Dátum: 17.03.2014
The analysis is based on a hypothesis about the causes of perceived low quality and lack of efficiency of the Slovak education system. It also identifies some discrepancies in the current or planned policies of the education ministry. It has been prepared within the cooperation between the European Commission Representation in Slovakia and INEKO. The event took place on 6 March, 2014 and was held with the support of the Think Tank Fund – Open Society Foundations. Among others, we recommend clarification, as soon as possible, of the prospects of its funding by 2020. If the proposed increase of funding will not be realized, then serious systemic changes, such as the conditions for payment of fees by full-time students at public universities should be prepared immediately. We also propose the accurate measurement of added value and efficiency in education which would minimize uncertainty in decision making on the size and structure of investment in education. This would allow, for example, better identification of the best and worst performing primary schools and on this basis to support projects spreading the best practices. The link between the labour market and education should be improved by regular analysis of hard market data, such as salaries of graduates and graduates´ unemployment rates by educational fields and schools. Slovak schools should not reduce the hours of foreign languages taught. Funding per student should reflect information on learning outcomes to increase the quality of education. The proposal to replace the current financial system by funding per class will be only another system based on quantitative, not qualitative parameters. More user-friendly disclosure of learning outcomes would result in better decision-making of all stakeholders including parents and students. Finally, we would like to stress some risks with the robust plans to expand the vocational and apprenticeship education: “Countries with well established vocational and apprenticeship programmes have been more effective in holding the line on youth unemployment… At the same time, some consider vocational education a less attractive option than more academic education; and some research suggests that participation in vocational education increases the risk of unemployment at later ages (Hanushek et al., 2011).”Education at a Glance, OECD 2013