Overall distribution of responsibilities and central level organisation

Laws and other enforceable regulations and national programmes are passed by the National Assembly, whereas statutory documents are passed by the central government or ministries.

The development of the public sector is a matter of sectoral policies. The only unified feature of the entire public sector in Slovenia is the salary system and the associated ranking of public servants. Accordingly, education authorities are in charge of the management, organisation and funding policies in education.

In the period from 2004 until 2012 the overarching central level responsibilities were split between the Ministry of Education and Sport and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology. In 2012 these two ministries were merged into the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. This ministry is directly responsible for the drafting, evaluation, analysis and implementation of regulations for all levels of education.

In addition, the Ministry of Family, Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities is responsible for issues related to the social status of pupils, students and their families, and it plays an active role in the areas of vocational education and adult education. The Ministry of Finance is involved in public accounting; it manages the state budget and public procurement. Other ministries are involved in the development and implementation of policy in specific areas, such as the armed forces, internal affairs, public administration, health and culture.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport implements educational policies and drafts national regulations and programmes in co-operation with the following consulting bodies:

• Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia forGeneral Education (sl)
• Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational and Technical Education (sl)
• Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia Adult Education (sl)
• National Council for Higher Education (sl) of the Republic of Slovenia

In addition, the Ministry and other stakeholders rely on the expertise of the specialized research and development institutions, including:

• National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia,
• Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education and Training,
• Slovenian Institute for Adult Education,
• National Examinations Centre,
• Educational Research Institute,
• Centre of the Republic of Slovenia for Mobility and European Educational and Training Programmes,
• Centre for School and Outdoor Education,
• National School of Leadership in Education, and
• and Slovenian School Museum.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport comprises a range of services, directorates and sectors covering specific areas of work, including:

• Pre-School and Basic Education Directorate
• Upper Secondary, Short-cycle Higher Vocational and Adult Education Directorate
• Science Directorate
• Higher Education Directorate
• Sports Directorate
• Department of Educational Development and Quality
• International Cooperation and EU Office
• Investments Directorate
• Cohesion Policy Office
• Office of the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO

The Pre-School and Basic Education Directorate, the Upper Secondary, Short-cycle Higher Vocational and Adult Education Directorate and the Higher Education Directorate oversee education programmes at individual levels of formal education, draft and implement regulations in their respective areas, develop strategic bases for national policies and prepare national programmes, where applicable.

The Science Directorate performs tasks such as the drafting of policy documents and legislation regulating science and research, ensuring comprehensive monitoring of the development of research activities, planning the relevant budgets and implementing relevant activities funded from the European cohesion policy.

The Sports Directorate is in charge of the implementation of the Sports Act. This includes, but is not limited to, the drafting of the implementing regulations, co-financing of sport programmes in the public interest and facilitating the functioning of the professional and amateur sports organisations and associations.

The Department of Educational Development and Quality cooperates with governmental expert councils in the area of education, participates in the Eurydice network, oversees the evaluation of the education system, and lays the foundations for research and development related to all levels of education, among other tasks. It is responsible also for the development of human resources in education, among other things, advises school principles regarding their human resources, organises and monitors traineeship in education, manages procedures related to the professional exams, and coordinates and monitors further training and education for human resources in education.

The International Cooperation and EU Office is involved in the drafting of interstate framework agreements and programmes. Among other tasks, it also coordinates and harmonises the activities of the representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport in bodies and institutions of the EU, OECD and other multilateral organisations.

The Investments Directorate oversees the investments, property and legal issues of public institutions in education, science and sport..

The Cohesion Policy Office coordinates the planning and implementation of the ministry's cohesion policy, activities linked to the European territorial cooperation and activities under the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.

The Office of the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO performs tasks concerning Slovenia’s co-operation with UNESCO, the pursuit of UNESCO objectives in Slovenia and co-operation with national commissions and bodies from other countries as well as with civil society.

Additionally, the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth and the Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia for Education and Sport are not incorporated in the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, but they are under its responsibility as affiliated bodies.

• Office for Youth prepares – in cooperation with the Council of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth – the regulations and policy measures for the youth sector. It promotes non-formal learning to increase competences during the transition from childhood to adulthood and develops support mechanisms for active youth participation.

• Inspectorate for Education and Sport monitors the implementation of regulations at all levels of education up to higher education (ISCED 6-8), including the provision of educational activities, organisational matters and the spending of public funds.

Slovenia is not politically organised by regions. However, regional development agencies have been established in all statistically defined regions to promote regional development. Together with municipalities and business entities they play an important role in creating uniform regional scholarship schemes.

Early childhood and school education

The governance and administration of early childhood and school education is under the domain of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. This includes authority over the financing of educational institutions. The Ministry of Family, Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities is responsible for matters related to the socio-economic status of pupils and their families, including scholarship policies.

