Slovenia

Introduction to the VET System in Slovenia

In 2005, the Slovenian Government adopted its development strategy , which defined its objectives, development priorities and corresponding action plans in order to improve the quality of education, encourage lifelong learning and increase the two-way flow of knowledge for economic and social inclusion. This new strategic direction had, as its basis, the achievements of the previous decade, which aimed to provide all Slovenian citizens with equal education opportunities, regardless of their circumstances.

Compulsory education in Slovenia ranges from the age of 6 to 15, commonly referred to ‘basic education’ (Osnovna šola), and is divided into three cycles of three years. The latest expenditure statistics show that 5.96% of GDP (2004) is allocated to education, of which 45.7% into basic education, higher than in most EU countries .

The responsible organisations for VET in Slovenia are state bodies; the Ministry of Education and Sport, responsible for the pre-university education and higher vocational colleges, including the development of concepts, strategies, legislation and regulation for the education system and in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, the responsibility for the vocational and technical education and training, systems for certification of national vocational qualifications, and the agreement of education policies with social partners . In higher education, responsibility falls under the remit of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, which since 2005, has looked after universities and single higher education institutions.

As well as these national bodies, Slovenia also places emphasis on local authorities and schools councils (sveti šol) for education, the former responsible for the administration of pre-primary and basic education establishments and the latter, who act at local level, autonomously.

Partnerships in VET became important in the mid-90s in Slovenia, playing a significant role in decision-making and acting within an advisory and/or implementation role in the education system. The most important councils are the Council of Experts for General Education, the Council of Experts for Adult Education, the Council of Experts for Higher Education and the Council of Experts for Vocational and Technical Education. These partnerships have resulted in a number of legislation being approved, with the following aims :

Reduce the school drop-out rate;
Develop a VET that meets the needs of a multicultural and international working environment.
Improve the quality of teaching, by developing teachers’ and trainers’ competences.
Enable transition between different types of schools, especially between vocational and technical and general secondary education

This legislation also created targets for the Government and in particular, the Ministry of Education and Sport, including:

By 2010, all young people complete initial vocational education or at least a partial qualification, namely a national vocational qualification;
By 2013, the proportion of those aged 18 to 22 years with at least an upper secondary qualification rise to 95 %.
By 2013, all VET providers will have a quality development and assurance system in place.

IVET

As mentioned before, the Slovenian basic education system encompasses a nine-year compulsory education system divided into three, three-year cycles, during which no vocational education is available. At the end of the 2006/7 academic year, there were 166,101 pupils registered and taught by 14,125 teachers . Once students reach the end of the compulsory education, most tend to go into upper secondary schools, which can be publically or privately owned (although these are part funded up to 85% by public funds and are governed by the 1996 Gimnazije and the 2003 Matura Acts, where as vocational and technical education is governed by the Vocational and Technical Education Act, 2006) .

Several options are made available to them, categorised under four different types:

General upper secondary education (splošno srednje izobraževanje – Gimnazija) – From the ages of 15 to 19 and lasting four years;
Technical upper secondary education (srednje tehniško in strokovno izobraževanje) – From the ages of 15 to 19 and lasting four years;
Vocational upper secondary education (Srednje poklicno tehniško izobraževanje) – From the ages of 15 to 19 and lasting three plus two years;
Run in cooperation with employers.
Those who pass the final exam in year three have the option to continue for a further two years or enter the job market with the option to re-enter after three years.
Short-term vocational upper secondary education (Nižje poklicno izobraževanje) – From the ages of 15 to 17 and lasting two-and-a-half years to three years;

Around 98% of students continue on to secondary education, 40% of which choose general courses, 30% choose technical and around 30% choose short-course vocational . While there are four distinct pathways, the Slovenian education system is set up in such as way that only two have long-term prospects for students; the general upper secondary education and the vocational upper secondary education.

The short-term vocational upper secondary education is set up for those who have failed basic education and can continue with a special two-and-a-half year course, which upon completion, will allow direct entrance into the first year of any other upper secondary school, and the technical upper secondary education is aimed the preparation of students for either 1) vocational higher education or 2) professionally-oriented higher education.

