Students with Reading Difficulties
In Hungary, the pedagogical expert service system supports parents and teachers of students with learning disabilities. The most notable services are training/counseling centers and speech centers run by local governments. The counseling centers diagnose and treat educational and psychological impediments to learning. They also give advice, offer family counseling, and conduct school readiness examinations for children who are about to start schooling but have not attended kindergarten.
Diagnostic Testing
Hungary does not have a national diagnostic study for assessing reading or learning disabilities. However, pediatricians are required to examine 5‑year‑old children to assess school readiness, and parents are required to note whether any family members have had learning disabilities. Pediatricians can suggest further testing or developmental training, if deemed necessary. Kindergarten and elementary school teachers have evaluation devices to assess subsets of abilities (e.g., speech, hearing, fine motor skills). Use of these devices is becoming more widespread but is not mandatory.8
Instruction for Children with Reading Difficulties
Parents who suspect their child has dyslexia or dysgraphia can ask for an expert examination; schools or child protection institutions also can call for these examinations after notifying the parents. Once dyslexia is identified, a small percentage of parents choose speech correction courses offered by training or speech centers. Another possibility is choosing an institute of public education that offers a needs-based integrated or special education curriculum to prioritize the training of students with speech impediments or dyslexia. The ministerial act regarding students with special education needs suggests institutes with integrated teaching. Special education schools or classes are suggested only when there is a need for intensive rehabilitation.
In the 2014–2015 school year, 52,500 students with special education needs studied in Hungarian primary schools, 35,600 of whom were integrated in regular classes. Education policy intends to improve the chances of students with dyslexia entering tertiary education by allowing for exemptions from the written part of final examinations when an expert vouched for the necessity of doing so within the past two years.9