“It’s about setting priorities” – why parents choose private schools in Hungary

Abstract

This article examines the motivations and narratives of middle-class parents who opt for private primary schools in Hungary. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews with parents from various localities, the aim is to shed light on how parents are driven towards fee-paying education in this formerly free education system. The findings reveal that the shift towards non-state, fee-paying schools is deeply embedded in the ideology of intensive parenting. The latter places the responsibility for securing a good education mainly on parents, who view the importance of choosing a school for their children as extremely high. The foundation for school choice is laid during the early years of child-rearing by organizing the child’s schedule around various activities. As a result, although their accounts of their child-rearing clearly demonstrate the early use of cultural, social, and economic capital to secure their children’s educational futures, parents tend to interpret their children’s enrolment in private schools not as an outcome of their privilege, but rather as a deserved reward for parental care and sacrifice.