Training

The educational system in Slovakia is well developed at all levels. Most children go to preschool from the age of three and start primary school when they turn six. The compulsory school covers nine years. More than nine out of ten pupils continue to high school.

At the upper secondary level, students can choose between different vocational programs and programs that prepare them for higher studies. There are a number of private schools, some of which are run by the Catholic Church. The language of instruction is usually Slovak, but in some areas there are schools with teaching in Hungarian, Romani, German, Bulgarian or Routine. At the high school, there are an average of 28 students in each class.

• COUNTRYAAH: Country facts of Slovakia, including geography profile, population statistics, and business data.

Roman children, who often do not master the Slovak language at the start of school, are rarely placed in any kind of special schools or special classes even though it violates the law. This means that they do not have sufficient knowledge for further studies. Only a few percent of the Romans complete high school.

In Slovakia there are about thirty universities and colleges. The oldest is the University of Bratislava, founded in 1467. Since the beginning of the 2000s, there is a Hungarian-speaking university in the city of Komárno. The number of students at the higher education institutions has increased from 90,000 in the mid-1990s to 140,000 in 2010.

• Educationvv: Provides school and education information in Slovakia, covering middle school, high school and college education.

FACTS – EDUCATION

Number of pupils per teacher in primary school

15 (2015)

Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP

10.3 percent (2015)

Public expenditure on education as a percentage of the state budget

10.3 percent (2015)

2017

September

Protests against refugee quotas are rejected

September 6

The European Court of Justice rejects Hungary and Slovakia’s protest against the quotas for the distribution of refugees within the Union decided by the European Commission. The Court finds that the quotas are designed to relieve the burden on the major beneficiary countries Greece and Italy jointly. The decision cannot be appealed. Of the 160,000 refugees to be distributed among EU countries in September 2015, almost 28,000 were received by other countries. Hungary’s quota was 1,294 and Slovakia’s 802. Hungary has not received one of these and Slovakia only a dozen. Poland had not appealed to the court but also refused to accept allowance refugees. The Hungarian government describes the court decision as “irresponsible” and a threat to the security of Europe as a whole. The Slovak and Polish governments say that their resistance to receiving refugees from other EU countries is firm.

August

“Government crisis solved”, but unclear how

August 15th

The three government parties say that the crisis is over and that they will continue the cooperation. The party leaders say that they should draw up a timetable for how the government agreement should be reworked. What changes should be made are not stated. Prime Minister Fico emphasizes that Slovakia’s main interest is to belong to the core of closely cooperating EU countries, not the EU-skeptical group of countries in Eastern Europe, and that a fresh election would put an end to all plans to join the internal circle.

The coalition government is cracking down

August 7th

The right-wing nationalist and EU skeptic party SNS leaves the government coalition and demands that the agreement that formed the basis for government cooperation be “adjusted”. A spokesman for Prime Minister Fico said that new talks should start immediately and that SNS leader Andrej Danko is expected to explain his “absurd” action. The third government party, the Hungarian minority’s Bridge, says that everyone is resolved to resolve the crisis. The three parties have 79 of the 150 seats in Parliament and none of them are believed to be interested in a new election.

July

Protests against refugee distribution are rejected

July 26

The European Court’s chief adviser, the Advocate General, rejects the appeal by Slovakia and Hungary of the quota for the distribution of refugees adopted by the European Commission in 2015. The Court does not have to follow the Advocate General’s advice, but usually does. A decision is to wait after the summer.

June

Protests against corruption

June 5

Nearly 10,000 people are demonstrating in Bratislava against alleged corruption in the state administration and the judiciary’s inability to bring influential people to justice. The protests are mainly directed at Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák, who had financial relations with a businessman who is being investigated for tax fraud. The protesters demand that Kaliňák, who is regarded as a second man in the government party Smer-SD, resign. Resignation claims are also being directed against National Police Chief Tibor Gašpar and Special Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik, who are accused of not dealing with the corruption.

May

Prosecutors want to ban right-wing extremists

May 25

Prosecutors urge the Supreme Court to ban the right-wing extremist party L’SNS on the grounds that it is a threat to democracy. The party is the third largest in Parliament since the 2016 election and is heavily profiled on resistance to immigration and against the country’s large Roma minority.

April

Mass protest against corruption

April 18

In one of the biggest government-critical demonstrations of several years, at least 5,000 Slovaks are protesting against the corruption in the country, demanding the resignation of Socialist Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák. He is accused of being in close contact with a property manager who is suspected of tax evasion. The protesters also demand that a six-year-old investigation into the links between bourgeois politicians and businessmen be published.

Mosque ban is stopped

April 5

Parliament approves a proposal to ban mosques in Slovakia; However, the country is the only one in the EU that completely lacks an official mosque.

March

Law on religious communities comes into force

March 1st

A law requiring a religious community to have at least 50,000 members in order to be officially registered and thus eligible for state support comes into force. In December, President Kiska vetoed the law, which was considered to discriminate against Muslims, but in January, Parliament adopted it again, thus running over the president.

February

Special police against extremism and hatred

February 1st

The government creates a special police force to fight extremism, terrorism and hate crime. Prime Minister Fico justifies the decision with the increasing fascism in much of Europe and so in Slovakia. Since 2016, the closest neo-Nazi People’s Party our Slovakia has been represented in the Slovak Parliament and several members have stirred upset with Islamophobic and anti-Semitic outlets. But Fico himself has been criticized for refusing to admit Muslim refugees into the country and blaming the high unemployment rate in some areas of the Roma.