- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
On 12 March 2020, the government declared an extraordinary situation for the whole country due to a second level public health threat. This triggered crisis management that partially restricted the rights of citizens and businesses, especially quarantine-type measures and wearing face masks. On 16 March 2020, the government declared a state of emergency in some districts, primarily to provide the necessary health care.
Teleworking was heavily used. Beginning from 16 March 2020, all schools and school facilities were closed for two weeks and later until further notice. The rapid and drastic measures aimed at social distancing led to the moderate course of the pandemic in Slovakia. In the fast-track legislative procedure, 18 crisis-responsive laws were adopted, of which 16 (including changes in education) had the full support of the opposition.
Objectives
Following the declaration of the extraordinary situation and the state of emergency, the education ministry had to act in accordance with the crisis management measures:
- harmonising procedures for dealing with employment relationships with teachers and other staff who were unable to work at school;
- adapting the content and forms of distance learning;
- adjusting institutional procedures (especially concerning the admission procedure and the completion of studies).
Description
After the closure of schools, teachers began spontaneously to move to distance learning using communication platforms (such as Zoom); at the same time, the burden of work was transferred onto learners and households. Very soon, the need to ease the school's pressure to evaluate learners' performance from a distance became apparent, partly because it is not easy to distinguish learners' own performance from domestic support and also because the conditions for domestic performance are very uneven in Slovakia.
In the guideline of 6 April 2020, the education ministry formulated the basic principles for the assessment of learners at a time of interrupted teaching to:
- ensure fairness in the evaluation of each learner by respecting the individual conditions for home preparation and distance education;
- focus on providing verbal feedback;
- accept the uniqueness of learners' educational conditions.
Closure of schools activated social networking, sharing digital products, and authorities sending information via diverse digital channels. To prevent fragmentation of information flows, a one-stop-shop approach was offered to all interested people. On 25 March, the education ministry launched a 'crisis' website (We teach remotely website). The aim was to help all interested parties find their way through the heavy load of information, recommendations and guidelines, as well as to help learners by offering digital educational content. Over...
After the closure of schools, teachers began spontaneously to move to distance learning using communication platforms (such as Zoom); at the same time, the burden of work was transferred onto learners and households. Very soon, the need to ease the school's pressure to evaluate learners' performance from a distance became apparent, partly because it is not easy to distinguish learners' own performance from domestic support and also because the conditions for domestic performance are very uneven in Slovakia.
In the guideline of 6 April 2020, the education ministry formulated the basic principles for the assessment of learners at a time of interrupted teaching to:
- ensure fairness in the evaluation of each learner by respecting the individual conditions for home preparation and distance education;
- focus on providing verbal feedback;
- accept the uniqueness of learners' educational conditions.
Closure of schools activated social networking, sharing digital products, and authorities sending information via diverse digital channels. To prevent fragmentation of information flows, a one-stop-shop approach was offered to all interested people. On 25 March, the education ministry launched a 'crisis' website (We teach remotely website). The aim was to help all interested parties find their way through the heavy load of information, recommendations and guidelines, as well as to help learners by offering digital educational content. Over time, the portal has been redesigned and offers updated structured information, such as:
- terms / recommendations / guidelines / overview of communication platforms to support online teaching;
- an overview of support tools for teachers, other pedagogical and professional staff, parents and learners;
- a database into which all available educational resources are gradually migrated, filtered by level of education, subject type of resource and language.
From 26 March 2020, a toll-free call centre is also available to the public.
In addition to this portal, which is relevant for all schools and learners, there is also a specialised portal focused on VET, managed by the State Institute of Vocational Education. This portal also provides information on administrative issues as well as digital education content broken down into sectors of the economy. For example, in the section Technical and applied chemistry, there are digital materials newly developed within the ChemTube Erasmus+ project, provided by the Association of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry of the Slovak Republic to assist VET schools and VET learners.
Distance learning cannot replace direct contact with devices and technologies, so it is not possible to implement practical teaching in its entirety. The expected number of hours of unrealised practical teaching due to the interruption of teaching from 16 March 2020 varies from 6% to 14% of the total volume of the practical component, depending on the year and the programme. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on theoretical teaching in times of crisis and to move part of practical teaching to higher grades.
It is also recommended to strengthen cooperation between schools and businesses:
- providing schools with and enabling the use of videos from individual production lines, processes, machinery, technologies and simulations available to companies in accordance with company policy;
- providing schools with internal teaching materials of the company (in accordance with company policy), about their suitability to consult with the school pedagogical staff;
- allowing teachers/students external access to the internal training system that companies have for their employees, in line with company policy.
In the dual education system, it is therefore recommended that schools agree with training companies on the transfer of curricula that have not been taught at the time of interruption. The transfer of the corresponding part of the content of practical teaching can be done in the form of an addendum to the school education programme which, according to the law, is autonomously processed by the school (cooperation on this with training companies is possible).
The most important issues (both administratively and due to the impact on learners) were the completion of studies and enrolment in programmes.
