.                             Outsourcing and performance of public services

4.                             Regulatory skills for co-operation between central and local government agencies and NGO’s/NPO’s with training objectives

5.                             NGO’s/NPO’s and cultural administration

6.                             Participation of NGO’s/NPO’s in the operation of the social benefit system

3. PARTNER TRAINING – CIVIL/NGO HOUSES

The training for the operators of Civil/NGO Houses is the continuation of the series of training started in 2000.  Its main objective is the development of their co-operation in a network and the continuous expansion and modernisation of “service provider” skills.  Training of trainers in co-operation with the network to enhance the professionalism of local and regional partner training.

4. DISTANCE LEARNING

The contract for the development of the curriculum for the distance learning programme provisionally named “Civil Society and NGO’s/NPO’s” and for the preparation of distance teaching has been awarded to the Association of Open Education.

The Association designs the distance learning programme for different target groups.

Within this, they also co-operate in organising and launching the operation of the training targeted at the heads of NGO’s, their officials and volunteers and ending with an OKJ (National Education Listing) examination or certificate.

The Association also participates in the launching of the programme in February 2002 at the latest and the organisation of the training.

MEDIUM TERM RESEARCH PROGRAMME 1999 – 2004

With the research programme we intend to provide sound foundation to the government’s civil strategy and the content of our own training and service programmes.  The research also promotes the enhanced professionalism of the technical work in the Hungarian NGO/NPO sector and the local and regional co-operation within the sector and among sectors.

Partners in the research programme: László Kákai and Péter Csegény (programme co-ordinators), the Central Statistical Office (data source), the Békés county directorate of the CSO, István Szabó (municipalities), NGO/NPO Research Group Association (NGO/NPO partners), Andrea Szabó, Tamás Kern (education, training).

We started our research programme in early 2000.  Its main element was research into the overview of the relationships and co-operation of NGO’s and the non-profit sector related skills in the higher education.  The secondary analysis of the NGO database of the CSO for 1998 has also been concluded.

The final reports have been completed; they were published in printed form in December.

The cornerstone of our current and proposed research is the relationship of the municipalities and NGO’s.  (The motivation and forms of the transfer of tasks, the co-operation between municipalities and NGO’s and among NGO’s, experiences of interest articulation, contracts, frameworks, potential models.)

By the end of March we will finish the research on Budapest and the districts of Budapest, and preparation has started for research into other settlements.  Questionnaires have been compiled and sampling has been done.

Based on the results of the research we shall publish a methodological guide at the end of the year together with the Institute of Public Administration.

The final report on the student motivation research will also be completed in March.

Our research into the training sessions for the NGO/NPO sector is in the preparatory phase.  In addition to higher education, we will examine the content and structure of training that promotes the development of the sector and the relevant trends in the public education as well as in training developed by NGO’s or offered by the business sector.

By the end of the year we plan to have a relatively accurate map of the relationship and co-operation of NGO’s and municipalities as well as Hungarian education programmes affecting or covering the sector.

In addition to the above, we propose the following research topics for 2001:

-         Relationship of Hungarian NGO’s within and without Hungary

We have detailed research plans for this research topic.  The direction of the research is related to our co-operation with the World Bank.  This research effort is proposed to be implemented with the support of the Bank.

-         Promotion of the civil society (working title)

The aim of this research is to examine the effectiveness of our work so far, to identify the effects of the projects initiated on civil society and the NGO/NPO sector and any areas with deficiencies.

DIRECTIONS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE MEDIUM TERM TRAINING AND RESEARCH PROGRAMMES:

·        Related to regional development, the establishment of training centres and knowledge houses where civil training would also take place.

·        Information technology development of NGO’s.

·        Organisation of training for instructors at higher education institutions prior to the start of the training.

·        Building on research papers, the preparation and publication of case studies, methodological guides, aids containing samples.

·        Compilation of a “sample library and aid kit” from the documents studied during the research and from Hungarian literature.

