- 2022Design
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
According to the Council Recommendation of 24 November 2020 on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, Member States were expected to submit a National implementation plan (NIP) within 18 months of the adoption of the Recommendation. The education ministry submitted the NIP to the European Commission on 31 May 2022.
Objectives
In response to the 2020 Council Recommendation on VET and the Osnabrück Declaration on VET, the education ministry prepared a comprehensive National implementation plan (NIP), which sets out the following eight objectives to address European priorities and achieve national targets:
- excellent, inclusive and accessible VET for all;
- high employment rate of graduates;
- sustainable and competitive fields of study/qualifications in IVET and CVET relevant to labour market needs based on digital and green transition;
- validation and recognition of prior learning;
- increase in adult participation in lifelong learning
- reduction in early school leaving rates through second chance education;
- increase in WBL across all qualifications;
- quality assurance in IVET and CVET.
Description
Eight priority areas were identified in relation to the achievement of the objectives, five of which explicitly target VET, two target lifelong learning in parallel with VET ((f) and (h)) and one targets interlinking general education and VET (e):
- centres of excellence in VET;
- in-company training centres;
- higher VET transformation;
- quality assurance in IVET and CVET;
- prevention of early school leaving;
- basic skills;
- individual learning accounts;
- a new system of lifelong learning introduced by the law on lifelong learning.
All these priority areas are addressed in the Lifelong learning and counselling strategy for 2021-30, adopted by the government on 24 November 2021; all but one (b) are also addressed in the Lifelong learning and counselling strategy action plan 2022-24, approved by the government on 20 April 2022, containing timelines, responsible actors and expected costs jointly financed by the State and the EU.
Explicit measures are set in the NIP for priority areas (a) to (e). Activities related to the other three priority areas have not yet been specified, but many relevant changes are expected from the adoption of a new act on lifelong learning and the first-ever act on adult education that were submitted for internal discussion within the education ministry and its subsidiaries.
Further progress depends on implementation and funding from ESIF. Two national projects, Centres of excellence and Quality, covering priority areas (a) and (d) respectively, are in draft form and are under internal discussion within the State Institute of Vocational Education which is expected to run both projects.
The collapse of the government in October 2022 resulting in the appointment of the interim technocratic government, ruling until new parliamentary elections, has not created favourable conditions for implementing the NIP. This period can be seen as focusing on preparing alternatives in implementing policies and drafting VET- and LLL-related projects envisaged by the Lifelong learning and counselling strategy for 2021-30. A new Government manifesto approved by the parliament on 21 November 2023 finally created the basis for stable policy planning. The first projects to be funded by Programme Slovakia 2021-27 were agreed by the end of the year. These include:
- Centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs), run by the State Institute of Vocational Education;
- Introducing quality management in VET and adult education, also run by the State Institute of Vocational Education.
In addition, two projects indirectly linked to the NIP were agreed, run by the Sector Councils Alliance (SCA):
- Development of professional capacities of social partners;
- Sector Councils Alliance - forecasting of labour market trends and needs.
Both projects are aimed at capacity building of the SCA that is newly empowered by the Act on adult education (292/2024) amending also the Act on VET (61/2015) to affect VET and LLL policies.
A revised version of the NIP, updated to align with the NIP guidelines, was resubmitted to the European Commission on 16 March 2024. It contains eight measures equivalent to the 2022 NIP but elaborated in more detail and titled more precisely. The 2024 NIP interlinks the political priorities of the new government and expert proposals outlined in the Lifelong learning and counselling strategy for 2021-30. It aligns these priorities with the objectives and funding from the meanwhile approved Programme Slovakia 2021-27, which specifies key investment priorities.
The measures of the 2024 NIP are formulated as follows:
- Centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs);
- Supra-company training centres;
- Post-secondary VET transformation - the creation of higher industrial schools;
- Quality assurance in IVET and CVET;
- Prevention of early school leaving (early leaving from education and training);
- Basic skills;
- Individual learning accounts;
- New system of lifelong learning introduced by the new law on lifelong learning.
In addition to two NIP-relevant national projects (large systemic projects funded by EU sources via Programme Slovakia 2021-27) that started in 2023 - namely, the Centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs) with a budget of EUR 15.6 million and Introducing quality management in VET and adult education, with a budget of EUR 6.96 million, funding from Programme Slovakia 2021-27 for other NIP-related activities has also been agreed.