For those who want to continue with the vocational path, the final stage is the higher vocational education, a two-year post-secondary vocational education at sub-degree level, is provided at higher vocational colleges (višje strokovne šole). The new Higher Vocational Education Act (2004) regulates this level of vocational education separately from the upper secondary level, although it is undergoing several changes imposed by the Bologna process, including modular, broader programmes being made available and the harmonisation of tertiary education .

CVET

The field of CVET is strongly established in the national professional document as a completely equal field in the education system, having been identified as a key element of lifelong learning in the Adult Education Master Plan by the Slovenian Parliament in 2004 . With this document, as well as enabling more resources to be allocated to CVET, four major aims were established:

Improving access to education and learning;
Improving the quality of education and training by modernising programmes, curricula and catalogues of knowledge from the lifelong learning ‘strategic cores’;
The development of the education levels of the elderly; and
The accreditation of prior learning by adults, allowing them to gain national vocational qualifications (National Vocational Qualifications Act of 2006).

The largest share of adult and continuing vocational education and training in Slovenia is provided in non-formal programmes or courses and training and learning activities. According to a 2004 National Institute for Education study on the participation of adults (aged 16 to 64) in education and training, 8% took part in formal education and about 34% took part in non-formal education .

The results of these strategies, however, have been quite striking. Over 17,000 elderly persons are taking part in training programmes and activities, distributed across 31 local universities , as well as an increase in the number of programmes leading to a certificate or diploma in formal school education, from 373 in 1999 to 1040 in 2006 .

Responsibility for the development and implementation of CVET is currently shared by the state and social partners. The Ministry of Education and Sports (Ministsrtvo za solstvo in sport, MSS) is mainly responsible for legislation in the field of formal CVET, including the preparation of methodology for the standards of knowledge and skills in the certification system and regulating the assessment and certification procedures for national vocational qualifications obtained in that same system. Social partners, such as the Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Crafts of Slovenia are the organisations that represent employers in the social dialogue and carry out technical, developmental and counselling work in vocational education. Trade unions also involved, but limited to developing the procedure of certification of national vocational qualifications.

Other training programmes are also offered, in line with other European Partners, including programmes aimed at the unemployed, under the supervision of the Employment Service of Slovenia (ESS), which every year selects providers via public tenders. Their major programme, called 10 000+, has been in existence since 1997 in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Sport and social partners, primarily targeting school drop-outs, those with no vocational qualifications or with vocational qualifications not in demand in the labour market who have been unemployed for more than six months. There are not, however, any state-provided tax incentives to employers to increase investment in education and training of their employees .

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance in Slovenia is somewhat fragmented. Although amendments of the Higher Education Act in 2004 announced the introduction of a full evaluation system, covering all aspects of quality assurance, as well as the establishment of an independent national agency for quality assurance, most of this legislation was abolished with the amendments passed in the Higher Education Act in 2006. While some quality indicators were adopted in October 2007 by the National Council of Experts for Vocational and Technical Education, major differences still exist between formal education and training (which results in a national certificate or diploma), publicly accredited non-formal training courses and non-formal training without public accreditation. The following distinctions are made :

Formal education and training: Must meet guidelines set out in legislation and is based on a self-evaluation model, thought the use of external assessments, amongst other methods.
Publicly accredited programmes: Must meet guidelines set out in legislation, as well as the accreditation of providers, granted by the Ministry of Education and Sport, combined with an element of self-evaluation.
Non-formal training: Quality assurance is linked to public funding and often based on public tenders.

Overall, the education inspectorate is the responsibility of the National Inspectorate for Education and Sport, under the authority of the Ministry of Education and Sport. Higher Education is overseen by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and quality assurance for adult learners comes under the responsibility of the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education, which has also developed a model of self-evaluation for adult education under the name Offering Quality Education to Adults.

EQARF Indicators

The following PDF attachment summarises evidence identified that relates any indicators used at national level to the ten indicators proposed in the EQARF recommendation: EQARF Indicators Slovenia