Sárospatak has been a centre of teacher training for some 150 years.
The stormy centuries of history saw Sárospatak safeguarding the flame of science and arts. This flame has shone throughout the town and beyond - both in space and time.
Some decades ago the region had several teacher training colleges. Today ours is the only one of its kind in Northern Hungary. Our important mission is to pass on to our students, the future generation of teachers the traditions which provide life and continuity between past, present and future in a way that will preserve the greatest treasure of human values.
Today trainers of teachers are not produced; one has to become such a teacher. Our lecturers have been recruited from among our graduates, secondary school teachers, engineers and nursery school teachers who felt devoted to their profession and continued their education.
In the past we trained junior primary school teachers. Since the integration with the University of Miskolc we have been running joint courses to train teachers for senior classes, too.
In addition to the practice-centered activity of our college, academic research plays a major role. We have leading lecturers of academic rank, we have textbooks published by our colleagues and we have our own publications.
The character of our age and the current level of society require specialisation to an ever-increasing degree. The teacher's profession is a rare exception to this as it puts equal emphasis on the various fields of science and the fundamentals of arts. Despite any further specialist focus, the children of the coming generation can become harmonious adults who are aware of real human values if they experience this balance in life through the teacher's work. They will hopefully be happy as far as their conditions permit and instill similar happiness in their environment.

Dr. László Hegedűs
Leading director of the faculty

It was in 1531 that Péter Perényi founded a school in Sárospatak. At the beginning it was a so-called "trivial school" of primary education. In 1650 Zsuzsanna Lórántffy and her son, Zsigmond Rákóczi invited the well-known Czech-Moravian educator, Comenius, who was of Hungarian origin. He stayed in Sárospatak until 1654. In the meantime he published his new pioneering textbooks. Teacher training started in Sárospatak on 16 November 1857 as an independent course within the framework and premises of the Patak Collegium. Today the training is conducted in the buildings designed by Jenő Lechner in 1911-13 and updated by László Warga. On January 1, 2000 the institution was integrated into the University of Miskolc as a faculty called Comenius Teacher Training College.
The basic objective of the college-faculty is to educate primary school and nursery school teachers. In addition, we do developmental and applied research, preserve and foster the centuries-old traditions, participate in enhancing the cultural life of the Hungarian minority living over the border, provide postgraduate training courses in response to the regional requirements and contribute to the cultural development of the town and its surroundings. Those applying for admission must have the following abilities: good hearing and perfect singing voice, good manual abilities, physical aptitude, well-developed oral and good educational skills.
The education and research work is carried out by the departments of information science, art education, pedagogy and sociology, language and literature, science, physical education. In addition, the Centre for Distance Learning and the evolving regional centre of education participate in the academic work.
Our students can learn English, German, Esperanto, Russian and Italian.
With the introduction of the 4-year training the students can specialise in one of the following fields: Hungarian language and literature, music and singing, visual education, physical education, economic and domestic studies, information science, man and society, environmental studies, English language, German language. Some 1,000 students take part in the full time graduate, correspondence, postgraduate and specialised training courses. Our graduates find employment in primary and secondary schools as well as nursery schools.
The College library, which is the region's specialised library in pedagogy, provides the academic background of some 100,000 printed and alternative materials for the work of our lecturers and students alike. The majority of the stock is represented by books on pedagogy and psychology. However, each subject has its own special collection of educational and methodological works. The library boasts a collection of rare books each of which are invaluable. The construction of a new library building was started in 2000 within a CIP programme.
The practical training of the students is supported by the college's demonstration school, Árvay József Demonstration Primary School, which has had good links with the college of Collegno for a number of years. Within our international links we have introduced cooperation with several foreign partner institutions in Torino, Nitra and Cieszyn.
Our students' residence can accommodate 340 students at present in modern 3-bedded rooms. The sports facilities of the college and the demonstration school provide students with ample opportunity for sports, physical exercise and recreational work.

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ME Comenius Tanítóképző Főiskolai Kar
Comenius Teacher Training College
Sárospatak, H-3950 Eötvös u. 7. Pf.: 217.
Telephone: +36 47 311-418, 312-211,
Fax: +36 47 312-329
E-mail: webmaster@comenius.ctif.hu
Homepage: http://www.ctif.hu