II

HIGHER EDUCATION TRAINING PROGRAMME SPONSORED BY THE CIVIL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE

During the preparation of the medium term training programme the Department worked on the premise that a multi-level training system reflecting the composition of the sector and differentiated according to the potential target groups had to be designed and supported.

As a result of the role of the government to assure the necessary conditions, the programme identified two strategic target groups: the civil servants and the future intelligentsia.  Thus the two key pillars of the programme are the provision of the NGO/NPO related skills to civil servants responsible for decision preparation and the training of young intellectuals fully aware of the social importance and operational characteristics of the civil sector.

The first of the four elements of the training programme to be implemented is the development of a training programme imparting extensive theoretical and practical knowledge about civil society and NGO’s/NPO’s in higher education.

For the design of the higher education training programme the PMO concluded a contract with the Teachers Training College of the Loránd Eötvös University.  The task of co-ordination was assigned to the Cultural Management Faculty; their commitment to the civil sector and their innovative approach warranted high quality.  The university commissioned well-known and acknowledged experts of the NGO/NPO sector to design the programme, contributing the best of theoretical, practical and teaching skills to the effort.

The design of the programme started in the spring of 2000; by the end of the summer the syllabus entitled “Civil Society and NGO’s/NPO’s” was completed.

The experts identified the training content and requirements as well as the methodology of teaching the various subjects, and a chrestomathy was compiled.

The Teachers Training College of the ELTE also undertook to launch the programme: in September 2000 a “pilot” training programme was launched for correspondent cultural management students as a specialisation.

The syllabus entitled “Civil Society and NGO’s/NPO’s” attempts to act on the realisation that no modern society may exist without theoretical and practical knowledge of the tertiary sector and civic activity based on this.  We should assure that in the new century no students should complete their higher education without studying these issues for at least a few semesters.  Whatever discipline they study, they should have an opportunity to master skills that will enable them to be promoters, initiators and partners to the civil activities and organisations in their environment.  The training contents were designed in such a manner as to assure that the training can be introduced in any institution of higher education by narrowing or broadening the various modules.

Concomitantly with the design of the training programme, research was carried out into the “NPO-related skills in higher education” commissioned by the Civil Relations Department of the PMO.  The findings of the research were incorporated into the training programme.

The objective of the syllabus is to assure that NGO’s have more and more highly skilled employees and that young people can find their place and career in the sector.  The programme also has an attitude shaping role.

Thus the objective is to train experts who

-         have a democratic attitude;

-         know and consider important the NGO idea in the international as well as domestic environment and recognise its significance in shaping society;

-         are aware of the concept and philosophy of civil society, the historic changes in its interpretation, the sociological characteristics of domestic and foreign civil societies, the division of functions among sectors, the trends of their operation as well as interpretations of the future global role of civil society;

-         recognise the importance of modern civil conduct, active citizenship and are aware of their own adequate social role;

-         can incorporate all this knowledge into their daily lives because they are familiar with the legal and economic framework for social action and the techniques of taking such action;

-         are aware of the fundamental legal, organisational and financial differences between the “laid-back”, non-formalised civil sector and the institutionalised organisations;

-         are familiar with the legal regulations and procedures related to the operation of non-profit organisations;

-         appreciate the importance of the financial management of organisations established for the public interest and know the relevant legal regulations;

-         are aware of the funds and benefits available to activities of public utility, the requirements of transparency and publicity;

-         are aware of the role of successful non-profit management and know its main characteristics;

-         are well versed in marketing-communication, basic strategic planning, and gain personal experience about the operation of the sector in practice by getting acquainted with processes “from the conception to the realisation” and with their managers.

The main principle of the curriculum is to provide comprehensive skills, both theoretical and practical.  Comprehensive philosophical, historical and sociological knowledge will contribute to the evolution of a modern approach and facilitate the incorporation of activities into the mainstream processes of our era, while practical skills will enable people to take action, to translate ideas, wishes and intentions into reality.

