The secret weapon or just a substitute for action? The history and legitimacy of Hungarian after-school programs for disadvantaged students

Abstract

After-school programs for disadvantaged students (tanoda in Hungarian) are considered as one of the remedial measures to achieve equity in education in Hungary. With over five thousand children and young people as its students, today, this disadvantage-compensation initiative reaches the most students in Hungary. Until recently, financing mostly relied on short-term EU tenders.  From 2019 onwards, these financial resources were replaced by the public sector, which is likely to support the stability and transparency of these programs. Moreover, this change in the financing of after-school programs allows to shift the focus of the discourse from financial problems to pedagogical issues. This literature review aims to initiate this shift. In order to create the context for academic discussion, a definition is given for after-school programs touching upon the most important aspects of the heterogeneity of the program. The paper then briefly describes the history of after-school programs in Hungary with a focus on financing, as it fundamentally determined the scope of controlling bodies as well besides the pedagogical issues. The paper summarizes the results of empirical studies on the progress of students participating in after-school programs. The most important issues and challenges in relation to the operation of after-school programs are also discussed. These include: (1) the complexity of goals; (2) the assessment of efficiency and efficacy; (3) obstructing the reform of the education system; (4) self-servingness; (5) the legitimacy of segregation in education from the perspective of the public. Finally, bearing in mind the challenges mentioned above, the paper attempts to outline a long-term perspective.