Easing access to the teaching profession

A new Act on Pedagogical and Professional Staff (138/2019) was adopted addressing both aforementioned issues. It specifies that a practitioner not meeting qualification requirements can be hired as a teacher or trainer for a maximum of 10 hours per week or a maximum of 90 days during the school year.

This act also introduced modularisation of programmes of the so-called complementary pedagogical studies for practitioners. Those who have earlier completed such a programme for one position and would like to move to another position would only need to complete a module focused on the pedagogy part required for the new position.

In November 2020, the education ministry, implementing the Act on Pedagogical and Professional Staff (138/2019), approved a new programme for those (non-qualified) interested in a VET-trainer position. This two-module programme is offered by the Methodological-Pedagogical Centre. A basic module of 140 hours focuses on general pedagogy, psychology and legislation and the second module (100 hours) is subject-specific, focusing on planning, methodology of instruction in workshops, and on occupational health and safety. Existing pedagogical staff not qualified for the training profession can acquire this qualification after successful completion of the second module.

Within the new financial scheme, schools can apply for additional funding to cover the training costs of those employees who were already accepted for qualification studies up to EUR 400 per trainee. This can encourage skilled practitioners not meeting qualification standards to enter teaching/training positions in schools due to reimbursement of costs of their qualification studies.

According to the new amendment of the Act on pedagogical staff and professional staff (138/2019), adopted in October 2021, qualified trainers are now allowed to take over some lessons of the so-called practical exercises within the school-based VET that were previously taught by teachers. Higher education teachers can be encouraged to accept a teaching position in VET school by valuing their experience by skipping the initial phase of the teacher career path level, which is also linked to higher remuneration.

The Education Policy Institute estimates that the shortage of teachers in secondary schools including VET schools varies regionally. While no excess demand is expected in Eastern Slovakia until 2030, a 42% increase in demand is estimated in the Bratislava region, while other regions are expected to see an increase of less than 10%. Therefore the Education Policy Institute, affiliated to the education ministry, suggested regional wage bonuses in November 2022. Bonuses vary across the 16 regions (eight seats of regions and eight vicinities of regional capital cities). This indicates that it is considered more important to prevent leaving schools for alternative jobs and to provide financial incentives to stay in school than further efforts to facilitate access to teaching professions by lowering qualification requirements.

The Bratislava self-governing region extremely suffers from a shortage of teachers. Therefore, in 2022, it fully covered the costs of complementary pedagogical studies to attract not qualified practitioners and the additional qualification studies for the already qualified staff to expand their competences. This was financed from the regional budget of the Bratislava self-governing region as the national financial scheme with a ceiling of EUR 400 per trainee adopted in 2021 was not activated in 2022.

According to job portals, the biggest challenge is finding qualified teachers in physics, informatics and mathematics. Data from the regional information system (RIS) of the education ministry indicate that the lowest share of lesson hours taught expertly (i.e., not only by a qualified teacher in general but by one specifically qualified for the respective subject) is in the subjects of technology in VET schools, IT and subjects with a low number of teaching hours in the programme, such as ethics or civics. In the case of technology and IT, it is due to the lack of qualified teachers. For ethics and civics, it is because of the internal policies: hiring subject specialists is not considered essential by school directors. Instead, coverage by other teaching staff is accepted and welcomed, especially by teachers interested in additional income. Finding solutions for easing access to teaching professions still remains challenging, given the combination of unattractive wages and increasingly demanding working conditions in schools.

The Act on adult education (292/2024), adopted on 30 October 2024, introduced the possibility of acquiring the so-called professional qualification ‘Master’ that can be acquired by assessment of a relevant competence portfolio, thereby easing access to the training position of in-company trainer (instructor) for experienced practitioners. However, no similar measure has been introduced for trainers or teachers in VET schools. Complementary pedagogical studies are still required for experienced people from the business world, with no alternative option to meet the requirements via assessment of competence portfolios. Due to the ongoing staff shortages, reducing pedagogy-related requirements for these roles can be expected in the future.

The ageing and low attractiveness of the teaching/training profession cause a shortage of teachers and trainers. An amendment of the Act on Pedagogical and Professional Staff (138/2019) acknowledges the crisis by introducing a new category of pedagogical staff: pedagogical staff – candidate. This category includes

1. graduates from teacher training bachelor's studies;
2. graduates from non-teaching bachelor's studies; and
3. students who have completed the third year of study in the case of an integrated programme not divided into two cycles.

In all cases, these candidates are not trained in pedagogy and psychology, and completion of traditional complementary pedagogical studies (CPS) is not required to start teaching for a maximum period of two years. This measure is aimed at supporting the immediate involvement of higher education students in teaching. After completion of higher education, these individuals cannot be considered candidates anymore, and regular qualification requirements apply. The CPS remain required for graduates of non-teacher training studies. Nevertheless, a lighter version is under preparation, as confirmed by the Sector Councils Alliance – Sectoral Council for Education and Sport, which is responsible for the elaboration of new requirements to be embedded into the revised CPS regulation.

The new legislation further explicitly recognises two categories of secondary school staff – a teacher of general education and a teacher of vocational education and training. For the latter category, in order to attract specialists, completion of CPS is not required from practitioners with a contract on a maximum of 10 lesson hours weekly, and from practitioners with a PhD title and at least three years of practice in higher education. The earlier reported exemption from fulfilling qualification requirements (not only CPS) for short-term employment remains valid.

Two new ways to become a qualified trainer in VET school (master) are under preparation by the Sector Councils Alliance (SCA), and the third one is expected to result from cooperation with Switzerland within the project ʹImproving quality and attractiveness of vocational education and training (VET) towards labour market needsʹ:

1. A compromise between comparably heavy requirements of complementary pedagogical studies (CPS) for VET school trainers (master) and light requirements for in-company trainers (instructors) is under development, leading to revised CPS with a reduced number of obligatory hours of face-to-face education.
2. The SCA is also entitled to assess the portfolio of practitioners looking for qualification. A precondition for the creation of assessment portfolios is the identification of relevant learning outcomes within the respective qualification card. The SCA is responsible for the development of such a card and for setting validation procedures.
3. One-year study programme at the Comenius University is under development in cooperation with the State Institute of Vocational Education within the aforementioned ‘Swiss project’ as a consequence of newly adopted legislation allowing short tertiary programmes.