The curriculum is based on three subjects building on one another:

·        “The development of civil society and basic studies on NGO’s/NPO’s” (provides the foundations: the history, ethos and mission of the civil sector.  The skills and abilities of democracy that can be taught and learnt.)

·        “Legal and financial management skills” (Rules governing the civil sector, the systematic mastering of basic knowledge about the legal and financial regulations governing organisations established for the public utility.)

·        “Management” (Operational methods and techniques, theoretical and practical knowledge about the practical side of management, the need for personal involvement and creativity).

The existence or absence of adequate preparation and appropriate professional skills is in close correlation with the quality of relations between the state and the civil sector, the municipalities and the civil sector as well as within the civil sector and with the performance of the tasks arising.  For the time being Hungary and Central Europe is in a phase lag in respect of state-of-the-art skills and experts, therefore there is much need for preparation and learning that will enable the Hungarian civil sector to find the best alternative responses to the diverse challenges it meets.

Any level of training in higher education may yield results only in the long term.  It takes a decade, at least 8-10 years, for any appreciable effect to materialise.

Institutions of higher education have been presented the research findings and the specialised training programme.  So far 12 institutions have applied to adopt the training programme and start it in September 2001.  With the participation of the lecturers involved a professional workshop has been established, which works towards the further development of the programme and its conversion into a specialised further training major.

The experience gathered so far proves that the efforts and achievements of the research and training programmes engender new and marked demands in the civil sector, among municipalities and the institutional system.  The government must find new responses to this on the basis of mutuality and co-operation.

III

Experiences of the first year of training under the training programme „Civil Society and NGO’s/NPO’s”

The training programme was introduced in the correspondence course of the Cultural Management basic training at the Teachers Training College of ELTE, in the 3^rd year, under the specialisation „Civil Society – NGO’s/NPO’s”.

The specialisation covers one year, spanning the two semesters of the 2000/2001 school year.  In the first semester the first subject of the syllabus, „The Development of Civil Society and Basic NGO Skills” was introduced, to be followed by the next subjects, „Legal and Financial Management Skills” and „Management” in the second semester starting in February 2001.

In this form of training correspondence students select a specialisation in the 3^rd year.  Up till now they could choose between two specialities: mass communication and community development; this selection was broadened by the programme „Civil Society – NGO’s/NPO’s”.

42 students participated in the specialisation, 39 of them completing the semester.  The average grade for the subject was 3.56 (2 persons received Grade 5 – corresponding to Grade A - , 20 persons grade 4, 15 persons grade 3, 2 persons grade 2).  Most students were in their twenties, working, who already have some social experience.

At the correspondence course the students and the lecturers, Ference Péterfi and dr. Ilona Vercseg had four consultation sessions available, each lasting 5 teaching units.  Naturally, in this timeframe it is impossible to teach all the knowledge covered by the subject in its entirety; the lecturers did not attempt to do so.  The thematics of the first subject of the programme was rearranged from the 14 x 2 unit structure employed at the full-time courses to a 4x5 structure.  We did not endeavour to cover the thematics in their entirety; instead, we placed emphasis on the guided and regular study of adults.  Thus the process of mastering the curriculum is served by the following elements embedded in the study process:

-         continuous studying based on specified literature – mastering of knowledge from consultation to consultation, independent acquisition of knowledge (reading original literature!)

-         continuous testing in the form of quizzes;

-         weighting, highlighting of important parts of the curriculum – in the framework of the quizzes and the subsequent common evaluation and revision;

-         continuous discussion and systematisation of real-life experiences and learning experiences, through the study of various parts of the subject in seminars;

-         highlighting interrelations and introduction of new domains of knowledge in the framework of presentations by lecturers.

More specifically:

1.   Consultation was preceded by out-of-classroom preparation.  In the thematics we identified literature that students had to read prior to the consultations.  This had the objective of assuring continuous studying as well as making students read the original works, because unfortunately our previous experiences showed that they tended to read abstracts instead.  At the first consultation an introduction to the subject was given, then at the subsequent consultations important knew information elements were highlighted, then the students read the authors and selected excerpts mentioned in the presentation.

