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EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Organisation of private education

Slovakia

2.Organisation and governance

2.4Organisation of private education

Last update: 5 February 2024

Public administration in education is provided on several levels through state administration and territorial administration:

  1. The central state administration body is the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic (or the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic, Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic),
  2. At the regional level, state administration is performed by regional offices of school administration and self-governing regions,
  3. At the local level, it is the municipalities, and
  4. At the institutional level is represented by schools and school facilities.


National level management


The scope, organisation and tasks of the state administration bodies in education, municipalities, self-governing regions, and school administration bodies are governed by Act no. 596/2003 Coll on state administration in the education and school self-government (Zákon č. 596/2003 Z.z. o štátnej správe v školstve a školskej samospráve).


The Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic


The central body of state administration in education is the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic.

The minister is appointed by the president upon the prime minister’s proposal. The state secretary is appointed by the Government of the Slovak Republic. The minister approves materials related to the performance of his rights and obligations as a member of the government. He/she approves the draft legislation submitted to the government, the ministry decrees and regulations, cooperation agreements with central bodies, main tasks of the ministry in management and performance of state administration, and ministry’s annual accounts. The minister submits to the president proposals for the appointment of high education institution professors, appoints and removes the chief school inspector, determines the organisational and functional structure of the ministry staff, and performs other tasks within his/her scope. In the minister’s absence, following the authorisation by the minister, the state secretary performs tasks arising from the certified authorisation. 
 

Main tasks of the ministry

As regards education in kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools and school facilities, the ministry

  • manages the state administration in the education,
  • creates the concept of education development in the Slovak Republic,
  • prepares and publishes generally binding regulations and other regulations,
  • issues and publishes state education programmes, framework teaching plans and educational standards,
  • creates strategic, conceptual, and methodological documents for vocational education and training,
  • approves textbooks, specialist textbooks and didactic materials,
  • manages the networks of schools and school facilities, centres of practical education,
  • sets the rules for selection and filling management positions in  education,
  • manages experimental verification of the management, organisation, content, and performance of the educational process in schools and school facilities,
  • sets the system of study fields in vocational education and the content of vocational education,
  • sets the rules for accreditation of educational projects and organisations that provide continuing education to pedagogical and professional employees,
  • keeps the central register of children, pupils and students,
  • keeps the central register of pedagogical staff, professional staff and other employees of school and school facilities,
  • funds regional education and monitors the use of this funding,
  • creates standards for spatial, material, and technological equipment of schools, school facilities, centres of practical education and practical education workplaces,
  • collects data on the number of children and pupils to create a budget for the calendar year and creates the methodology for the breakdown of normative and non-normative funding for regional education,
  • provides funding to schools founded by state-recognised churches or religious societies and schools founded by other legal or natural persons,
  • provides dedicated funding for development projects and supervises the implementation of the school investment construction project,
  • monitors efficiency, effectiveness, and usefulness in the management of public resources from the ministry’s budget,
  • through the State School Inspection and the regional school office, monitors the quality of pedagogical management, education, and material and technical conditions including practical education in schools and school facilities, centres of practical education and education institutions,
  • through the regional office of school administration and the National Institute of Education and Youth, continuously monitors the educational results and the development of education in the international context,
  • announces and coordinates competitions for children and primary and secondary school pupils and arranges their participation in selected international competitions,
  • organises the selection of secondary school pupils for study abroad based on international agreements,
  • creates a system of financial and material conditions for pupils and provision of their school meals,
  • creates conditions for the safety and protection of health in education.

 
As regards higher education institutions, the ministry

  • creates conditions for the development of higher education institutions and higher education in accredited study programmes at all types of higher education institutions,
  • creates, annually updates, and publishes the Long-term Intention in Education, Research, Development, Arts, and Other Creative Activities for the Area of Higher Education Institutions,
  • creates and publishes an annual report on the state of higher education, sets the date and form of the submission of the annual report on the activity and management of the higher education institution,
  • discusses and evaluates the intentions of public and public higher education institutions and their updates; sets the date and form for the submission of these long-term intentions,
  • creates and updates the methodology for allocating subsidies to higher education institutions from the state budget from the chapter of the ministry. Based on the methodology, the ministry allocates and provides these subsidies following the statement by higher education institutions’ representative bodies,
  • in justified case, decides on limiting the year-on-year  increase of the number of full-time students for which it will provide funding to each higher education institution following the statement by higher education institutions’ representative bodies,
  • registers internal regulations of higher education institutions,
  • checks compliance with generally binding legal regulations in higher education,
  • checks public and private higher education institutions’ management of the resources from the state budget,
  • proposes to the government granting state approval, change of a higher education institution’s name and its integration,
  • issues and administers the system of study fields and publishes it with the description of higher education study fields,
  • pools and uses information from each higher education institution’s register of students in compliance with special regulations, and it administers the register of higher education institutions’ employees,
  • recognises certificates of education issued by foreign schools or other authorised bodies,
  • deals with the material and financial provision of activities of the Accreditation Commission and higher education institutions’ representation,
  • defines the conditions of financial and material provisions for foreign students studying in the Slovak Republic and Slovak citizens studying abroad,
  • defines the details of additional pedagogical study that provides pedagogical qualification for educational activity in schools and school facilities,
  • authorises foreign higher education institutions to operate in the Slovak Republic,
  • upon higher education institution’s request, issues a statement on recognising certificates of education issued by a foreign higher education institution or a third country higher education institution for academic purposes,
  • issues a list of higher education institutions operating on the territory of the Slovakia Republic which is structured  into public higher education institutions, private higher education institutions, and higher education institutions operating based on an authorisation; as regards university higher education institutions, it states that these higher education institutions are of a university type,
  • creates conditions for granting social support and scholarships to students,
  • creates a system of subsidies to directly support the development of science, technology, and artistic activity at higher education institutions.

