Political situation

The current government of the Slovak Republic was created based on elections to the National Council of the Slovak Republic (NR SR), which took place on 29th February 2020.

The party that received most votes was „Obyčajní ľudia a nezávislé osobnosti“ (OĽANO), 25.02 % of participating voters. It entered into a coalition with the following parties: „Sme rodina“, which came third in the elections with 8.24%; „Sloboda a Solidarita“ (SAS) party, which came sixth with 6,22 % of votes and „Za ľudí“, which was seventh with 5.77 % of votes. 

Igor Matovič, the chairman of „Obyčajní ľudia a nezávislé osobnosti“ (OĽANO) party, became the prime minister. Boris Kollár, the chairman of „Sme rodina“ party, became the chairman of the National Council of the Slovak Republic.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic was taken by „Sloboda a Solidarita“ (SAS) party and Branislav Gröhling became the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport.  

In the spring of 2021, the government was reconstructed with Eduard Heger (OĽANO) as the new prime minister. Due to the coalition crisis of summer 2022, ‘Sloboda a Solidarita’ (SAS) party left the government, which continues as a coalition of three parties despite having lost the majority in the parliament. Ján Horecký was appointed as the new minister of education, science, research, and sport of the Slovak Republic. 

In its programme statement for the years 2021 – 2024 (Programové vyhlásenie vlády SR na roky 2021-2024), the Slovak Government set itself the objective to support the education content update and to make forms and methods of teaching at the primary, secondary and tertiary level more attractive. Emphasis is put on the digital transformation of education as well as on the motivating remuneration of pedagogical and professional employees and their continuous development. It promotes thorough accreditation of higher education programmes with an emphasis on the development and improvement of quality, flexible reaction of schools to labour market’s needs and all-round development of learners. The focus is on well-functioning informal and lifelong learning, supporting the entry of practicing experts into education, supporting international cooperation at all levels of education and research, and transparent, targeted and measurable support of science and research framed within the European context.  As regards informal education, the Government wants to support the development of relevant infrastructure and provide systemic and transparent funding of informal education, including arts education and leisure activities.   

Economic situation

Investments in education and vocational training remain relatively low, despite the decreasing number of students. As a proportion of GDP, public administration expenditures on education stayed below the EU average. In addition, low teachers’ salaries make the teacher’s profession less attractive. 

Investments in educational infrastructure at all levels are supported through the mechanism for the support of recovery and resilience. As a part of the plan of recovery and resilience, Slovakia wants to increase capacities in pre-primary education aiming to implement the legal right for children aged 3 years, which is planned for 2025.  Renovation of upper secondary schools is planned in order to improve their accessibility for disabled students. Two shifts at primary schools will be abandoned and school libraries will be founded or modernised in order to provide a quality education environment to disabled students. Some university buildings will be renovated in order to improve their energy efficiency.

Slovakia intensifies the effort to digitalise education and strengthen digital skills.  Digitalisation of schools should be supported by additional budget resources from the Mechanism for the support of recovery and resilience in the amount of 229 million euros.  In addition to the investment into ICT equipment and connectivity, Slovakia will establish a network of digital methodological coordinators and create online school-leaving examination (maturita), digital learning materials, and training for teachers, as a part of its plan of recovery and resilience.  

Gross domestic product (GDP) and expenditures on education. 

Note: Data for 2019 is semidefinite 

Sources:  Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, 2022. Revised and Preliminary Annual Data of GDP at Current Prices (STATdata: Revidované a predbežné ročné údaje HDP v bežných cenách). Bratislava: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (last accessed 14012/2022).

OEDC, 2008. Education and Glance 2008: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD, 2008. ISBN 9789264046283. (last accessed 14/12/2022).

OEDC, 2022. Education and Glance 2022: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD, 2022. ISBN 978-92-64-34164-7 (last accessed 14/12/2022).

Most Slovak citizens completed the full secondary education with maturita (school leaving certificate).

However, the proportion of people with higher education is increasing and gradually approaching the EU average. Between 2010 and 2020 the proportion increased by 15 percentage points and in 2020 there were 39% of adults between 25 and 34 with higher education. This figure is only slightly under the EU average (40.5%). In 2019, the proportion of graduates with master’s degrees in Slovakia reached 84%, which is the highest in the EU.¹

Population according to the highest attained education 

Source: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic , 2022. Population and Housing Census: Population by Highest Educational Attainment in the Slovak Republic as at 1.1.2021 (Sčítanie obyvateľov, domov a bytov: Štruktúra obyvateľov podľa najvyššieho dosiahnutého vzdelania v SR k 1. 1. 2021) (last accessed 14/12/2022).  

Source:

Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (Štatistický úrad Slovenskej republiky), 2012. First definitive results from the 2011 Population and Housing Census: Population by Highest Educational Attainment - Census 2011, 2001, 1991 (Prvé definitívne výsledky zo Sčítania obyvateľov, domov a bytov 2011: Obyvateľstvo podľa najvyššieho dosiahnutého vzdelania – sčítanie 2011, 2001, 1991). Bratislava: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic.

References

¹European Commission, 2021. Monitor of Education and Training: Slovakia (Monitor vzdelávania a odbornej prípravy 2021: Slovensko) (last accessed 14/12/2022).