We thought that continuous studying could be assured only through continuous testing.  We did not want students to study only for one test a semester and for the final examination, having to digest large amounts of information at once, most of which is forgotten almost immediately after the exam.  We wanted the information to gradually expand, deepen and develop, therefore we had no choice but to take on the extra work involved in correcting quizzes.

Thus students were tested on their out-of-classroom work in a quiz at each of the consultations after the first one; the quizzes were than corrected by the lecturers for the next consultation, adding comments and grades, then corrected in the group.  Correction was also a common revision as well as the highlighting of important elements.  The questions for the quizzes were compiled so that they serve to check whether the literature has been read and also emphasise important elements.  The answers to the questions are components of the final examination on the subject and at the qualifying examination.

2.   Issues of weighting have been touched upon when discussing the correction of quizzes.  Revision, the highlighting of the substance in the lecturers’ explanations and on projectors specifically served to ensure that students really master the essential elements of the subject.

3.   We did not want to explain “everything”; instead, we relied on the real life experiences of students and wanted to bring them to the surface, because they promote the experiential nature of common study, they lead to internalised realisations and to the evolution of a democratic attitude.  Therefore we studied the theoretical literature considered most important in the form of seminars (Bibó, Arató, Kuti, etc.).

4.   Presentations by lecturers promoted the independent mastering of the curriculum and the shaping of attitudes.  We intended our presentations as guides for our students to the independent mastering of the materials to be studied.

Our conclusions:

Some of our conclusions are methodological, while others are substantive, evidencing the necessity of introducing the subject.

Our experiences confirmed our premises and methodological approach, even if students felt that we made them work too hard, asking them to do too much for a seminar grade.  However, the main thing is that we managed to get them to work continuously, to be present every time and to read literature in the original.  As to how much the information was digested and reinforced, we will get a realistic answer only after seeing the students’ performance at the final and qualifying examinations, but we are confident that we gave the all necessary and possible assistance to assure this.

Our methodological experiences go beyond the subject.  It is a solemn fact that our students have difficulties in abstraction.  They find it difficult to read theoretical texts and even more difficult to interpret them.  They have inadequate study techniques and serious demands embarrass them and prompt resistance.  However, this resistance can be overcome or alleviated with a serious approach, continuous encouragement and the recognition of positive achievements.  One of the reasons for this, which we find rather perplexing, is that in our experience the students are happy to encounter the strong-arm policy, frequent and personalised feedback, even-handedness, etc.  All these are obviously attributable to their past and present learning experiences, and we consider their correction to be as much our task as the imparting of factual knowledge.

At this point we should also mention our experience with the use of the Internet.  Hardly any students have access, but we insisted that students get some of the materials to be studied from there, and that they visit some important home pages.  This challenge has certainly caught them unprepared, but be consider it important that our fellow lecturers teaching them in the 2^nd semester also require them to use the Internet; today it is nonsensical to give degrees to people who have never used computers.

Our substantive experience fully confirmed the necessity and importance of the introduction of this syllabus.  It has been confirmed that

-         students know very little about the events that they lived through themselves (systemic change and its international effects);

-         they know little about democracies and even less about active citizenship;

-         they have no or very little belief in their own civic action, though the idea appeals to them;

-         they have no experience with NGO’s/NPO’s, their social field is limited to the family and friends;

-         initially they listened to civil studies as a fairly tail, as a story that happens to others;

-         when they realised that individual action was possible in a free and democratic country, they became defensive, evoking examples of their parents and schools;

-         during their studies it became clear that they were interested in the subject and in a number of cases personal involvement developed – heated arguments evolved, followed by fertile silences.

-         their sense of responsibility woke.

IV

Hungarian colleges, universities which intend to launch the training program called „Civil Society and nonprofit organizations”

For  more information contact:

Baranyi Éva
Advisor to the NGO Department at the Prime Minister’s Office
Kossut L. ter 4, 1055 Budapest
e-mail: Eva.Baranyi@MEH.HU