Care for children from 6 months to 3 years of age is provided by facilities of care for children up to 3 years of age, formerly known as nurseries. Nurseries are not a part of the educational system, they are considered and organised as a social service to support the reconciliation of family and work life. 

Parents can choose their preferred nursery, but children living in the local area are usually given priority in the admissions process.

More information can be found in chapter Organisation of Programmes for Children under 2-3 years.

Preprimary education (ISCED 0.2) in the Slovak Republic is provided in kindergartens, which are usually designed for children aged between 3 and 6 years.

With effect from 1 September 2021, pre-primary education is compulsory for any child who reaches the age of 5 years by 31 August in compliance with the Education Act. Children will be admitted to compulsory pre-primary education from the 2021/2022 school year. These children will be given priority in the admissions process.

Children younger than 5 years of age are not legally entitled to a place in a kindergarten.

Parents can choose their preferred kindergarten. Kindergartens can stipulate that, in case of increased demand, they will give priority to children from the municipality or locality in question, children of employed parents, etc.

In accordance with the Education Act in the Slovak Republic the compulsory school attendance takes ten years and lasts until the end of the school year in which the pupil attains the age of 16 years. Compulsory school attendance starts at the age of 6 years. If the child who has attained the age of 6 is not adequately physically or mentally developed, the guardian of the child shall apply for, or the preschool facility shall propose, the postponement of the start of compulsory school attendance by one school year, upon examination by the respective counselling (psychological) establishment.

In 2002 the possibility of establishing zero grade in primary school for children who attained the age of six years has been laid down, but they have not reached yet the school maturity; they come from socially disadvantaged background and owing to their social and language environment there is no prerequisite in them to master the subject matter of grade 1 of primary school in one school year. 

Primary and lower secondary education is provided by primary school, which has two stages:

1. stage - grades 1-4 (ISCED 1) and
2. stage - grades 5-9 (ISCED 2).

After successful completion of primary school the pupils continue fulfilling compulsory school attendance in the first grade of secondary school. 

More information in chapter Organisation of Single Structure Education.

Secondary schools provide general or vocational type of higher secondary education (ISCED 3).

Gymnasium (also called secondary grammar school) provides general secondary education and prepares students for the study at higher education institutions.

More information in chapter Organisation of Upper Secondary Education.

General education is a part of education at secondary vocational schools and conservatories with orientation on vocational training. Secondary vocational schools provide preparation for the execution of professional activities, mainly technical, economical, pedagogical, health, socio-legal, administrative, artistic and cultural, but also for the study at the higher education institution.

The conservatory provides for complex artistic and artistic-pedagogical education. It prepares pupils for professional artistic employment and for teaching artistic and special subjects in educational programmes of artistic orientation.

More information in chapter Organisation of Vocational and Technical Upper Secondary Education.

Education at primary schools and secondary schools is free. In other than public schools education may be provided for a fee.

The system of schools also includes basis art schools and language schools,  which provide education in arts and foreign languages according to the respective educational programme.

Higher education (ISCED 6-8) can be provided only by higher education institutions, which can be public, state and private institutions. Military and police higher education institutions are the state budgetary organisations, health-care higher education institutions are state semi-budgetary organisations.

More information in chapter Types of Higher Education Institutions.

Further education is provided by institutions of further education follows the level of education achieved in school education.

More information in chapter Institutions Providing Adult Education and Training.

Home education

Home education has been possible in Slovakia since 2008, when a new Education act allowed education of pupils at home under the term ‘individual education’. Home education is allowed to first level primary school pupils (ISCED 1).

Parents can ask the headteacher of the school the pupil was enrolled to for the permission for home education and for pupil’s exemption from attending school. The application for home education must be accompanied with the following documents submitted by the pupil’s parents 

• individual educational programme principles and goals of which must be in compliance with the Education act, 
• description of space and ,
• a list of textbooks and learning materials to be used in homeschooling. 

The parent of a pupil who was permitted to be home education must provide a person who will be responsible for pupil’s home education. The person must meet the qualification criteria set for teachers at the first level of primary school - that is the second degree of higher education. The person will be financially remunerated.

The pupil will then take commission exams in the respective subject matter in each compulsory subject every half year. The school will issue a certificate to the pupil based on the commission examination results.

Monitoring of the quality of education in home education is performed by the State School Inspection. Monitoring of professional-pedagogical and material provision of  education is performed by the school the pupil was enrolled to. Therefore, parents must allow an authorised school inspector and an authorised employee of pupil’s school to enter and perform inspection. The headteacher can withdraw the permission for homeschooling if:

• pupil’s parents do not fulfil the requirements for individual education,
• the pupil fails at the end of the evaluation period,
• upon chief school inspector’s proposal.

Legislative references

National Council of the Slovak Republic, 2008. Act no. 448/2008 Coll. on social services and on the change and supplement of Act no. 455/1991 Coll. on Trade Licensing (Trade Licensing Act) as amended (Zákon č. 448/2008 Z. z. o sociálnych službách a o zmene a doplnení zákona č. 455/1991 Zb. o živnostenskom podnikaní (živnostenský zákon) v znení neskorších predpisov) (last accessed 13/10/2021).

National Council of the Slovak Republic, 2002. Act No. 131/2002 on higher education and on the change and supplement to some acts as amended by subsequent provision (Zákon č. 131/2002 Z.z. o vysokých školách a zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov) (last accessed 07/01/2020).

National Council of the Slovak Republic, 2008. Act No. 245/2008 on education and training (Education Act) and on the change and supplement to some acts as amended by subsequent provisions (Zákon č. 245/2008 Z.z. o výchove a vzdelávaní (školský zákon) a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov v znení neskorších predpisov) (last accessed 13/10/2021).

National Council of the Slovak Republic, 2009. Act No. 568/2009 on lifelong learning and on the change and supplemet to some acts as amended by subsequent provision (Zákon č. 568/2009 Z.z. o celoživotnom vzdelávaní a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov v znení neskorších predpisov) (last accessed 03/06/2019).