Two national projects funded by Programme Slovakia 2021-27 started in 2024 implementing NIP measures (e) and (g).
- Developing and verifying an early warning system for learners at risk of early school leaving, along with targeted support for learners in the counselling and prevention system, run by the Research Institute of Child Psychology and Pathopsychology with a budget of about EUR 7.67 million;
- System of individual learning accounts - part I: an electronic platform for individual learning accounts (EPIVU platform), run by the education ministry, with a budget of EUR 2.3 million.
In October, a call titled Development of basic skills of adults - the path towards inclusion and employability, with a total allocation of EUR 6 million funded by Programme Slovakia 2021-27, was launched. It invites submitting projects aimed at developing the basic skills of 16 to 65-year-olds with skill deficits hampering their employability. The focus is on developing basic skills, such as reading, math and digital skills. Additional skills, e.g. financial, media and health literacy, green skills, and communication skills, can also be developed, but only as part of the development of the aforementioned skills. This call contributes to implementing NIP measure (f).
The 2024-29 project Improving quality and attractiveness of vocational education and training (VET) towards labour market needs, run by the State Institute of Vocational Education and supported by the Swiss-Slovak Cooperation Programme up to CHF 5.75 million, was launched in September 2024. The project will address the following NIP-relevant activities:
- Supporting the transformation of post-secondary VET by establishing higher industrial schools selected from a shortlist of secondary VET schools (NIP measure (c)). The project will explore the possibility of recognising learning outcomes from the currently offered ISCED 554 programmes (currently offered by secondary VET schools) through credits relevant to bachelor studies in higher education, with a special focus on the IT sector.
- Supporting the creation of supra-company training centres (NIP measure (b)). Two interrelated financial schemes funded by Programme Slovakia 2021-27 are being prepared, one focusing on support for building and expanding the capacities of trainers, instructors and necessary administrative staff assisting small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and small traders to recruit future workers and experts in the field, and the other one focusing on investment in the state-of-the-art equipment for these centres.
Thus, seven out of the eight aforementioned NIP measures are linked to funding vehicles that will either pave the way for direct implementation or create conditions for implementation.
The eighth NIP measure proposed legislative backing for a lifelong learning system through a new act on lifelong learning. In contrast to this proposal, on 30 October 2024, the parliament approved the Act on adult education (292/2024), which, while not providing full coverage for lifelong learning, addresses several important topics within the framework.
Furthermore, a 2024-29 project titled Support for the development of evidence-based policies, which is indirectly linked to the NIP, was launched with a budget of EUR 2.39 million. It is aimed at strengthening both ex-ante and ex-post analyses and monitoring at all education levels including VET. The project run by the education ministry is funded by Programme Slovakia 2021-27.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth
- Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport (until 2024)
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
- Young people (15-29 years old)
- Young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs)
- Learners at risk of early leaving or/and early leavers
- Adult learners
- Unemployed and jobseekers
- Persons in employment, including those at risk of unemployment
- Low-skilled/qualified persons
- Learners from other groups at risk of exclusion (minorities, people with fewer opportunities due to geographical location or social-economic disadvantaged position)
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)
- National, regional and local authorities
Other
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 to the integration of VET into economic, industrial, innovation, social and employment strategies, including those linked to recovery, green and digital transitions, and where VET is seen as a driver for innovation and growth. It includes national, regional, sectoral strategic documents or initiatives that make VET an integral part of broader policies, or applying a mix of policies to address an issue VET is part of, e.g. in addressing youth unemployment measures through VET, social and active labour market policies that are implemented in combination. National skill strategies aiming at quality and inclusive lifelong learning also fall into this sub-category.
This thematic sub-category refers to the ways VET is funded at the system level. Policies include optimisation of VET provider funding that allows them to adapt their offer to changing skill needs, green and digital transitions, the social agenda and economic cycles, e.g. increasing the funding for VET or for specific programmes. They can also concern changing the mechanism of how the funding is allocated to VET schools (per capita vs based on achievement or other criteria). Using EU funds and financial instruments for development of VET and skills also falls into this sub-category.
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.
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 promoting equality of opportunities
- VET underpinned by a culture of quality assurance
Osnabrück Declaration
- Resilience and excellence through quality, inclusive and flexible VET
- Establishing a new lifelong learning culture - relevance of continuing VET and digitalisation
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). National implementation plan: Slovakia: 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/44321