Slovenia - Administration, Finance, & Educational Research

Responsibility for educational administration in Slovenia rests primarily with the Ministry of Education and Sports. The Ministry drafts national policies on education, science, and sport; plans for the structuring and funding of educational institutions; manages public educational institutions; inspects schools; and administers financial aid. The Ministry also prepares legislation regarding education, science, and sport and must implement the laws and administrative regulations pertaining to these areas. The scope of the Ministry's tasks includes not only all levels of education within Slovenia but also the education of ethnic and national minorities such as the Roma, Italians, and Hungarians living in Slovenia and the education of the Slovenian minorities living in Austria, Hungary, and Italy. Educating special needs children and youth within Slovenia and providing supplementary courses worldwide in the Slovene language and culture also fall within the realm of the Ministry, as do initial and in-service training programs for Slovenia's teachers. In addition to the Ministry of Education and Sport, the Ministry of Science and Technology plays a significant role in developing and implementing international cooperation and exchange programs involving higher education institutions. The Ministry of Health, Families, and Welfare arranges specialized training in medicine for medical students in Slovenia, placing students in training programs connecting university institutions and clinics.

Various government councils also have been created to oversee the development of plans for education reforms in specific areas. For example, the National Curriculum Council with its associated subject-oriented committees was charged with developing new curricula for use in Slovenia's schools until the late 1990s when it was replaced by Councils of Experts for general, vocational and technical, and adult education, who adopted new curricula in line with the education reforms being made. The new curricula reflected a non-ideological (i.e., non-socialist) approach in presenting course content, and pedagogical emphasis was placed on developing learning and problem-solving skills in students instead of on rote memorization. Teaching students how to learn moved to the forefront, replacing earlier emphases on the teaching of specific content. The Council for Higher Education provides the government with advice on legislation pertaining to higher education and helps plan and implement higher education policies. Facilitating cooperation among various higher education institutions is also the responsibility of this council. The Association of Rectors of Slovenia and the Council for Science and Technology are two other significant bodies charged with educational planning and oversight. The EU Programmes Agency in Ljubljana and the Office of International Relations of the Ministry of Education and Sport promote cooperation with higher education programs and institutions in the European Union member states and other parts of the world. Associations of teachers and students are also increasingly active in Slovenia. The Slovenian Student Union is the principal national student association, headquartered in Ljubljana. Various student associations attached to the universities also exist, as well as a new Disabled Student Association. The Slovenian Society of Teachers is the principal professional association for educators in the country.

Financing education is one of the chief responsibilities of the government of the Republic of Slovenia. In 1995 about 12.6 percent of public spending and 5.8 percent of Slovenia's GNP was dedicated to education. The same year, 16.9 percent of the public funds expended on education supported higher education, and the amount spent on each tertiary student was equivalent to 38.0 percent of the GNP per capita. Basic and secondary education are free in Slovenia. Costs for attending public universities are more reasonable, on the whole, than in the European Union member states. Tuition in the late 1990s, for example, was generally less than US$1,500 per year in the social sciences and humanities and less than US$2,000 for other disciplines at the undergraduate level. For Master's and specialist programs, tuition costs were up to US$2,250 in the social sciences and humanities and US$3,000 in other disciplines. At the doctoral level, a year's tuition in the social sciences and humanities ranged up to US$2,250 for students who had already completed a Master's program or specialist degree studies and US$4,500 for those who had not; in other disciplines the comparable figures ranged up to US$3,000 and US$6,000, depending on the discipline (social sciences and humanities versus other disciplines).

Administrative responsibility for educational research in Slovenia also falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Sport. Educational research is conducted in conjunction with the regular activities of the teacher-training institutes in the higher education system as well as by a special government council, the Ministry of Education and Sport, and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.