The final year in secondary schools, including VET schools, ended on 7 May 2020. All types of school-leaving exams were replaced by an administrative act of the examination commission. Several new regulations on the graduation procedure for respective schools and programme types were issued in April 2020.
A specific algorithm has been designed to achieve comparable and as much as possible 'fair' assessment of learners completing their studies without passing the school-leaving examination. The evaluation in the individual parts of the relevant examination is obtained as the arithmetic average of the end-year marks from all grades and the half-yearly marks from the last two years from the group of (related) subjects. This solution fits theory-based programmes better than the practice-oriented ones. It remained open how to take into account the results of several productive activities of VET learners that are also traditionally assessed. Schools were free to adjust suggested regulation in the case of practice-oriented programmes (ISCED 353).
The new regulation on the admission procedure was announced by the education ministry on 29 April 2020. There was a forced transfer of deadlines and a decision that the admission procedure would be based on an administrative decision (without an entrance examination). The criteria of the admission procedure took into account the study results of the applicant in the eighth-year basic school and for the first half of the ninth year of basic school in compulsory, profile and supplementary subjects. Compulsory subjects are Slovak language (or the language of instruction) and mathematics. The selection of profile (maximum three) and additional subjects (maximum five), other criteria and the overall procedure for determining the calculation of the applicant's score were set by schools according to the school profile on the basis of Annex No 2 of the minister's decision.
In the beginning of the school year 2020/21, all schools were open under social distancing and sanitary restrictions. On 26 October 2020, severe deterioration led to the closing of secondary schools, including VET schools. On 11 December 2020, a regulation setting a COVID-19 traffic lights system for schools was issued, describing indicators and activities of schools in individual phases. It includes a green phase (schools operate applying social distancing and sanitary restrictions), an orange phase (partial closure of schools) and a red phase (full closure of schools).
In contrast to the previous school year, in 2020/21 only national testing in languages and mathematics (the so-called external part of the maturita school-leaving examination) was cancelled, with the aim of maintaining the oral part. On the eve of the examination period, the education ministry decided again to replace face-to-face examination with final assessment of learners based on previous learning results. The representatives of secondary school learners requested the education ministry to cancel the examination in the 2021/22 school year, for reasons of worsened access to education. The ministry rejected the request, though more time for examinees to fulfil tasks within regular examinations was permitted.
From 8 February 2021, the COVID-19 traffic light system was in place, with seven colour-coded phases with indicators, criteria and control measures. Learners in final years were allowed to enter face-to-face education and training from Phase 4, but in Phases 6 and 7, this was on condition of a negative COVID-19 result. The decision on the application of measures was decentralised, as respective phases were identified for 79 districts; reopening schools depended on regional/local conditions. The school traffic light system for the 2021/22 school year was issued on 17 August 2021 in a simplified version. According to a related manual, schools are no longer closed, unless a pandemic is officially declared by the regional health authority. Education is only interrupted in classes with a positive COVID-19 test of learners or teachers. Parents are offered AG tests for free to allow self-testing of learners in households. As a consequence of the deterioration of the pandemic, all schools were closed by 13 December, 1 week before the Christmas holiday lasting to 7 January 2022.
The State Institute of Vocational Education, in cooperation with the Employer Council for Dual VET (later renamed to the Employer Council for VET due to the expanded scope of operation), issued updated information for employers and schools setting conditions for the provision of education in schools and training in company facilities during the pandemic from 3 March 2021. The decision of the minister on closing schools or interruption of education did not explicitly mention training in company premises. Information for employers and VET schools prepared by the Employer Council for Dual VET recommended continuing in the provision of training in these premises for dual learners as well as for learners who are served based on the contract between a school and a company under the condition prescribed by the national health authority for employees. Respective information was issued by the State Institute of Vocational Education on 10 December 2021, with validity from 13 December, and on 7 January, with validity from 10 January 2022. This information for employers and VET schools also refers comprehensively to the education ministry measures, such as assessment of learners and provision of digital learning materials (We teach remotely website, Let's learn at home web portal, Viki web portal).
A revised version of the school traffic light system was in place from 4 February 2022 and a related manual for school directors from 7 February 2022. A new regulation loosened the rules of quarantine. From 10 January 2022, it was possible to carry out all school activities including mobilities within the Erasmus plus programme unless local limitations were announced by the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic.
As a consequence of the improvement in the epidemic situation, the state of emergency was lifted on 23 February 2022. Subsequently, from 28 February 2022, new regulations of the education ministry came into force, leaving it up to school directors and school maintainers to decide on granting days off for learners susceptible to COVID-19 or closing classes completely. The education ministry reiterates the obligation to ensure the provision of distance education for affected learners.
New rules were adopted on the procedures for completing programmes, the most important of which was the extension of time allowed for learners to complete the external component of the 'maturita' school leaving examination. 111 secondary general and VET schools received funding for the provision of tutoring from 17 January to 17 June 2022 for an estimated participation of 4 000 learners within the call Together more successful 2, with an estimated total cost of EUR 857 575 from the National recovery and resilience plan.
