March 12, 2003 1:37pm
Bratislava, 12 March: Hungarian University of Janos Selye in Komarno (Nitra region) should open in September 2004, teaching students in Hungarian, in keeping with the cabinet's manifesto.
Education Minister Martin Fronc said after the cabinet's session on Wednesday [12 March] that he would submit respective proposal to the accreditation commission by the end of March. If the commission uses the whole 150-day deadline set by the law, establishment of the university may be delayed but Fronc expects the commission to make its decision by 10 June. That said, cabinet's directive on the accreditation commission does not allow it to deal with the issue yet. But Fronc said he was sure that everything would be settled by 4 April, when the commission is to hold its next session. Later, Fronc will submit the legislative proposal to the cabinet by 15 July, and then its establishment should be approved by the parliament
Fronc said that the Slovak language would be part of particular study programmes. According to the proposal, graduates will have to know the professional terms in Slovak as well as a world language.
Expenses for the establishment are estimated at some 110m korunas (2,619,047 euros) and average cost per one student at 45,000 korunas a year. Initially, the university will feature consultation centres and use the library of the Theological Institute in Komarno, and by 2010 it should move to its permanent home at Komarno castle. The university will have economics, pedagogical and reform theological faculties. Studies will be guaranteed by Hungarian university pedagogues, who will later be replaced by domestic experts and graduates.
Proponents of the project point to the high unemployment, exceeding 30 per cent in several regions of southern Slovakia, as prompting this development. Moreover, the share of ethnic Hungarians studying at Slovak universities is not in keeping with the population of this minority.
Source: TASR web site, Bratislava, in English 1608 gmt 12 Mar 03
/© BBC Monitoring
