Faculty of Apáczai Csere János Teacher Training College

The first schoolmasters’ training course began in 1778 in the town of Gyõr, under the authority of the Act “Ratio Educationis.” It is considered to be the legal predecessor of the Apáczai Csere János Faculty. After 1869 teacher training had a 3-year program, after 1893 it took four years. In 1959 the school became a higher level institution, and in 1975 primary school teacher training was raised to a college level.
In 1978, with the bicentenary celebration of its establishment, the college adopted the name of the great scholar and school founder Apáczai Csere János.
Between 1778 and 1990, the institution specialized in educating teachers only for the lowest grades of primary schools.
Since 1990 there have been intellectual and structural changes at the college. Since 1990 the faculty has offered courses in foreign language teaching for primary school teachers of lower grades. First English and German were included in the program. Italian was added in 1991 and French in 1999. A parallel education of students with Hungarian mother tongue, residing in Slovakia started in 1992 at Dunaszerdahely and Révkomárom.
With infrastructural improvement and increased staff, new educational fields have been opened and the range of courses widened with six new basic courses in accordance with the Bologna process. Tourism and catering are on the top list of the new courses in national education.

Today the Apáczai Faculty qualifies specialists in andragogy, special needs education, recreation organization and health improvement, social pedagogy, primary school education, catering, education of tourism and catering managers, in the fields of teacher training, philology, social sciences and economics. It offers specialized and general post graduate courses and high level special programs. The faculty is involved in the doctoral courses of the University of West Hungary. The number of highly qualified educators is increasing.

Four buildings with high standard infrastructure provide surroundings for education at the Apáczai Csere János Faculty. The biggest investments in the history of the institution were made in the academic year of 2006/2007. The space provided for the students was enlarged in 2006 and its high standard facilities serve the students’ communication inside and outside the institution. The students’ area is a workstation with fifty available computers, and chat-rooms attract those who want to relax.
Building IV equipped with a multimedia centre and inaugurated in 2007 serves the education of 1,100 students and houses three institutional departments as well as an admissions bureau and a study department. The educational technology is at a 21st century level in the 16 auditoriums and seminar rooms. A room for teaching informatics and a gymnasium are also incorporated in the building.
More than one fourth of the students at the Apáczai Csere János Faculty study tourism. Students studying foreign tourism and catering, management of tourism and catering can practise at the Famulus Business and Conference Hotel, which is the training centre of the students. The hotel is a unique training complex in Hungary, occupying 8,000 square meters and providing comfort for 120 guests at a four star level. The students are accommodated at a modern hostel that functions as a youth hostel in the summer months. The business hotel is equipped with the most up-to-date facilities. It has a conference hall to hold 180 participants, and a meeting room for 20 and one for 40 persons. Facilities provided by the hotel include a squash court, bowling alleys, an infra-sauna and a fitness room. The Apáczai Faculty contributes to the town’s tourism with its educational programs.
The Cuha Street student hostel, situated in a modern district of the town, provides quiet boarding and proper requirements for studying, where the students’ lodgings are flats, not just standard dormitory rooms. They assure excellent living conditions.

In addition to teaching, Apáczai Csere János Faculty supports research and artistic activity of its students and educators. Music groups frequently perform in the region or abroad, while students of fine arts can display in local galleries or show their works in international creative camps.
Research fields at the faculty are divided in 14 special scientific units, which are responsible for the involvement of educators and talented students in national and international research activities. The main research fields are forest pedagogy, intellectual history, ethnography, research on culture, lifestyle, environment, examination of human values, determination of ethical values, Hungarology, applied linguistics, project pedagogy, sports sciences, literature, pedagogy dealing with curricula and subject content. Research is done in well equipped laboratories for psychology, environmental pedagogy as well as in labs for sports science and sports psychology and recreation.
Coordination of the needs of the scientific and economic sectors is important and the faculty encourages research to be done on invitations from other institutions. It also urges propagating its scientific results in different sectors of the economy. The educators have wide-spread connections with national and international boards, committees, associations and keep good connections with countries in Europe and overseas. Besides bilateral agreements, Apáczai Csere János Faculty is involved in ERASMUS, COMENIUS and CEEPUS projects.

English website of the Faculty