The school system in Slovakia can be characterised as centralised to an extent. A major part of education policies and curriculum is created by state authorities (i.e. Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic and institutions founded by the ministry). Despite that, schools and school facilities are founded by regional and local self-government bodies, whose responsibilities are defined by law. 

Until 1990, education was managed on the central level. First changes in decentralisation occurred after passing Act no 596/2003 Coll. on State Administration in Education and School Self-government (Zákon č. 596/2003 Z. z. o štátnej správe v školstve a školskej samospráve). This act defined the powers, organisation, and tasks of state administration bodies in education, municipalities, self-governing regions, and school self-government bodies.  It created conditions for the plurality development of education and strengthening of schools’ independence.

According to the law, state administration of schools and school facilities is performed by:

• School heads and school facility heads,
• Municipalities,
• Self-governing regions,
• State School Inspection,
• Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic,
• Other central state administration bodies (police schools or fire safety schools founded by the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic).

School self-government is performed by:

• School board or school facility board,
• Municipality school board,
• Territorial school board,
• School parliament.

Central level management 

State administration in education on the central level is provided by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic as the central state administration body.

The Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic is the central state administration body for kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, higher education institutions, school facilities, lifelong learning, science and technology, youth, and sport.

The Ministry founds budgetary organisations and contributory organisations and monitors and evaluates their activities. The Ministry manages schools and school facilities in the territory of the Slovak Republic through generally binding regulations. It administers the network of schools and school facilities in the Slovak Republic through the provision of professional counselling to founders.

The ministry is responsible for budgetary and contributory organisations founded by law:

• State School Inspection,
• Slovak Research and Development Agency,
• Slovak Institute of History in Rome,
• Slovak Anti-doping Agency,
• Regional Office of School Administration in Prešov,
• Regional Office of School Administration in Košice,
• Regional Office of School Administration in Banská Bystrica,
• Regional Office of School Administration in Žilina,
• Regional Office of School Administration in Trenčín,
• Regional Office of School Administration in Nitra,
• Regional Office of School Administration in Trnava,
• Regional Office of School Administration in Bratislava

Contributory and budgetary organisations founded by the Ministry:

Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information (Centrum vedecko-technických informácií SR)

The centre is a national information centre for science, technology, innovation, and education and the scientific library of the Slovak Republic. It coordinates the activity of and manages interdisciplinary research and development centres and national infrastructures for research, development, innovation, and education. It administers the information system of the Ministry of Education.

Home of the Singing Choir of Slovak Teachers (Domov Speváckeho zboru slovenských učiteľov)

It is an educational and recreational facility mainly for Ministry of Education employees.

National Institute of Education and Youth (Národný inštitút vzdelávania a mládeže)

The institute was founded to perform tasks in pre-primary, primary, secondary, special and inclusive, basic artistic, language, and interest-based education; lifelong learning and work with youth; monitoring of education, creation of pedagogical documentation, teaching plans, pedagogical research, teaching methodology, and creation of didactic and methodological materials for schools and school facilities.

State Institute of Vocational Education (Štátny inštitút odborného vzdelávania)

The institute was founded mainly to coordinate vocational education and training and adult education in Slovakia. It promotes the development of national policies in education and helps to introduce trends and innovations in vocational education and training and adult training. Its activities focus on pupils, pedagogical and vocational employees, and employers' needs.

Research Institute of Child Psychology and Pathopsychology (Výskumný ústav detskej psychológie a patopsychológie )

The institute researches normal and pathological mental and personality development of children, development agents, development conditions, and possibilities of the development's optimisation in families, schools, and other institutions. It creates and updates standards of professional and methodological activities, creates specialist materials, and organises training for pedagogical and professional staff in the counselling and prevention system and school educational facilities.

National Sports Centre (Národné športové centrum)

The centre was founded to cater to athletes' needs to increase athletes' sports performance, expand athletes', coaches', referees', and sports officials’ knowledge, and diagnose pupils' sports performance.

Research Agency (Výskumná agentúra)

The agency implements aid from EU structural and investment funds.

Regional level management

At the regional level, the administration of schools and school facilities is performed by regional offices of school administration, self-governing regions and municipalities.

The law defines two forms of territorial self-government powers (i.e. municipalities and self-governing regions):

• Transferred performance of state administration and
• Territorial self-government (so-called self-government powers).

Regional offices found and dismiss schools and school facilities within the scope of their powers as founders, monitor municipalities and self-governing regions in the area of education, compile materials for statistical processing of data on education and training in schools and school facilities within their territorial scope. They methodologically manage schools within their territorial scope and organise and fund language courses for children of foreigners.

Self-governing regions create conditions for education and training and compulsory school attendance in secondary schools, conditions for provision of education and training to pupils with disability and gifted pupils in schools and school facilities that they are founders of.

At the local level, the state administration of education is performed by municipalities and higher territorial units, which perform activities within their powers as founders.