Within the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, the Pre-School and Basic Education Directorate and the Upper secondary, Short-cycle Higher Vocational and Adult Education Directorate are responsible for the respective levels and types of education. They oversee education programmes, draft and implement regulations in their respective areas, and develop national policies. Other directorates and offices, described in the previous section, perform complementary roles in their particular areas of work.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport relies on the expertise of the Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for General Education. This council, among other things:

• adopts programmes for pre-school education and for education of children with special educational needs;
• specifies the timetables and subject-curricula of basic school and music school;
• specifies knowledge catalogues for individual subjects taught in the general upper secondary schools (gimnazijas);
• specifies catalogues of knowledge for examinations at the end of basic school cycles and for the matura exam,
• approves textbooks used in general education programmes,
• and verifies the equivalence of educational standards of the education programmes of private schools.

A separate expert council performs analogous tasks in the area of vocational and technical education. Among other things, the Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational and Technical Education:

• specifies subject and examination knowledge catalogues for vocational and technical education;
• specifies the organisation of the implementation of the education programme;
• establishes the official recognition of vocational and technical education programmes of private schools;
• approves textbooks of vocational and technical education programmes;
• and recommends norms and standards for the equipment of schools and school workshops.

The school inspectionof the Inspectorate for Education and Sport monitors the implementation of regulations, including the provision of educational activities, organisational matters and the spending of public funds.

The government evaluates the performance of the education system through external examinations at the end of the second and third cycle of basic and the four-year upper secondary school, and through national evaluation studies. This makes it possible for the government to assess the impact of introduced measures, especially in terms of curriculum. Kindergartens and schools can use the feedback for their self-evaluation and development. Evaluations are not used to rank kindergartens, schools or teachers.

Slovenia also participates in international comparative studies (TALIS) and international large-scale student assessments (PIRLS, PISA, and ICCS). This provides the government and other relevant institutions with external, comparative information on the education system and its development through time.

Tertiary education

The administration, management and financing of short-cycle higher education are under the authority of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. This ministry also oversees quality assurance, accreditation and evaluation procedures.

Within the ministry, the Upper Secondary, Short-cycle Higher Vocational and Adult Education Directorate and the Higher Education Directorate oversee education programmes, draft and implement regulations in their respective areas and develop strategic bases for national policies. The Higher Education Directorate includes, among others divisions, the ENIC-NARIC centre, which is the competent authority for the assessment and recognition of education in the Republic of Slovenia. Other directorates described in the introductory section are also partially involved in the area of tertiary education, in line with their specific areas of work.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport receives input from the Council for Higher Education (sl). This council, among other things, participates in the formulation of the national programme for higher education, provides advice regarding legislation pertaining to higher education as well as the development of this area, and formulates opinions regarding the National Qualifications Framework. Additionally, the Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational and Technical Education is involved in the formulation of policies and legislation regulating short-cycle higher vocational education.

Two other advisory bodies are particularly relevant in this context, namely the Council for Science and Technology (sl), and the Council for Student Affairs (sl). Expert technical and administrative tasks related to the implementation of the EU education and training and study mobility are the responsibility of the Centre of the Republic of Slovenia for Mobility and European Educational and Training Programmes (CMEPIUS). CMEPIUS coordinates the Erasmus+ programme and awards several scholarships, such as CEEPUS, NFM/EEA, bilateral scholarships and grants for Slovenian language studies.

The quality of higher education institutions, study programmes and research, artistic and expert projects is assessed by higher education institutions themselves (through self evaluation) and the National Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (NAKVIS).

As with lower levels of education, the socio-economic status of students is in the domain of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Among other things, this ministry is responsible for scholarship policies and is the founder of the Slovene Human Resources Development and Scholarship Fund. Within the ministry there is a special Sector for Lifelong Learning and Scholarships, and the ministry co-funds part-time studies and other forms of lifelong learning. It is also responsible for National Vocational Qualifications. This system enables candidates to get formal recognition of the skills and knowledge they acquired outside of the formal higher education system and are needed for the effective performance of specific occupational tasks. Another area of work of this ministry is care for families and disabled persons, which includes student families and families of disabled students.

Adult education

The central government is responsible for the overall development of adult education. Local communities, on the other hand, found the relevant organisations and therefore hold the founders' responsibilities. The supervision of adult education is conducted by the Inspectorate for Education and Sport.

At the central level the main responsibility for adult education and training lies with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and its Upper Secondary, Short-cycle Higher Vocational and Adult Education Directorate. The ministry:

• adopts the officially recognised programmes
• sets conditions and requirements for staff
• sets material conditions
• maintains a register of officially accredited programmes, and
• co-funds the implementation of programmes and supporting activities in line with the annual programme of adult education.

The ministry's decision-making in this area is supported by the expertise of the Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for Adult Education. Among other things, this council:

• proposes adult education programmes to the responsible Minister
• assesses education programmes adapted to adults that lead to officially recognised educational qualification
• establishes equivalent education qualification standards
• specifies knowledge and examination catalogues, and
• approves textbooks and learning materials for adult education programmes.

Public interest in adult education is determined by the national programme. The Government proposes this programme upon consultation with the Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for Adult Education. The national programme is adopted by the National Assembly and implemented on the basis of annual programmes, which comprise programmes and activities funded from the state budget. The annual programmes are adopted by the Government and implemented by the relevant ministries.

The ministries allocate specific programmes, maintain registers of public adult education providers, enter into agreements with the providers and provide funding for adult education institutions that were founded by the government.

Other ministries that are responsible for specific aspects of adult education and training are: Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food. See the Distribution of Responsibilities part of the Adult Education section for details.