Bilingual elementary schools in Prekmurje and students from Hungary

The first students from Hungary enrolled in bilingual elementary schools in Slovenia during the 2015–2016 school year, and their number had grown to 85 by the 2024–2025 school year. The Prosenjakovci and Genterovci elementary schools stand out in particular, as students from Hungary account for about one-third of all enrolled students. Interviews with parents indicate that the main reasons for enrollment were the more welcoming Slovenian school system and the multilingual nature of the schools. Although some expected a quick acquisition of the Slovenian language, it turned out that students generally need four to five years to achieve a good command of the language. According to the interviewees, parents and children have successfully integrated into the school environment and established good relationships with the local population. In the 2023/24, 2024/25, and 2025/26 school years, 18 students from Hungary will complete their elementary education. It remains to be seen whether they will continue their education at the Lendava Bilingual Secondary School, other Slovenian schools, or in Hungary.

In the first year of the study, we focused in addition to analyzing statistical data on students, on in-depth interviews with the heads of bilingual educational institutions in Prekmurje, where children from Hungary are enrolled, as well as on interviews with parents who were among the first to enroll their children in bilingual education in Slovenia.

Moving forward, specifically in 2023, we plan to conduct several more interviews with parents of children from Hungary; subsequently, based on the analysis of interviews with school principals and parents, we will prepare a survey for parents of children from Hungary and for parents of children from Slovenia. We are also considering a survey for upper-grade students, as well as for teachers at bilingual schools. In addition to parents and principals, we plan to conduct interviews with representatives of Hungarian municipal self-governments in the areas where bilingual elementary schools attended by children from Hungary are located.

In fact, parents told us in interviews that they also turned to representatives of Hungarian ethnic self-governments for information, and that these representatives were of great help to them.