The Government of the Slovak Republic at its meeting on 24.11.2021 approved the Strategy for Lifelong Learning and Counselling for the years 2021-2030.

An equally important document of the National Reform Program of the Slovak Republic 2020 in the section Education, Science and Innovation envisaged a revision of the strategy in the field of lifelong learning, which should respond more directly to current challenges in the field of education. Its role is to respond to the dynamically changing labour market, the nature of work in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and systematic changes in education for all.

The findings of the OECD's National Skills Strategy for Slovakia (2020) are often emphasised, according to which up to 60% of jobs in our labour market are currently at risk due to automation and digitisation, as well as the second extreme of statistics, according to which only 4.5% the adult population is involved in the lifelong learning process, while the OECD average is 11%. It is therefore extremely important to respond actively to the challenges of improving the working skills of the adult population and promoting a higher participation rate in adult learning.

It should be emphasised that the proposed strategy is a lifelong learning and guidance strategy that responds to the need to provide lifelong learning and guidance where citizens have problems as individuals or where a systemic skills shortage has been identified for the population or the population. specific target groups.

The key themes of the measures in the Lifelong Learning Strategy for the years 2021 - 2030 are proposed in four thematic areas:

The first is the area of qualifications, which focuses on: secondary education (where it is possible to complete primary school in combination with lower secondary vocational education); subsequently, the increase in the attractiveness and quality of vocational education and training is addressed through the creation of Centres of Excellence. The further development of the Slovak Qualifications Framework and the National Qualifications Framework is linked to the legal anchoring of the System for the Recognition of Non-Formal Education and Informal Learning Results. Increasing the flexibility of the qualification system is planned to be achieved through the creation of smaller qualifications and so-called micro-qualifications (micro-certificates) and support is also being prepared for the introduction of short study programmes at universities or secondary vocational schools.

The second thematic area, entitled "Basic skills and civic education", focuses on the establishment of a National Initiative for the Improvement of Basic Skills and pilot intervention programmes, as well as on the promotion of adult civic education.

The third and fourth parts of the Strategy address the supra-ministerial nature of Lifelong Learning and Counselling and the motivation of citizens for lifelong learning. These goals are planned to be achieved by creating a comprehensive system for tracking school graduates and supporting the sustainability of the sector council management system with a focus on the transfer of innovation processes and labour market requirements to lifelong learning. The harmonization of the lifelong guidance system will be an integral part of the activities and the strengthening of motivations for the participation of individuals in lifelong learning will also be possible through the introduction of the Individual Education Accounts scheme.

To ensure the supra-ministerial coordination of lifelong learning in accordance with the recommendations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the Slovak Republic formulated in the National Skills Strategy (2020), it is proposed to extend the competencies of the current Government Council for Vocational Education and Training and its transformation into the education as an umbrella body covering all segments of education with the involvement of all relevant actors.

The strategy contains a total of 51 measures divided into thirteen thematic units. After the adoption of the document, the individual objectives of the Lifelong Learning Strategy and the relevant measures will be elaborated in detail into action plans, by 31 March 2022, 2025 and 2028, with an evaluation of the results of the ongoing monitoring of the previous period. The main goal of the Lifelong Learning Strategy is to ensure for every citizen a lifelong access to opportunities for education, to develop their skills and competences throughout life at every stage of life and with regard to individual needs and circumstances so that everyone can realise their potential in personal, work and civic life.

Source: Eurydice Unit Slovakia