As regards lifelong learning, the ministry

  • implements the Strategy of Lifelong Learning and Counselling,
  • performs accreditation of educational programmes in further education,
  • sets rules and procedures for verifying and recognising results of further education focusing on acquiring partial or full qualification,
  • creates the national qualification system,
  • creates, uses, and makes accessible to the public the further education information system,
  • creates the system of monitoring and predicting educational needs of further education,
  • monitors compliance with accreditation requirements and requirements for granting the authorisation for holding examinations to verify the qualification,
  • ensures participation of the Slovak Republic in EU educational programmes,
  • provides funding for lifelong learning from the state budget and monitors the efficiency of the use of the resources from the state budget.

In the area of care for children and youth

  • coordinates activities of state administration bodies and territorial self-government bodies in planning and implementing the state policy concerning children and youth,
  • creates the concept of state policy concerning children and youth and updates the drafts of long-term intentions of the government of the Slovak Republic and the drafts of legal regulation in the area under the ministry,
  • manages and monitors the performance of state administration in the sector of work with youth under the ministry,
  • creates legal, organisational, research and economic conditions for the development of work with youth and supports the activity of legal and natural persons in the area of work with youth,
  • creates the concept of education of youth volunteers, young leaders, youth leaders and people working with youth,
  • creates the methodology for providing subsidies from the state budget to support work with children and youth,
  • methodologically guides the leisure-time centres’ activities and school centres of interest-based activities,
  • issues decisions on accreditation of educational facilities in the area of work with youth,
  • prepares documents for integrating leisure-time centres and school centres of interest-based activities into the network of schools and school facilities,
  • participates in the implementation of international agreements  in the area of programmes and activities related to children and youth and proposes Slovak representatives in international organisations in this area,
  • cooperates with the Slovak Youth Council and the Association of Youth Information Centres, the Committee of Ministers for Children and the Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers for Children when creating and implementing regional and local policies concerning children and youth,
  • provides funding from the state budget for the care for children and youth and checks the efficient use of the resources from the state budget.

To perform the task within its scope, the ministry founds and dismisses budgetary and contributory organisations.


State School Inspection
 

The State School Inspection was established in January 2000. It is a budgetary organisation and its organisation parts include school inspection centres. In its activity, it is independent, regulated by acts and other generally binding regulations. The State School Inspection (Štátna školská inšpekcia)is managed by the Chief School Inspector who is appointed and removed by the Minister of Education for five years of office. The State School Inspection, being a body of state administration, monitors the level of pedagogical management, the level of education and training, and material-technical conditions, including practical lessons. It also settles complaints and petitions in this area. As the only relevant body, it can definitively decide whether a school’s school education programme was created in compliance with the goals and principles of education according to the Education Act and the respective state educational programme. 

More information on State School Inspection is in the chapter Quality assurance in pre-primary, primary and secondary education.

 

The Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic


The Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic founds police schools and fire safety schools as secondary vocational schools. Scope of powers in education and training at secondary vocational schools exercised by the Ministry of Education or other state administration bodies are exercised by the Ministry of Interior concerning police schools and fire safety schools.

 

Advisory bodies


Government Council for Vocational Education and Training (Rada  vlády Slovenskej republiky pre odborné vzdelávanie a prípravu) 
assesses mainly strategical and conceptual documents in the area of vocational education and training, as well as the analyses and prognoses of the development of the labour market. The council discusses fields of study and their focus and recommends to the Ministry of Education to include or exclude them from the system of fields of education. It discusses state educational programmes for vocational education, gives an opinion on the standards of spatial, material and technological equipment and the funding of vocational education and training, and recommends measures in this area. It provides counselling in vocational education and training.

The Accreditation Commission for Further Education (Akreditačná komisia pre ďalšie vzdelávanie) verifies the competence of an educational institution to carry out educational activities, evaluates and monitors the level of provided accredited educational activities, provides special counselling in the field of further education for the central and regional bodies of state administration and the bodies of self-government, and prepares proposals for concept-based activities of the Ministry in further education. 

