Responsibility at the central level – central state administration bodies

The Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic is responsible for adult education at the national level. The ministry prepares legislation relevant to this area of the educational system.

The ministry grants an educational institution accreditation for a specific educational programme based on the further education accreditation commission’s (akreditácia v oblasti celoživotného vzdelávania) opinion.  It ensures the required quality of further vocational education and re-qualification through accreditation of educational programmes and systematic monitoring. 

People interested in further education can use the further education information system (informačný systém ďalšieho vzdelávania). The ministry updates the information on all educational programmes with valid accreditation regularly. At the same time, it also contains all necessary information and documentation for further education providers.

The State Institute for Vocational Education is the national coordinator for the European programme of adult learning and it serves as a national support service for the Electronic platform for adult learning in Europe (EPALE). In addition to the above, it is also the national coordination centre for the European Qualification Framework (EQF) and the National Centre for Europass.

Offices of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (under the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic) mediate a significant part of further vocational education and re-qualification in the form of active policies on the labour market. 

As far as continuous education is concerned, the content and provision of further education for specific professional staff is often the responsibility of individual ministries (for example Academy of Justice (Justičná akadémia) - Ministry of Justice (Ministerstvo spravodlivosti SR); or education of health care professionals – Ministry of Health (Ministerstvo zdravotníctva SR).

Support of the development of the interest-based creation of art, non-formal creation of art, and non-formal education in culture is covered by the National Centre of Culture (Národné osvetové centrum) a state contribution organisation of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic. 

Responsibility at the regional level – higher territorial units

Regional self-government must take care of the multi-faceted development of its territory and its inhabitants’ needs. In the area of adult education and training, it mostly means creating conditions for the development of further education in the respective self-governing region.

Higher territorial units also create economic and social development programmes, which usually also cover measures for lifelong learning development in the region.

Responsibility at the local level – municipalities

Also, self-governing municipalities should create conditions for health care provision, education, culture, education activities, and leisure activities in arts, physical culture and sports. Positive examples of the implementation of these principles in adult education include the Academy of the Third Age (akadémia tretieho veku), which has operated in Pezinok under the auspices of the municipal authority.