ON OCTOBER 14, 2024, THE PROJECT “Supporting Inclusive Learning Environments – Strategies for Supporting Students with Children in Higher Education” (2023-1-HU01 -KA220-HED-000156058) took place on October 14, 2024, during which the organizations reviewed current tasks and events and discussed issues and problems arising during the implementation of the program.
- Program coordinator Örs Levente Kovács (National Association of Large Families) warmly welcomed the participants of the online meeting. He briefly outlined the topics and program plan for the meeting, then provided information about the upcoming professional study trip to Komárom, which will take place on November 12-13, 2024.
- Bálint Duráczky, research program manager at the National Association of Large Families, provided information about the “toolkit” working document completed in the second half of September and about current activities and tasks.
He mentioned the establishment of teaching working groups as a future task, whose primary task would be to test and evaluate the completed toolkit. In this context, he emphasized the importance of more effective identification of students with families, as well as the importance of informal networks and the “global” openness of teachers necessary for testing the toolkit. “global” openness necessary for testing the toolkit – as he explained, for effective teaching testing, it is essential that the target persons form their observations and examine and analyze the situation based on their many years of experience.
Regarding the deadlines planned for the program, he indicated that the final toolkit would be completed by October 31, 2024: the document will be finalized on November 19, 2024, following a two-week feedback and review period.
The Cooperation Toolkit can then be handed over to the 5-5 university lecturers selected by the partner institutions, who will use it for 4 months to gain experience and form opinions.
- Kornélia László Híres /II. Rákóczi Ferenc Carpathian Hungarian College/ raised questions regarding the planned teaching working groups. She primarily wanted to know how the planned interviews would be organized and who would conduct them.
- In his response, Bálint Duráczky explained that the instructors will keep track of events in a written log, and that interviews with the instructors involved are planned to be conducted centrally in the spring of next year.
- The representative of Károli Gáspár Reformed University asked about the planned length of the toolkit in connection with the review, to which Bálint Duráczky replied that they were expecting reviews of up to 30 pages.
- The representative of Károli Gáspár Reformed University indicated that researchers would be assigned tasks for which payment would be expected after the second installment. He wanted to know if there was any practice regarding what exchange rate to use for settlements between partners in such cases. In the partnership agreement, the costs incurred are settled at the monthly exchange rate determined and published by the EC in the month in which the amount is credited to the coordinator’s account, and they would like to determine how much they will be able to pay the researchers in HUF for the task.
- Emőke Szaller (National Association of Large Families) indicated in her response that the coordinating organization would seek the official position of the grant administrator on the matter.
- In response to a question from the representative of Károli Gáspár Reformed University regarding the deadlines for the upcoming institutional data requests, Bálint Duráczky informed the participants that the deadline for submitting the data is February 28, 2025.
- Participants plan to discuss and decide on the details of planned publications related to their research activities at a face-to-face meeting in November. In this regard, Ágnes Sántha (Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania) has already indicated that they are not considering individual publications, but that the partner institution is interested in the possibility of joint publications. Kornélia László Híres emphasized the importance of publication in scientific journals.
- The representative of Károli Gáspár Reformed University made a suggestion and proposal regarding the deadline for teacher evaluation and testing mentioned by Bálint Duráczky on April 30, 2025. As mentioned, in view of the Easter holidays (April 20, 2025), it would be advisable to bring forward the planned date, and personal consultations could also take place during the professional study trip to Transylvania to be held between April 14 and 16, 2025.
- In response to a question from László Szilágyi (II. Rákóczi Ferenc Carpathian Hungarian College), Emőke Szaller indicated that the indicative financial accounting data sheet compiled by the Support Manager was not yet available.
Compiled by:
Örs Levente Kovács