Funding of facilities providing care for children up to 3 years of age
Facilities providing care for children up to 3 years of age are not a part of the school system. Their primary source of funding is the fees paid by parents. Public facilities are partly funded from budgets of municipalities.
Pre-primary, primary and secondary education funding
Free primary and secondary education is guaranteed by the constitution. Church and private schools can provide education and other services for a fee.
Public sources for education come from the public budget which is comprised of
- the state budget,
- budgets of municipalities and
- budgets of the higher territorial units.
Other sources of funding include revenue from renting space, profit from the business, contributions and gifts and other sources, and in case of non-state (private and church) schools and school facilities also tuition fees and other fees.
The school funding is based on the normative principle; the schools are funded according to the number of pupils and personnel and economic demands of the educational process.
Funding of preschool and school education is governed by:
- Act no. 523/2004 Coll. on Budget Rules of the Public Service (Zákon č. 523/2004 Z.z. o rozpočtových pravidlách verejnej správy),
- Act No. 564/2004 on budget determination of tax revenue from incomes of the territorial administration (Zákonom č. 564/2004 Z.z. o rozpočtovom určení výnosu dane z príjmov územnej samospráve),
- Act No. 597/2003 Coll. on funding of primary and secondary schools and school facilities (Zákonom č. 597/2003 Z.z. o financovaní základných škôl, stredných škôl a školských zariadení),
- Regulation of Government No. 630/2008 whereby the details of breakdown of finances from the national budget are set down for schools and school facilities(Nariadenie vlády č. 630/2008 Z.z., ktorým sa ustanovujú podrobnosti rozpisu finančných prostriedkov zo štátneho rozpočtu na školy a školské zariadenia).
Higher education funding
Full-time higher education study of the standard length is free-of-charge at public higher education institutions.
The main source of funding of public higher education institutions is constituted of subsidies from the state budget. Higher education institutions can use other sources of funding to cover operating expenditure. It is possible to provide subsidies from the state budget to a private higher education institution as well.
Funding of higher education is governed by the Methodology of the breakdown of state subsidies for public higher education institutions (Metodika rozpisu dotácií zo štátneho rozpočtu verejným vysokým školám) and the Act No. 131/2002 on higher education (Zákon č. 131/2002 Z.z. o vysokých školách)
Adult education and training funding
If further education takes place within the school system or state and regional development programmes, it is funded from the state budget. Other sources of funding include fees from students, the budget of the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (SK), sources of municipalities, non-profit organisations, and legal persons.