Quality assurance of the educational process is ensured by the State School Inspection (Štátna školská inšpekcia) and by the school itself in the form of self-evaluation processes.

The State School Inspection, through school inspectors, inspects compliance with binding regulations concerning education and training, the process of education and training and its results, the professionalism of teaching, the spatial provision and material equipment, and the professional development of teaching staff.

More information in chapter Quality assurance in pre-primary, primary and secondary education.

Requirements for appointment

School inspectors are civil servants. They are recruited based on a selection procedure announced by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic in accordance with the Civil Service Act (Zákon o štátnej službe)

Qualification and experience requirements for the position of inspector are laid down in the Act on State Administration in Education (Zákon o štátnej správe v školstve). Vacancies are published by the State School Inspection (Štátna školská inšpekcia) on its website.

A school inspector 

• must meet the qualification requirements of higher education for the relevant type and level of school or school facility,
• have eight years of teaching experience in a school or school facility,
• has passed First Qualification Examination I or its equivalent, and
• has been in a management function in education or in the job title of methodologist or in the job title of school inspector for at least three years, or has passed the Second Qualification Examination or its equivalent.
• must be competent to use the Slovak language in official contacts,
• be proficient in the language of the national minority concerned in connection with the scope of their work,
• have the personal and moral qualities and prerequisites for professional inspection work.

The school inspector may invite experts from practice to assess professional issues in the performance of school inspections, to advise and to give an expert opinion.

The practitioners must meet the following conditions:

• professional and pedagogical competence,
• pedagogical experience of at least 5 years,
• personal qualities for professional work.

Practitioners are selected primarily from among experienced pedagogical staff, counselling centre staff, and other specialists.

Practitioners are included in the inspection groups only after they have been familiarised with the inspection issues in the respective type of school or school facility.
 

Conditions of service

According to Act No. 55/2017 on the Civil Service (Zákon č. 55/2017 o štátnej službe), school inspectors are civil servants and their conditions of service are governed by this act.

School inspectors, as civil servants, have a fixed weekly working time of 37.5 hours. Working hours may be flexible. Holiday entitlement shall be a minimum of 5 weeks. As civil servants, they are bound by a code of ethics - the duty of impartiality and confidentiality - and are subject to state evaluation - for example, through the civil service performance appraisal system.

A civil servant is entitled to a salary, which consists of a functional salary (the so-called tariff/statutory salary, to which various allowances, compensations, or additional payments are added in specific cases). 

In addition to its internal training, the State School Inspection ensures the professional development of inspectors by participating in the activities of the international organisation of inspectors SICI, joint projects with neighbouring countries (e.g. the Česká školská inšpekcia), and by implementing projects from the European Social Fund aimed at external evaluation of school quality and support for school self-evaluation processes.

With respect to retirement, the school inspector's employment terminates in the calendar month in which the state employee reaches the age of 65 years. Extension of the civil service of a civil servant who has reached the age of 65 years is possible for a maximum period of three consecutive years.