- 2021Design
- 2022Design
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
There are centres of VET (CeVETs) established based on the Act on VET. According to the Act on VET No 184/2009, having state-of-the-art equipment in VET schools was the main prerequisite for upgrading. According to the Act on VET No 61/2015, the ability to offer reskilling and upskilling was also required. Respective professional or employer organisations could prescribe also additional prerequisites. The CeVETs were created in cooperation with regional authorities and respective professional or employer organisations. Dissatisfaction with the performance of some CeVETs led to the need to revise decisions on recognising some schools as CeVETs. According to the 2018 amendment of the Act on VET, professional and employer organisations are entitled to downgrade a CeVET to a regular VET school. Furthermore, there was also a need to reflect the European initiative on establishing centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs). Initiated by the Lifelong learning and counselling strategy for 2021-30 and directly referring to the 2020 European skills agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, a project aimed at establishing CoVEs is in progress.
Objectives
In addition to the provision of IVET and CVET (upskilling, reskilling), centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs) must offer retraining of teachers, head instructors and instructors, offer work-based learning opportunities for dual learners contracted by SMEs (as SMEs often lack the full technological resources or capacity to cover the full scope of a qualification), and be an interface between basic schools (lower secondary education in particular) and VET schools and between VET schools and higher education institutions to support career choices and VET-related aspects. CoVEs will be responsible for the validation and recognition of non-formal and informal learning. These centres should support regional development, and reflect research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation (RIS3) developing into an integrative part of skills ecosystems and the knowledge triangle of research, education and innovation. CoVEs in Slovakia should comply with the European initiative and participate in international activities within 'platforms of centres of vocational excellence' in the future.
Description
The creation of CoVEs is determined by the Lifelong learning and counselling strategy for 2021-30 adopted by the government on 24 November 2021. According to the strategy's action plan, a pilot phase to transform some of the existing centres of VET into CoVES was scheduled to start in 2022, co-funded by ESIF (specific objective 1.4 'Developing skills for smart specialisation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship' under Operational programme Slovakia 2021-27). About 20 CoVEs should have been originally created with stakeholder involvement. New legislation to provide a detailed legal basis for these centres is expected from an amendment to the Act on VET in the pipeline.
The envisaged transformation of some current centres of VET (CeVETs) into CoVEs is embedded in the Lifelong learning and counselling strategy for 2021-30 adopted by the government on 24 November 2021 and in the Operational programme Slovakia 2021-27.
Programme Slovakia 2021-27, replacing six operational programmes of the previous programming period, was approved by the European Commission on 23 November 2022 boosting also the elaboration of the final version of the national project 'Centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs)'. A project proposal prepared by the State Institute of Vocational Education aimed to establish the first 12 CoVEs equipped with state-of-the-art technology. Discussions on equipment details of respective centres were ongoing.
The main goal of this 2023-27 ESF+ project, with a budget of EUR 15.6 million is a comprehensive setup of the system with a minimum of eight pilot CoVEs with full functionality. Implementation started with exploiting international experience and quality instruments such as EQAVET to identify dimensions of excellence appropriate for functions of CoVEs and key performance indicators related to respective dimensions. The Self-assessment tool for excellence guided the process, resulting in 15 areas of excellence prescribed for CoVE candidates: Curriculum, Educational process, Programme structure, Cooperation with partners, Professional development of pedagogical staff, Career counselling, Management and resources, Lifelong learning, Innovation in education, Digitisation, Green solutions and sustainability, Inclusion and equal opportunities, Business operations and entrepreneurship, Feedback data, and Safety at schools. Key performance indicators (KPIs), along with descriptions (clarification) of respective KPIs and assessment criteria, were finalised for each area.
On 11 October 2024, the government announced 12 selected CoVE candidates based on stakeholder evaluations and the potentials of the respective schools. These centres are currently encompassing 18 schools across Slovakia. Some centres face challenges in linking with research and development. Only two centres are located in major university centres (Bratislava and Košice). The selected schools will receive funding of EUR 25 million from the EFRD for equipment. Detailed investment plans will be prepared within the call for proposals expected by the end of 2024. The pre-selected schools currently work on their 'quality strategy for CoVEs' including justification of development plans and related investments as a precondition for drawing from EFRD funds.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth
- Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family
- Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatisation
- Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport (until 2024)
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
- Young people (15-29 years old)
- Adult learners
Education professionals
- Teachers
- Trainers
- School leaders
- Adult educators
- Guidance practitioners
Entities providing VET
- Companies
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
- VET providers (all kinds)
Other stakeholders
- Social partners (employer organisations and trade unions)
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 infrastructure
This thematic category looks at how VET schools and companies providing VET are supported to update and upgrade their physical infrastructure for teaching and learning, including digital and green technologies, so that learners in all VET programmes and specialities have access to state-of-the-art equipment and are able to acquire relevant and up-to-date vocational and technical skills and competences. Modernising infrastructure in remote and rural areas increases the inclusiveness of VET and LLL.
This thematic sub-category refers to measures for modernising physical infrastructure, equipment and technology needed to acquire vocational skills in VET schools and institutions that provide CVET or adult learning, including VET school workshops and labs.
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 refers to the establishment and development of Centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs). These centres support the development of VET, including at higher qualification levels (EQF 5-8), cooperation of VET, higher education and research. They build on strong local business investment and support recovery, green and digital transitions, European and regional innovation and smart specialisation strategies. They provide innovative services, such as clusters and business incubators for start-ups, technology innovation for SMEs and innovative reskilling solutions for workers at risk of redundancy. The thematic sub-category is not limited to the centres supported by Erasmus+ funding.
Transparency and portability of VET skills and qualifications
European principles and tools, such as EQF, ESCO, ECTS, Europass and ECVET, provide a strong basis for transparency and portability of national and sectoral qualifications across Europe, including the issuing of digital diplomas and certificates.
This thematic category looks at how individuals are supported in transferring, accumulating, and validating skills and competences acquired in formal, non-formal and informal settings – including learning on the job – and in having their learning recognised towards a qualification at any point of their lives. This is only possible if qualifications are transparent and comparable and are part of comprehensive national qualifications frameworks. Availability of qualifications smaller than full and acquirable in shorter periods of time is necessary; some countries have recently worked on developing partial qualifications, microcredentials, etc.
This thematic sub-category refers to validation mechanisms allowing individuals to accumulate, transfer, and recognise learning outcomes acquired non-formally and informally, including on-the-job learning, or in another formal system. In case they are not automatically recognised, a learner can have these learning outcomes validated and recognised through a particular process with a view to obtaining a partial or full qualification. This thematic sub-category covers such provisions and mechanisms.
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 ensuring smooth transitions (permeability) of learners within the entire education and training system, horizontally and vertically. It includes measures and policies allowing learners easily or by meeting certain conditions to move from general education programmes to VET and vice versa; to increase qualification levels in their vocation through the possibility of attending vocational programmes at higher levels, including professional degrees in higher education. It also covers opening up learning progression by introducing flexible pathways that are based on the validation and recognition of the outcomes of non-formal and informal learning.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- VET agile in adapting to labour market challenges
- Flexibility and progression opportunities at the core of VET
- VET as a driver for innovation and growth preparing for digital and green transitions and occupations in high demand
- VET as an attractive choice based on modern and digitalised provision of training and skills
- VET underpinned by a culture of quality assurance
Osnabrück Declaration
- Resilience and excellence through quality, inclusive and flexible VET
- Sustainability - a green link in VET
- European Education and Training Area and international VET
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Creation of centres of excellence in VET: Slovakia. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/lv/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/41675