[zoltaan]

A further example is the case of the earlier mentioned KöMaL. It faced closure this year after the government reformed the funding of journals targeting exceptional students. In the new system it was destined to receive only 1/3 of its operational budget from the government: only 16K EUR instead the necessary 48K EUR / year. Possibly it was an oversight. After public outcry and some donation from common people to keep the journal running eventually the agency in charge promised to provide dedicated funds for the 124 year old journal. Probably this case is more indicative of the Hungarian Approach today than the one in the article. The KöMaL helped countless talents throughout the modern history of Hungary (excluding wartime but including the communist block years) to learn and master mathematics. It is the benchmark of the best high school students. Yet it almost got sacked just over ca. 32k EUR / year (while money flows almost freely in certain non-educational directions). This is more indicative of the Newest Hungarian Approach where continuous structural reforms, forced and urged changes in teaching methods (many times just months before exams), increased bureaucracy and cutting down of even elementary independency and financial self control - with retorsion in sight for "renegades" - of the teachers makes the moral very low in the education system and the outcome unreliable, unsustainable.