The Accreditation Commission for specialised activities in the area of work with youth (Akreditačná komisia pre špecializované činnosti v oblasti práce s mládežou) was established for guidance, consultations and assessment of applications related to issuing confirmation on receiving the professional competence for performance of specialised activities in the area of work with youth. 

Accreditation Council for continuous education of pedagogical and professional employees (Akreditačná rada pre kontinuálne vzdelávanie pedagogických zamestnancov a odborných zamestnancov) as an advisory body of the ministry of education assesses individual continuous education programmes and draws up expert opinions on these programmes.

Council of the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport for Sports (Rada ministra školstva, vedy, výskumu a športu pre šport)  is an advisory body of the minister in the area of sports. The council members appointed by the minister from different areas of our society so that from their perspective, they could assess whether the ministry’s measures meet the public interest, which in sports is the increase in the number of people in the Slovak Republic who do physical exercise regularly, health and happiness of Slovak population, an increase of Slovak GDP, exposure of the Slovak Republic abroad through sports achievements, and creation of positive role models.

The Education Act established the Curriculum Board (Kurikulárnu radu) as a professional, initiative and advisory body of the minister of education in key areas of education and training, particularly, in the field of innovation of the content of education and training, educational reforms, and new models of evaluation.

Board for System Changes in Education (Rada pre systémové zmeny v školstve) is a permanent advisory body to the Minister of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic, who is also the head of the board.  Its mission is to provide ideas for measures and give opinions on the ministry’s proposals for measures in the area of system, rationalisation, and optimisation changes in education. 

School Four-Partite (Školská štvorpartita) is an advisory body of the minister, whose task is to discuss the current state of education and training in the Slovak Republic.  School Four-partite is comprised of employer union representatives, self-government representatives, school trade unionists, and experts from the education sector.

The Board of Minister for Nationality Education (Rada ministra pre národnostné školstvo)  is an advisory body to the Ministry of Education for the education of national minority members and implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
 


Regional level management


The self-governing region in transferred performance of state administration

  1. by a generally binding regulation founds and dismisses secondary schools according to the network,
  2. defines the highest number of full-time first-grade pupils for each secondary school within its regional competence in compliance with the special regulation.
     

By a generally binding regulation, according to the network, the self-governing region founds and dismisses  

  • basic arts schools,
  • language schools, except for language schools at primary schools,
  • school dormitories,
  • school canteens,
  • centres of school’s services,
  • schools in nature,
  • leisure-time centres within the territorial competence of the self-governing region,
  • kindergartens, if they are a single legal person founded as a joint secondary school with kindergarten or a combination of secondary school, primary school and kindergarten,
  • primary schools, if they are a single legal person founded as a combination of secondary school, primary school and kindergarten.

 

The self-governing region in the area of education and training mostly

  • monitors compliance with generally binding legal regulations regarding school meals, and education and training,
  • checks the quality of the served meals in school canteens that it founded,
  • following the discussion with the respective regional office, it issues organisational instructions for heads of schools and school facilities that it founded,
  • provides professional and counselling services to schools and school facilities that it founded,
  • provides legal counselling to heads of schools and school facilities that it founded,
  • administers the personnel agenda of heads of schools and school facilities that it founded,
  • discusses, with the central state administration body and the social partners, proposals for founding, dismissing or limiting the activity of secondary vocational schools,
  • discusses, with the heads of schools and school facilities that it founded and with the territorial school board, 
    - information on pedagogical-organisational and material provision of educational process in schools and school facilities that it founded,
    - draft breakdown of funding allocated by the ministry to schools and school facilities that it founded,
    - report on the management of schools and school facilities that it founded,
    - the concept of development of schools and school facilities that it founded,
    - proposals for founding or dismissing schools and school facilities or limiting their activity,
    - proposals for the introduction of new study fields and focus,
    - report on educational activity, its results, and the conditions of schools and school facilities that it founded.
  • cooperates with municipalities, other self-governing regions, school self-government bodies, respective regional offices and other state administration bodies, natural persons and other legal persons,
  • cooperates with heads on staffing schools and school facilities,
  • cooperates with municipalities within its territorial competence and the respective regional office on providing accommodation to foreign teachers working in schools and school facilities that it founded,
  • cooperates with civil associations and other legal persons that deal with interest-based activities of children and youth and organisation of subject olympiads and competitions of children and pupils of schools and school facilities in its territorial competence,
  • cooperates with respective central state administration bodies and social partners in the area of vocational education and training of youth for the pursuit of a profession.


The self-governing region also performs other tasks in the area of creating an investment plan, the breakdown of funding provided by the ministry to the school that it founded, the breakdown of funding allocated to basic arts schools, language schools, and school facilities in its founding competence, and the breakdown of funding for kindergartens in its founding competence.