On 30 June 2007, a meeting was hosted and chaired by Dr. Kinga Goncz at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hungary. In attendance at the session were: State Secretary L. Varkonyi (Foreign Affairs), State Secretary E. Rauh (Social Affairs and Labor), Director of the Office of the State Secretary D. Szabo (Education and Culture), and Cultural Attache M. Tauber (US Embassy). Representing the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology and NTID's PEN-International were: Vice President Alan Hurwitz and Dr. James J. DeCaro.
The meeting focused upon how NTID's PEN-International could work to develop a collaborative plan for the improvement of postsecondary education for men and women who are deaf in Hungary
At the meeting on 30 June, Minister Goncz emphasized that a logical, systematic and achievable set of goals and outcomes needed to be formulated so that a long-term vision for improving the postsecondary educational circumstances could be recommended for inclusion in the Second National Development Plan.
As a result of the meeting a letter was developed and sent to the Ministry of Education and Culture and Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour seeking the support of the respective ministers for the development of such a plan and for its inclusion in the Second National Development Plan. It was recommended that the ministers jointly appoint a small but elite task force comprised of both deaf and hearing Hungarians to draft this plan and vision. It was suggested that force members could include people like Dr. Kosa (SINOSZ) and Dr. Toth (Budapest School for the Deaf). PEN-International would stand ready to provide whatever assistance this taskforce might need to execute its charge.
In addition, it was suggested that a delegation from Hungary visit Rochester Institute of Technology to review our interpreter training program, and assess our voice-to-text technology for providing in classroom real-time text services for students who are deaf. Interpreting and notetaking are fundamental components of an infrastructure foundation for supporting deaf university students.
PEN is currently awaiting the response of the ministers.