Since 1 September 2022, a new regulation applies, which provides a comprehensive description of duties and rights. Parents are required to submit a signed declaration of non-visible signs of illness and schools are obliged to deliver distance education for learners forced to stay at home. Many administrative duties of schools and founders were made more flexible.
In April 2023, with the improving COVID-19 epidemic situation, restrictions on gathering of pupils were cancelled, and in August 2023, the education ministry cancelled requirements for proof of infection-free status and all restrictions regarding the education process. However, two significant post-COVID impacts were noted: deterioration in well-being and escape to the digital world, reported by practitioners. Strengthened influence of social networks and online gaming led to a substantial increase in online presence and even 'screen addiction'. These topics about the well-being and digital overexposure of learners and youth became significant topics in the national discourse.
An amendment to the Education Act (245/2008), adopted in October 2024, introduced regulations on mobile phone use in primary and lower secondary education. A discussion concerning appropriate solutions for upper secondary education is ongoing. The possibility of a negative impact of the excessive use of mobile phones on learning capacities was a subject of discussion at the Curricular Council affiliated with the education ministry.
The education ministry, in cooperation with the Institute for Strategies and Analysis (ISA), an analytical unit at the Government Office, identified the creation of a safe and healthy school environment as a key priority of policymaking in the education sector. Systematic monitoring of the mental health of children, pupils and students in Slovakia is notably lacking, which evokes the need to improve mental health services. To address this, a national project is under preparation titled 'The introduction of systematic and long-term monitoring of the mental health of children, pupils and students in Slovakia by monitoring their educational, cognitive, emotional and social development'. The project aims to develop recommendations and proposals for evidence-based policymaking in the mental health of children and youth.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth
- State Institute of Vocational Education (ŠIOV)
- Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport (until 2024)
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
Education professionals
- Teachers
- Trainers
- School leaders
Entities providing VET
- VET providers (all kinds)
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
This thematic sub-category is about the way learners learn, how the learning is delivered to them, and by what means. Programmes become more accessible through a combination of adaptable and flexible formats (e.g. face-to-face, digital and/or blended learning), through digital learning platforms that allow better outreach, especially for vulnerable groups and for learners in geographically remote or rural areas.
This thematic sub-category focuses on developing and updating all kinds of learning resources and materials, both for learners and for teachers and trainers (e.g. teachers handbooks or manuals), to embrace current and evolving content and modes of learning. These activities target all kinds of formats: hard copy and digital publications, learning websites and platforms, tools for learner self-assessment of progress, ICT-based simulators, virtual and augmented reality, etc.
Teachers, trainers and school leaders competences
Competent and motivated VET teachers in schools and trainers in companies are crucial to VET becoming innovative and relevant, agile, resilient, flexible, inclusive and lifelong.
This thematic category comprises policies and practices of initial training and continuing professional development approaches in a systemic and systematic manner. It also looks at measures aiming to update (entry) requirements and make teaching and training careers attractive and bring more young and talented individuals and business professionals into teaching and training. Supporting VET educators by equipping them with adequate competences, skills and tools for the green transition and digital teaching and learning are addressed in separate thematic sub-categories.
The measures in this category target teachers and school leaders, company trainers and mentors, adult educators and guidance practitioners.
This thematic sub-category is in line with the EU policy focus on the digital transition, and refers to professional development and other measures to prepare and support teachers and trainers in teaching their learners digital skills and competences. It also covers measures and support for them to increase their own digital skills and competences, including for teaching in virtual environments, working with digital tools and applying digital pedagogies. Emergency measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic also fall into this sub-category.
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to all kinds of incentives that encourage learners to take part in VET and lifelong learning; VET providers to improve, broaden and update their offer; companies to provide places for apprenticeship and work-based learning, and to stimulate and support learning of their employees. It also includes measures addressing specific challenges of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) willing to create work-based learning opportunities in different sectors. Incentives can be financial (e.g. grants, allowances, tax incentives, levy/grant mechanisms, vouchers, training credits, individual learning accounts) and non-financial (e.g. information/advice on funding opportunities, technical support, mentoring).
This thematic sub-category refers to making VET pathways and programmes inclusive and accessible for all. It concerns measures and targeted actions to increase access and participation in VET and lifelong learning for learners from all vulnerable groups, and to support their school/training-to-work transitions. It includes measures to prevent early leaving from education and training. The thematic sub-category covers measures promoting gender balance in traditionally ‘male’ and ‘female’ professions and addressing gender-related and other stereotypes. The vulnerable groups are, but not limited to: persons with disabilities; the low-qualified/-skilled; minorities; persons of migrant background, including refugees; people with fewer opportunities due to their geographical location and/or their socioeconomically disadvantaged circumstances.
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Measures to alleviate the crisis caused by the coronavirus: Slovakia. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/36034